Kashgar Sunday Market

by jajstrong

Market Day – Kashgar

As one of the largest markets in Central Asia, Kashgar’s Sunday market not only pulls in tourists, but a plethora of nationalities and ethnicities from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and more. Its burgeoning size has caused a split between the goods market and the livestock market, which is now situated a bus ride outside of town, for sanitary and convenience purposes.

Homage to Kashgar’s place on the Silk Road

The goods market is precisely what one might expect. Almost anything that a person could possibly need is sold there, from tourist wares to household items, cosmetics, clothes, kitchen appliances, TVs, pets. Selling was a ferocious business, if there was an item that you saw that would fit in your pocket or on your head, rest assured it would be placed there while a vendor threw prices forward. Walking away was a good means of getting a hefty discount, but if you got too far, a loud cry of ‘Wait!’ would echo around the stalls. Perhaps the vendors knew that a tourist would turn towards the call in fright. Along with numbers, it was the few English words heard.

Two bus rides away, the livestock market was the heart of proceedings. In a smaller field than perhaps I had expected were goats, sheep, bulls, cows, camels and more tied and packed together, with a sea of doppa hats bartering away and perusing the animals. Many were stoically well behaved, suffering being tied tightly together and being pocked and prodded. Some livestock were less cooperative, particularly the bulls, which could buck wildly and cause a ruckus, but also attract the most consumer attention. We were looking for a good old fashioned camel, just in case a bus broke down or a train was delayed and we needed a good sturdy back up for travelling the Southern Silk Road.

Inside Out – sheep innards

Lining the fields were small food stalls, with fresh red carcasses dangling outside for the closest animals to revere, and entrails spilling onto the ground below. There was something a little discordant with the two literally facing each other, yet harmonious with the future of many of the livestock here. It did little to make us feel at ease as we were given noodles with beef, in front of a hundred watchful cow eyes.

Naturally, we received a good amount of attention, particularly as the two of us were amongst the tallest people in the entire field. Small groups of men would discuss where we were from, with Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia being bandied around, until we told them we were English. They looked at my blue eyes and maintained that I was Russian, but luckily a flash of the passport for their amusement could dispel this. We journeyed back on a packed bus, and received a warm farewell as we departed the bus without the camel we had desperately wanted to buy.