So this is part 3 of 3 in the Big Update Blogs! I've also uploaded some pics from Kashgar! Enjoy -

So following on from last night's blog, we had just arrived in Urumqi from Shawan where we would spend the night ready to travel to Kashgar the next day! Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang and therefore very big and very difficult to navigate as a non-Chinese speaker! To save staying in a hostel, Sam (The south African's daughter, (selfie challenge!)) offered for us to stay at her flat. This was all well and good until we stepped off the bus at 11pm and realised we had to get to her flat on our own as she was still in work. To sum up the experience of getting there, I have one of the directions that Sam gave us. "When you see the dogs on the corner, follow them to the flat". And that ladies and gentleman is all I am going to say on the matter!

Skipping the getting there experience, we safely arrived in Sam's flat and decided we would go for a quiet drink to relax and catch up with Sam. "Quiet drink" has turned in to a bit of a reverse statement for Brian and I. For once we actually wanted to have a quiet drink as we were tired and ready for bed, however we ended up getting a free black taxi to a Russian bar, in exchange for Mine, Brian's and the Laura's phone numbers! Never turn down a free lift!

The Russian bar was an experience and a half, on the upside it was full of white people on the downside it was very expensive, so we just danced a lot! Our "Quiet drink" turned in to another black taxi home at 3am but hey, what are holidays for?

Getting up early the next day was a rather large challenge, but we were all excited to meet up with the other volunteers! We jumped in a taxi and headed to the bus station. Seeing everyone was really nice, I know it's only been a couple of month since we saw them last, but the other volunteers become like family so quickly! Before we had a chance to catch up we had to run inside and jump on the bus to Kashgar.

I do not even know how to describe the bus journey to Kashgar…..! Imagine a normal coach, like a saga holidays coach but without a toilet, our bus was like that! Normal seats for 28 hours, that may not sound that bad, but believe me when you hit around the 11 hours mark you begin to go stir crazy! At first everyone was pretty chilled and feeling all right, then IPod and phone batteries began to die and lack of sleep began to set in. I literally entertained myself for about an hour taking Laura's watch off her wrist, while she slept, without her realising! For the record I successfully did it and convinced her I was magic when she woke up! #MagicianReece!

The fact that we drove in a straight line through a desert for 28 hours only stopping a couple of times really shows you the extent of the size of Xinjiang and China. Think about how far you could go in Europe in that time, especially in a straight line!

When babies first begin to walk they look very unstable and sort of hold their hands out to keep their balance. We looked exactly the same when we got off the bus in Kashgar, who knew it was so easy to forget to walk! If only someone had recorded it, I would of paid them for the footage! Simply comedy gold!

Itching for somewhere to lay down we quickly tracked down our hostel and settled in. The hostel was just somewhere that I found online, as it turned out it was lovely! It had a large courtyard in the middle where you could sit and read, play card or relax. This was especially nice when you walked off the packed streets of Kashgar in to a quiet chilled environment! All 10 of us shared one room which I'm sure you can figure was very funny! We had a shared toilet outside the room and a really really nice shower, I could have just spent the four day's in there, bliss!

The next day the whole gang set out of the hostel to explore. We started by looking round the old town, which is amazing. As the Muslim festival "Eid" was coming up on the Sunday there were sheep being sold on the street left right and centre. Street, livestock market, in Kashgar it was the same thing! During the Eid festival, each family slaughters a sheep and then have a feast with friends and family, hence the selling of the sheep! The old town is full of markets and traditional shops as well as your average camels and donkeys. The old town in Kashgar did not feel Chinese as such but as soon as you step in to the new town you remember straight away! One minute you're in a traditional market and the next you're in a modern shopping complex, very brain boggling!

An early night was on the cards that night as we were all pretty knackered and we had walked a fair distance. The next day the group split in two, myself the two Laura's, Brian and Alistair decided we were going to track down an old tomb while the others did some more exploring and relaxed at the hostel. After bargaining with several taxi drivers and being taken in a circle we eventually made it to the destination! The tomb was interesting, it was a burial ground for important people as well as a mosque where people would pray during Muslim festivals and special days. Lots of interesting architecture and pretty sights!

While walking through the tomb Laura Healy all of a sudden squealed like a 5 year old going to Disney land. Confused we turned to see what she was looking at, and there stood a camel with a saddle! She explained that one of the things she wanted to do in China was ride a camel, five minutes later, there she sat upon the camel. (Jeeze this sounds like a nursery rhyme!). In the end we all had a ride on the camel (Tourist moment!) and all had a rather unusual photo shoot at the same time. Other Chinese tourists decided that the one thing they needed in their lives was pictures of foreigners riding a camel. I can totally see why, who doesn't want a picture of a stranger riding a camel?

After a totally weird experience we grabbed a tuk-tuk taxi (Google it!) and returned to the hostel to find a rather sad sight. The sheep that was going to be slaughtered in the hostel the next day was sat in the middle of the courtyard munching on some grass. They could of at least got an ugly sheep, this one was so cute and fluffy, I felt so guilty that the next day I would watch it die, morbid I know!

Another very satisfying sleep and it was the day we would eventually say goodbye to Fluffy (the sheep). I felt so horrible, everyone gathered round as the butcher tied Fluffy up and prepared him to be turned in to kebab. He grabbed his tiny little knife and before I knew it the inside of Fluffies neck was staring me in the face. The blood gushed out and after a minute fluffy lay still. RIP Fluffy.

Even though fluffy was very adorable, when we ate him in the form of a kebab that night he was very tasty! Throw a few spices of him and have with Naan bread and he was a very satisfying meal, Sorry Fluffy! :(

The next day was our last day In Kashgar so we made the most of it and set out exploring early. The Sunday and our last day was the day of the Muslim "Eid festival". This meant that the streets were full of sheep bits that were not long ago part of a living sheep. Laura Healy and myself were saying that it was not as upsetting as we had expected it to be. It was such a normal thing to the locals to kill animals, kids walked round with bloody hands and sheep heads were scattered round. The fact that it didn't faze the locals I think made it easier for us, after all, it happens in Britain, we just don't watch it happen.

After a good explore we had big lunch and a couple of us decided to go and visit the mosque at the heart of the old town. I must admit it was not as big as I expected it to be, but was still rather amazing. All of the pillars inside had been individually carved by a different artist, this made a very pretty site! On our last day we also hoped to visit the bazar (Biggest Market in the world), but unfortunately it was not running during Eid. This was disappointing, but is an excuse to go back to the amazing place that is Kashgar!

6:30am was the time we had to get up the next morning. It was not the most pleasant time to be getting up, but we had to catch our train back to Urumqi. We somehow found a taxi so early, navigated to the train station and boarded our train. So remember me telling you how the bus to Kashgar was pretty bad? Well the train was 10 times worse, the fact it was a fraction of the price should have been a clue!

Remembering back to your days in school, I'm sure you know of a 90 degree angle? The one that's basically a corner? Well yeah, that was the shape of the seats that we had! Also when they said the seating option said "Hard seat", they meant HARD seat! The carriages were extremely crampt, either way to hot or way to cold and as foreigners we had a lot of people crowding round. It was nice at first to get the attention, but some of the volunteers were not left alone for the whole journey, it became quite distressing to be rejected sleep for 30 hours. (Did I mention the train was 2 hours more?) I have somehow blanked out the rest of the journey and all I really remember is being semi-conscious and extremely cold for about 20 hours, all good fun!

After what seemed like forever we eventually arrived back in Urumqi and all went our separate ways, it was sad to say bye to everyone but also nice knowing we will see them next holiday. Like and extra treat during holiday time!

Brian and I are now safely back in Fukang, and back to our normal Chinese routine. Fukang actually feels like home, it's rather weird, but comforting.

So that should be you all up to date with the first month and a half in China! I will try and upload some more pictures soon, but for now have a look at the current photos in the Photo tab above!

Until next time (Sometime in the near future)…..

Goodnight!