We arrived at Kashgar airport early the next morning for our flight back to Urumqi where we would stay one night before heading off to Shanghai and back home to Australia. 

We were surprised to find a very strong military presence. A long line of fully armed soldiers marched solemnly, silently and faceless across the airport grounds. We watched quietly as they entered then disappeared into the main airport building. There did not appear to be any particular reason for such a large number of soldiers. It was probably normal security. In Xinjiang you tend to forget you are in China.

We experienced no problems however and our check in was trouble free. At least it was for us. In the queue to the check in a tiny pretty pink-caramel mouse scampered in amongst the passengers. It was not a good place to be a small mouse and I was pleased with myself for rescuing it from the raised boot of the person behind me. Fortunately it escaped under the check in counter. The man behind looked at me in amazement.

While waiting in the departure lounge an elderly Uighur woman befriended me. In broken English she tried to explain that it was her and her husband's first flight. She would not leave my side and it was hard to imagine how difficult and frightening this flight must have been for her. She was so lovely and I often wonder how they survived their flight. Yet just another example of the outwardly friendly Uighur people.

Another couple arrived in the lounge with an older man wearing a traditional Uighur hat. They were obviously Australian and were carrying a lot of hand luggage. The couple looked exhausted. Phil and Anne had been attending a medical conference in Kashgar where they had met Barrie with the Uighur hat. In brief, Barrie was the sort of person you dread meeting up with. He was charming and friendly, had bought heaps of heavy souvenirs and stuck to Anne and Phil like a leech. They in fact became his porters. Anne's stories of poor Phil staggering with all Barrie's luggage and theirs throughout their travels in north-western China sounded horrendous. It reminded us very much of the people we had met who were in short professional users of other travellers. Phil and Anne looked relieved to find some other Australians and we were pleased to chat with them until our departure to Urumqi.

Our room in the Hoi Tak Hotel at Urumqi was again lovely and we had been looking forward to enjoying another smorgasbord dinner at their fabulous restaurant. To our surprise two very young Chinese children were allowed by their parents to run riot, disrupting most of the diners and also causing a nightmare for the chefs. We watched in amazement as these two horribly precocious kids demanded the chefs cook them several servings of eggs, giving forthright instructions and generally being downright rude. A good hard shove and a scolding from me worked wonders - for five minutes. We were surprised to see such atrocious manners from young children in an environment of such politeness and courtesy. These kids were spoilt rotten and the management must have felt furious.

Despite our dinner disruptions, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Hoi Tak and would definitely recommend it as a wonderful hotel to stay at in Urumqi.