coffee in the hotel lobby. wondering why cappuccino (5) was cheaper than coffee (8). turned out to be of the instant variety, as opposed to crystals for the coffee. charged separately for a glass of milk (5)
market day! set off at 10 am (8 local time), which was a luxury for us. went to 东巴扎 (east bazaar) first, where the laconic arken quipped 除了爸爸妈妈，什么都卖! (with the exception of fathers and mothers, everything is sold here!) umir, the trainee guide from the first day, accompanied us as well. he’s 24 and had just graduated with a physics degree and waiting to be assigned a job. in his youthful folly (12), he tattooed himself on his forearms his birthday and the word for ‘happiness.’
bought lots: a carpet (red) for 170, a patterned cap (20) and 无花果 (30 for 1kg). when we returned to a stall to pick patterns for A’s tablecloth/sofa throwovers, saw a blue carpet of same design at the carpet stall. asked to switch carpets but the seller refused. said that in a batch of 30, only 1 was blue. asked for 70 extra and finally relented at 60 after arken came over and pumped his hand. seller’s face was not particularly pleasant or welcoming but had not seen many small carpets for sale.
as we were about to leave the market, saw these lumps of what frankly looked like dried manure. turned out to be a resin(?) for hair treatment. told A to buy some since she had actually washed her hair at wucaiwan. from there, it went to saffron, which smelled heavenly, then to cordyceps (‘nicest, most complete ones i’d seen’ said A) and she even picked up a small piece of jade and some sea coral.
meanwhile, the neighbouring dried fruits seller made his move, offering us pistachios, wuhuaguo, apricots. the fresh pistachios were going for 120/kg and wuhuaguo 30/kg.
at the bird market, there were ducks, chickens, chicks, pigeons, budgerigars in cages, in sacks, in hands, being bought, sold, haggled over. the scene was repeated at the goat/cow market except that the animals were being led around the food stores selling, i wager, the freshest kebabs, tripe soup etc. had slices of melon at 5 jiao a slice but nothing particularly sweet. then headed out to the dawakul section of the desert. had lunch just before reaching there. cheapest one yet at 15 for 5 bowls of noodles (4 legmen, 1 somen).
transport to talimankan desert arranged for 500. kinda pricey and disappointing. the desert (30 per head for entry) was really a beach resort with families swimming and bellies on display. it came complete with boat rides, buggies, beach volleyball etc. picked camel ride for 40 an hour (exceeded time, paid 50 a head).
on the way back, stopped at wopu district, which is supposedly famous for its melons. arken bought 4 and gave us one (2.5 per melon, think of the profit on melon slices!). also ate one on the spot which turned out to be disappointing.
arken subsequently stopped by a plot of farmland, determined to seek out sweeter melons. the farmer popped up and we walked through his melon patch while they looked for a ripe one, rapping speculatively on a few. finally satisfied with one, which was cut off the vine. we ate in the field, spraying the seeds onto the ground. this, at last, was fruity bliss. arken bought a few for his family.
on reaching the hotel, arken deigned to show us his handphone which read 我爱老婆乖乖! (i love my wife, obedient boy) arken was just full of surprises once he got more comfortable with us. he was definitely more traditional, carrying a knife on his belt and saying essalamu eleikum when he answered the phone. ali and the others simply went 唯. but not all was sweetness and light among the uighurs, umir told a halting and half-understood tale of a dreaded few who enslaved other uighurs and made them work for no pay or food(!?).

tipped umir (who got off at id-kah mosque to buy shoes) and arken 50 each. arken said that he would come by the next day to send us to the airport if he could.
went to check out the night market at id kah mosque (7-9 local time). the fountains were on and kids were happily playing in the water.
nothing to buy so headed off to dinner at enjoy tea house: skewers, 大杂烩 (internal organs), 汤饭 (rice in a minty soup with meatballs) and more of that lovely tea. 110 total. unfortunately, the yoghurt ice-cream had run out by the time we finished dinner. complimented the boss on his tea, who proceeded to show us the ingredients for it (earl grey, saffron, cardamom, and lots of rock sugar).