What we didn’t expect was that half the convoy had decided
to do the same thing. The chefs from the previous night had also prepared
breakfast for the morning and most of it had gone uneaten. I guess they really
do take pride in the cooking as the convoy was later informed that the chefs
were pretty upset about the wasted food.
One pretty noteworthy point about camping is the complete
lack of proper toilet facilities. Behind this awesome range of mountains was
the terrifying anticipation of answering the call of nature within the arms of
Mother Nature herself. Being city girls, we took the joy of using a proper,
clean toilet for granted. To be able to just go in the middle of nowhere
coupled with the fear of being seen with your pants down literally can be a
traumatising experience for girls.
But I’m proud to say that we overcame our fears that day. It
was liberating to actually be able to let go of certain inhibitions that may
have been imprinted on you by society. I’m not saying that I will be able to go
just about anywhere, but at least I did it. Of course, it helped a lot that
this zero star outdoor toilet had an awesome one hell of a five-star view.
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| Killer view from our 'toilet' |
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| Roadside Scenery on the way to Kashgar |
After lunch at Kashgar, it was another 200km drive to our
next destination in Karghalik. It was going to be another night of camping and
it was our second day without a shower. I was already feeling icky by this
time, desperately wishing to have a bath.
I was doing the drive full time today, with Nadya as my
co-driver. As China drives on the wrong side of the road (As a Malaysian, I am
sticking to the fact that we are right and they are wrong) and our driver’s
seat is on the right side of the car, it’s difficult for the driver to see
oncoming cars while overtaking other vehicles. In order to drive safely on the
road, it’s important that the co-driver helps out by keeping a watch.
While Nadya did a really good job, I think I sort of scared
her into near-death experience by what I call decisive driving. To her, it
seemed like I was running smack straight into the vehicle coming towards us,
trying to kill us all. But I am confident to say that I was in total control.
Sorry for the heart attack, Nadya. But the fact that you are still alive and
breathing proves that I am a competent driver. Haha!
Along the way, we passed by the Taklamakan Desert. The view
from the car was just a terribly long stretch of plain sand. I was a little
sorry that we didn’t get to stop and enjoy the view for a while. But it was
just as well since we would be visiting the desert again in our forthcoming
journey.
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| Driving through Taklamakan Desert |
The drive was long.
It was only at 8.30pm that we finally arrived at the Zepu Forest Park
campsite. This time, us girls were well prepared and familiar with the tent
mechanism. It may not be rocket science, but being organised plays an important
part in speeding up with setting up house.
On the drive in, we spotted a proper toilet built on the
campgrounds. Initially overjoyed, we would soon find ourselves totally let down
by initial expectations. While it looked great from the outside, all the toilet
consist of is just a hole in the middle where all the waste just laid at the
bottom, bare to all who dared to take the challenge of looking down.
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| Toilet with lots of surprises inside |
The combination of not having showered for a day and the
conditions of the toilet sent a shiver down my spine. Deciding that we would
somehow find a way to stay partially clean, we decided to at least wash our
hands and legs, the only exposed parts of our body. Nadya was with me on this while Suzhen, who
was really relaxed about such stuff for a girl, regaled us with a scary tale of
how she went five days without taking a bath before. But she joined us in the
end, deciding if the two of us were to smell good, then everyone in the tent
should smell good too.
While the rest of the convoy unpacked and took a short rest,
00 had to go on duty. You see, there had been problems with car 9, driven by a
nice uncle that goes by the call name Brother Yong. He and his wife shared the
car with two other passengers.
We had helped transport springs all the way from Kuala
Lumpur to be installed into the car, and 00 finally had the time to make the
fix. He and 1 Dollar, our sweeper (meaning he usually goes at the end of the
convoy to make sure that every car was in place on the road), fussed over the
car until near the end of dinner, a testimony of their importance and
dedication to the convoy.
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| 00 working his magic on car No.9 |
Dinner that night was noodles and bearing in mind the chefs
who were upset about having leftover food, everyone took the extra effort to
finish them up. The chefs had followed us to the campsite in a truck with a
portable kitchen packed up in the back along with the ingredients. To be fair
to them, their cooking was really good. It was the portions that we had a
problem with, as it was too much, even for us Malaysians who live to eat.
At night, there was even a performance by an Uyghur tribe,
who had an elderly uncle who sang so enthusiastically that you knew he loves
his song without understanding the words. Even when the dancing girls danced
until they were worn out, he still refused to stop.
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| Happily singing away... |
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| The Malaysian girls with the local tribe |
Unlike last night, the weather tonight was perfect. Sleep
caught up with us as we snuggled into our comfy sleeping bags.
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