We have been travelling by train a lot on the Chinese leg of our Silk Road journey. The latest leg was over 7 hours from Akesu to the end of the line in Kashgar. The line was opened in 1999 and is single track, so many trains are slowed down by having to wait to pass those coming in the other direction, or are held up by slower moving goods trains. Our train left Akesu on time but was almost 1 hour late into Kashgar.
At first we were allocated seats in a largely Uigher filled carriage where judging by the aroma most of the passengers had not seen a bath for quite some time. After a few minutes the female guard suggested we moved to another carriage which had more space and was clearly Han Chinese only.
The train passes through miles and miles of stony and rocky desert, where there was clearly an effort to control sand movement alongside the tracks (see photo). Some stretches of the line came close to mountains and to the main road to Kashgar.
This will probably be our last train journey, unless we find oursleves back on the tracks in Uzbekistan. Over 8 hours on the train was enough and we were relieved to step on to the platform at Kashgar where we were met by a driver from John's cafe who drove us to the Seman Hotel - the former Russian Consulate in the city - more of this in a while.
The pictures show (from top to bottom) Train interior, Desert erosion control, The hot water system, Passing mountains with the main road to Kashgar in front, A policeman.
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