While crossing the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Pamir Highland in 1272,frightened and threatened by avalanches, and suffering from severe mountain sickness, the 18-year-old Marco Polo fell seriously ill.A high fever, complicated by terrible dreams during which he talked continuously, took a great toll on his health.

Descending the plateau,he came to the oasis called Kashgar (today's Kashi),which immediately injected him with new life. Once he came down to a height of about 1,000 metres, the mountain sickness that had been torturing him naturally disappeared. Thanks to the warm temperatures,nourishing food and the hospitality of the Uigurs,he soon recovered.

Hundreds of years after Marco Polo's trip, Kashi remains a major city, with people from all over still coming to market their goods, and its residents just as devoted to commerce as they were then.

The small alleys in Kashi in many ways resemble those found in Turkish towns. Courtyards are planted with fruit trees and grape vines, and high quality cotton is cultivated in the fields. In this sense, little has changed in the 700 years since Marco Polo passed through.Here, we had our own experience of what Marco Polo described as "a language of their own", a pure Uigur language which is very hard to understand without an interpreter.

An unusual mosque in Yengisar.