Following our return from Tashkurgan we stayed another day in Kashgar while we planned our next move. We telephoned Mohammad to ask whether he could, in a single day, take us along the southern silk road from Kashgar to Karghilik, leaving us at the latter. This would be much preferable to the bus-hopping that would otherwise be necessary to visit the towns along this route. Mohammad said he could, and after some haggling we agreed the price.Early next morning we were on our way, and our first stop was at Yengisar, famous throughout Xinjiang for its knife production. We hoped to visit the knife factory that our travel guidebook stated was located immediately west of the Yengisar Bazaar. But Mohammad stopped at a roadside knife shop and the owner rushed out to guide us inside. We said we wanted to visit the actual knife factory, not just a knife shop. The owner, through Mohammad, told us that the factory had closed down a year ago and shops like his were now the only places where one could see Yengisar's famous knives. Hmmm, I wondered, if the factory has closed, where are the knives coming from now? The pointer on our bullshit meter had moved into the orange zone so we asked Mohammad to take us to the Bazaar and park the taxi immediately to the west of the bazaar. He happily did this and lo and behold we found ourselves at the front entrance to a knife factory. It was open so we went in and we found about ten craftsmen hard at work at their forges and with their hammers and grinders. Each craftsman produces the whole knife from start to finish, including the handle decoration. The factory manager claimed it took a whole day for a craftsman to produce one knife. We watched the entirely manual production processes for awhile, then adjourned to the factory showroom to admire the finished products. After some spirited haggling with the manager, we became the owners of our own Yengisar knife, to be used for cutting fruit in China and as possible protection against barbarians after we return home.
We resumed our journey, stopping next at Yarkand. Here we briefly inspected the 400 year-old mosque and walked down some of the alley ways in the old part of town. Donkey carts rule the streets here. Finally, we completed the last leg of an hour or so to Karghilik where we bid Mohammad farewell and he headed back towards Kashgar after dropping us off at the Communications Hotel adjacent to the bus station. After checking in, we walked around the city square and some of the old winding alleyways at the rear of the mosque. Here, adobe houses are still in vogue though increasingly being replaced with small residences built with small bricks. We had dinner at an Uighur restaurant and ordered chicken. A huge bowl containing three half-fowls arrived at our table, with no implements or plates. Here, people eat with their hands, straight from the serving bowl. So we did likewise, although our arms and the table were pretty messy and greasy by the time we had eaten as much as we could of the flock that had been delivered to us. But it was very good food.
