Turpan is Hot

After resting away the day in Dunhuang we arrived at the train station early to try and change my hard seat into a hard sleeper. Ticket office said no, so we waited until we could board. I slipped my ticket under Sara's and some paper so I could get into Sara's compartment and lock our bags up, then off to the hard seat I went. As soon as I got there, it was very easy to change my ticket and was back in the car behind Sara's before the train even left the station. My compartment had the train staff and like 6 other people total, Sara's was full. The baby below me cried whenever the train stopped or started going agian, so I would get an hour or so of sleep before being awoken. Sara claims she didn't sleep at all, and judging from the bags under her eyes in the morning I almost believe her. Her compartment was filled with 5 men who snored non-stop at non-regular intervals. She was not a happy camper when we arrived at the Turpan station at 8:30 am. We then walked through the tour guides holding their signs to be greeted by two taxi drivers wanting to take us to the city (55km away). The price started high 50 Yuan per person, and they bickered between themselves until we agreed to pay 10 Yuan per person. Then we got to the taxi, just a normal car. We put our bags in the back and got in the car. For the 30 drive we both prepared for the fight to get our bags and not pay more than 20 Yuan. I thought about getting us dropped off at the police station, but couldn't find one on the map, we both were tense with anticipation. The driver suggested taking us to the Turpan Hotel, one which was expensive but on our map, so we agreed. We arrived and sprung into action, out of the cab we leap and to the truck. The driver surprisingly was right behind us, and without question opened the truck without even asking for money. We were so relieved I almost kissed him and went to the reception. The rooms were as we expected too expensive, but agreed to be taken to a new hotel by the driver. The new hotel was in our price range, (should've barginned for cheaper, but Sara's look of "If we go to another hotel before I go pee and have a nap" would have killed small dogs and sent kids crying to their parents.

We had a nap then went to a silk road staple John's Information Cafe for brunch of yogurt and fruit, toast and jam, fried rice, french fries, water and sprite. On the way we ran into a British guy and a Japanese girl who we had meet in Dunhaung and were on the same train as us. They suggested maybe doing some sort of tour together tomorrow. They were smart, they purchased their train tickets to Kashgar at the train station, we had to pay a commission to get someone and drive back to the train station and buy tickets for us. Can you have a rookie mistake 1 month into a trip? Anyways after enjoying our brunch under the grape vines we walked back to our hotel, we had just enough energy to make it there with the heat. Today it was 35'C a full 15'C cooler than it can get here and it is a very dry heat, you're mouth drys instantly. You drink water and then blam your mouth is dry. After dinner we may take a donkey ride or walk the bazzar or just relax in the air conditioned room. Tomorrow we have a full day of walking in mountians, seeing old silk road sites, and underground irrigation system.