I failed to mention we made it to the middle of no where. Kashgar is one of the those places, historically speaking, which is really famous. During the silk trade, it was the city where people met every Sunday to trade from four countries bc of it's location. They trade everything from mules to the fur of now extinct animals. We obviously were not here to trade our backpacks so why were we here? I don't know except it peaked our curiousity. It was kind of crazy to visit a place that stilled lived like the era of the byzantine.
We had a funny incident at the market. We thought to make our own trail mix. So we picked and mixed dried fruits and nuts. The man ways it and gives us a total in Yen that is = to $30. I look at him like he was smoking crack. This is the landmark moment where the bargaining begins in our journey and never ends. He was fisty and not willing to budge so we refused to pay. We walk away. The next thing we know...THEFT. He snatched Kelly's China guide book out of her hand. What!! So we go back and look at him like he's crazy. He says he won't give back the book unless we help him sort the dried fruit and nuts from the bag!! We said no...so then he creates a scene. We are surrounded by all the shopkeepers who are observing a drama take place and enjoying the show. Who would have thought we to be the actors. Can't say I would like to act the part again. Anyway, we negotiated down to $15 U.S for the bag of nuts and return of our China Book. Thank God that was the end of the story.
