Turfan/Turpan (they seem interchangeable) is a small town with lots of markets and avenues lined with grape vines. They sell grapes everywhere. They also sell dried grapes. In possibly related news there is also a grape festival currently in progress. I won a pen in a game involving throwing grapes. When we got to the hotel, they gave us some grapes.
Actually they’re pretty good with the grapes – the white wine isn’t too good (maybe I confused the bottle of Turpan Wine with Turpentine, maybe it’s just sour grapes), but the sweet red tastes just like port and is only GBP1 a bottle. Sadly it wasn’t served with Stilton. Just more grapes.
After a lazy afternoon 5 of us went for a ride on a donkey cart through the outlying villages. This was the most enjoyable time so far, just pottering slowly along the road and having the local kids running alongside as dusk fell.
Afterwards we went to the local night market and had some great dumplings, then on the way back saw a western cafe with a sign outside for ‘Chocolate Sundaes’. Our excitement faded somewhat when it turned out to be a chocolate lolly on a plate with a drizzle of chocolate sauce on top, but much better than the mung bean lollies they sell round Beijing.
