Ürümqi

We arrived in Urumqi at 10.30am via train. We had a bit of transportation problem as a guy outside the station exit claimed he was a taxi driver and told us to come with him. We did but we soon realized he was bringing us to his car in the parking lot and we asked him how much and he said ¥80. We decided against it eventhough he was very persistent. So we got into a taxi and got dropped of at our hostel and guess what? It was only ¥23. Do be careful of these creeps.

We checked into Ziyou Hostel and started doing our laundry as we had quite a bit to wash and there was a washing machine available. Also because we are going to be here for 2 nights instead of our usual 1 prior to this, so thats enough time for our clothes to dry.

We started wandering around nearby. The Nuts and Dry Fruit Market was around the corner but we didn't buy anything as we already had raisins and walnuts from Turpan. We bought a traditional Uyghur nan bread from a store nearby and then we walked to the Urumqi Museum. Took us around 20 minutes. Museum entrance was free so Yay for saving money! There were alot of exhibits on the paleolitic and bronze era as well as the ice age. What I found interesting was that they even had ancient cake on display. There was also an exhibit on the multiple ethnicities in Urumqi and the history behind it.

After that we took a 20 minute taxi ride to Hongshan Park. Our main reason for going there was the Red Hill Pagoda but we also enjoyed the sight of the colourful temples and the wind blowing the autumn leaves around. There is a pond there where people were fishing and we witnessed some successful attempts.

Once we were out of there, we walked over to People's Park. This is a beautiful park with its autumn colours at full glory. Old retired folks walking about, exercising, and chatting on the benches. It was rather enchanting. We were done by 6pm and we decided to leave as it was getting cold and we weren't sure if the night market was open tonight. We thought we better ask the hostel staff. Turns out, no night market. Its been banned recently due to some unwanted circumstances.

And so, we headed out for dinner at an Uyghur place nearby. We had cold noodles and some meat we could not identify. We think its chicken. Atypical chicken. On our way back we bought some nan bread from a roadside vendor. That would be for our journey tomorrow.

Good thing about today: Attractions were all free! Not for tomorrow though.Read more