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       #Post#: 14384--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Terecia Date: April 14, 2019, 3:12 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Sofia link=topic=960.msg14260#msg14260
       date=1554975773]
       I travelled to Kashgar and other cities on the Silk Road in the
       past.
       I do not know when you went there. However, I read that the old
       city of Kashgar has been destroyed to quite an impressive extent
       for political reason, as a punishment. The whole region of
       Xinjiang is occupied and colonized by the Chinese Han who tries
       to oppress brutally any willingness of the Uighur Muslim
       community for independence.
       Sorry to tell that. But we are not on Italki anymore.
       [/quote]
       Thank you, Sofia. Which city did you visit?
       I went to Urumqi from Xiamen by plane. I went to Kashgar by
       train, then took a bus to Karakul Lake by Kala Kunlun Mountain
       and stay one night in a Kyrgyz yurt. Too bad, I suffered
       altitude sickness. I threw up badly, perhaps riding a horse
       after having a cup of butter tea was a bad idea. I went back to
       Kashgar for another 3-5 days. Then, headed to Hotan and Turpan.
  HTML https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Cordill%C3%A8re_du_Kunlun.jpg/270px-Cordill%C3%A8re_du_Kunlun.jpg
       Kala Kunlun Mountain
       [img width=300
       height=198]
  HTML https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/d7/1f/51d71fefa778b013f9da625937ff9431.jpg[/img]
       The Kyrgyz Yurt I stayed
       [img width=300
       height=225]
  HTML http://akmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/yurt4.jpg[/img]
       Inside of a Kysrgyz Yurt
       [img]
  HTML https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSg2iNOaQWWJFPadbZLUdbIG_OGPy5ga7pr243YhpyUBPkyKHaABw[/img]
       The Grape Valley in Turpan. Too bad, it wasn't the season yet
       [img width=300
       height=200]
  HTML https://www.davidsanger.com/images/china/4-156-33.emin.m.jpg[/img]
       The cone-shape of Emin Minaret in Turpan
       I travelled along the Silk Route in 2006 or 2007 (I'm the
       worst when it concerns dates).
       I read news about the rioting which happened in Urumqi in
       2009. It doesn't surprise me somehow.
       When we visited Afaq Khoja Mausoleum in Kashgar, we had a
       conversation with the ticket officer. She was an Uyghur. I asked
       her why she didn't wear Hijab. She said everyone has to obey one
       of the state's rules which was not allowed to wear it. They were
       also not allowed to practise Salat, the obligatory Muslim
       prayers, during working hours. I was speechless, couldn't
       believe what I heard.
       It reminds me of myself as a minority in my country, where
       my church (among a few others) was burnt before by a group of
       hardliners. And, there were no findings who was behind it.
       I don't know whether my statements above would lead EGP
       into unfortunate situations, hopefully not.
       #Post#: 14385--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Terecia Date: April 14, 2019, 3:28 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Keep America Great!
       link=topic=960.msg14263#msg14263 date=1554977595]
       Terecia, those are good pictures. Thanks for posting them. I do
       have one question. You captioned one picture "I still have the
       hat." Did you bring the man back home and got rid of him but
       kept the hat? Or did he give you the hat?  :D
       [/quote]
       Jerry, I'm glad that you like the pictures, especially the
       old man's.
       I didn't notice the hat that every male wore the hat until
       there was an old jolly man who approached me out of his
       curiosity about my nationality. None of us could speak each
       language. I barely understood Uyghur language, he couldn't
       understand Mandarin. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant
       conversation (we gesticulated the whole time)
       He didn't give his hat though, I wouldn't dare to ask him.
       I bought it in the Sunday Bazaar Market.
       #Post#: 14386--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Terecia Date: April 14, 2019, 3:55 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Chizuko link=topic=960.msg14274#msg14274
       date=1555001656]
       It doesn't look like China.  They are not Han Chinese. That's
       the problem for China.
       As Σοφία wrote, China destroyed many
       mosques again recently. They prohibit Islam strictly. I wrote
       about it on the other thread.
       You were very lucky to go there before the tragedy, Terecia.
  HTML https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-45140551
       [/quote]
       Thank you for the link, Chizuko.
       The news was talking about what happened in Ningxia, home
       to Hui people, the third largest ethnic group in China, whom of
       the majority are Chinese-speaking practitioners of Islam.
       If you read the history of China in the past, you would
       probably know (not necessarily agree) the background of some
       against-human-rights actions.
       I doubt that it relates to religions solely. It's more to
       power abuse.
       I remember what Abraham Lincoln said,
       “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for
       themselves”
       ― Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works - Volume XII
       #Post#: 14387--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Terecia Date: April 14, 2019, 4:01 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Chizuko link=topic=960.msg14356#msg14356
       date=1555166911]
       Terecia, I'm sorry that I didn't write about travelling. EGP
       members love talking about the controversial issue. Please turn
       a blind eye to it.
       [/quote]
       It's fine with me. I didn't expect the members would share
       their experiences since travelling could be such luxury things
       to do.
       On the contrary, I'm glad that my thread could somehow come
       out interesting to some of you.
       The reason I posted it because I don't want to risk myself
       getting banned on the other language platform. Talking about
       Xinjiang and Tibet are likely to attract their attention anyway.
       #Post#: 14388--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Terecia Date: April 14, 2019, 4:02 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=NealC link=topic=960.msg14359#msg14359
       date=1555168872]
       Beautiful pictures, and a wonderful story.  Too bad current
       events make a repeat trip impossible.
       [/quote]
       Thank you, Neal.  I'm glad that you like it.
       I knew that I won't get any chances to go back at the time.
       That makes it a good memory, isn't it?
       #Post#: 14389--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Terecia Date: April 14, 2019, 4:21 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Chizuko link=topic=960.msg14361#msg14361
       date=1555169900]
       They are not The Chinese Han. Their food is exactly Turkish that
       I want to try. What language do they speak? Chinese? I found the
       Youtube video. The town was in 2015. You can see two languages
       on the singes. The travellers speak Chinese.[/quote]
       If you like herbs, I'd highly recommend that you try the
       Lamb Kebabs and Pilaf.
       [img width=200
       height=300]
  HTML https://omnivorescookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1501_Uygur-Lamb-Pilaf-Polo_001.jpg[/img]
       Lamb Pilaf
       They speak Uyghur language, formerly known as Eastern Turki.
       It's a Turkic language, primarily spoken by 10-15 millions of
       Uyghurs. I have a book of Uyghur language for beginners, I
       haven't learned it seriously.
       [img width=300
       height=225]
  HTML https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gNsiGbP2Kxc/hqdefault.jpg[/img]
       The sample of Uyghur characters
       I watched the YouTube video, it brought back the pleasant
       memory. I've just realised why some of the locals were
       interested in me. I noticed the Han Chinese there didn't wear
       Hijab. In my opinion, they should wear Hijab to respect the
       locals.
       #Post#: 14396--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Aliph Date: April 14, 2019, 7:49 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Terecia we could have met in the old souk of Kashgar! I went
       there and to Urumqui, Turpan, Dunhang any many other places in
       2007.
       Don’t worry, EGP will have no trouble. We are a free, eclectic
       website. No Chinese censorship.
       And about the script of the Turki language, it is a modified
       Arabic script. I can read it (since I am learning Arabic) and
       maybe Alharacas too if she has made some progress with Farsi.
       #Post#: 14401--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Terecia Date: April 14, 2019, 8:19 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=Sofia link=topic=960.msg14396#msg14396
       date=1555246142]
       Terecia we could have met in the old souk of Kashgar! I went
       there and to Urumqi, Turpan, Dunhuang any many other places in
       2007.
       Don’t worry, EGP will have no trouble. We are a free, eclectic
       website. No Chinese censorship.
       And about the script of the Turki language, it is a modified
       Arabic script. I can read it (since I am learning Arabic) and
       maybe Alharacas too if she has made some progress with Farsi.
       [/quote]
       I went there in May, were you there in the same month?
       What do you look like? I look a Han Chinese, but the Chinese
       found me look like a Korean.
       About the script, I didn't know that it's a modified
       Arabic script. It looks like one. How far does it differ from
       the MSA script? I haven't learned it yet, but I'm interested in
       the calligraphy.
       #Post#: 14404--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Aliph Date: April 14, 2019, 8:51 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Hi Terecia, I am blond and have blue eyes. I look German or
       Dutch.
       I was in Kashgar in September.
       About the script there are minor changes. Looking at the
       transliteration to the Roman alphabet I guess that they use the
       letter h to define a vowel that probably is pronounced like the
       English A . The sign ه (=H) is used instead of the Arabic
       ة with two dots for this letter A. In Arabic that shape of
       the letter doesn’t appear in the middle of the word.
       The letter ك in the middle of the world in the Uyghur
       language seems to have an additional sign unusual in Arabic.  In
       Arabic the initial and middle K is written like this
       كوكا كولا (=
       Coca Cola).
       #Post#: 14405--------------------------------------------------
       Re: What Was Your Most Interesting Travel Experience?
       By: Truman Overby Date: April 14, 2019, 9:32 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       What I'm about to relate isn't my most interesting travel
       experience, but it is my most nauseating. A little background is
       in order. I am NOT, in any way, shape or form, a Celine Dion
       fan. In fact, if I had to choose between staring at a monkey's
       butt or looking at Celine, the monkey wins hands down. Every
       time. Not that she's ugly, it's her 'way' that grates on me.
       The scene: Las Vegas, Nevada, December 2002, the Rio Hotel &
       Casino. I took an instant dislike to Las Vegas from the moment I
       stepped into the airport. As a non-gambler, the whole thing
       repulsed me. The airport is lined with slot machines. I felt as
       if a one-armed bandit {slot machine } was going to lift my
       wallet, unawares, as I rushed to get out of there.
       But that's not the worst part of the trip. Looking directly east
       from my hotel room at the Rio, on the 12th floor, to the Strip,
       is Caesar's Palace Casino. And there plastered on the side of
       the building is a gigantic, multi-story poster of the most
       famous Canadian in the world staring at me. There was no
       escaping. Everywhere I walked there was the Prima Donna herself
       casting her all-seeing gaze upon me. Can you imagine? The best I
       could hope for was to hide away in my hotel room and hope those
       penetrating eyes couldn't see through the curtains. She ruined
       every sun rise.
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