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24 Jul
China
Subject: back
oh god I forgot you were posting these.
So have survived this last 25 hour bus journey across the sand dunes.
Unfortunately, the most intense part of the desert was crossed at night --
well, all of xinjiang is a desert -- but the part with the giant sand
mountains.
One of our circus buses broke down the day before in Niya so half the circus
had to take a regular sleeper bus. When were were about 2 hours from
Urumqi, going through a toll stop, Amina looks out the window and yells Hey
it's Perhad! (He's one of the tightrope boys). He was standing bedragedly
on the side of the road. Apparently their bus had stopped for a toilet
break and he got left behind. So he walked 5 kilometers to this toll stop I
guess in hopes that our bus hadn't yet passed.
Very strange to be back again in the 21st century with paved roads and
non-donkey traffic and air conditioned stores. Feel like I've just returned
to china after 2 months in turkistan. The racial economic divide between
the uighurs and the chinese is glaringly oppressive.
Returning to urumqi with the troupe was amazing. They all live in the same
apartment compound (as housing is government assigned) so EVERYONE was out
in the courtyard or leaning out of windows playing drums and horns and
cheering as the bus drove in. Really beautiful. Naturally I had run out of
tape.
In one week they will leave again for another month long tour through the
north. Hard lifestyle. Amazing that so many of them have been at it for 20
years or more.
Anyway, I should split. Lots of last minute crap to take care of. |