It was too good an opportunity to miss. The change of travel plans due to the sandstorms in Kashgar meant that I now had the option of going through the Takla Makan desert all the way. It had been suggested by Jackson in Turpan that I stay for a few nights in Kuqa. I turned down the option of an overnight train and so he drove me along roads only recently reopened after sand storms, one and a half hours to Turpan station in time for the 10 o’clock train.
I hate sleepers, I would much rather pay the extra and sleep in a real bed without three Chinese people watching me. In the end, the train was two hours late because of sandstorms in the area so when the train did eventually leave I was relieved to be on the move. It had been a long day already and I had been frsiekd three times before breakfast! 
Sadly there were only hard sleeper tickets left so I was the target of much curiosity which I find very tiring and I spent some time lying with my coat over my face trying to hide from the onlookers. Being stared at is really iritating but people taking clandestine photos of me is likely to attract violent objections.
It was a long and slow journey to Kuqa and everything outside the window was the same grey colour. I had not stopped to imagine what I might see out of the window but I guess I had hoped for a few sandy dunes with camel tracks. All I got was a lot of scrub with the occassional shack and empty road appearing alongside the tracks. There were a few hills from time to time, a glimpse of something more exciting, but they didn’t last long and were gone, back into the greyness. 
From Kuqa it was an even longer journey to Kashgar (11 hours) and this time I managed to get a soft sleeper so only three people to share my space with as opposed to a hundred or more. It was on time – big surprise to me – I had assumed it would be late as with all long distance trains I have ever travelled on in China.
Luckily we got to the station in plenty of time to allow for me to pass through the layer upon layer of security. The view was similar, mile upon miles or dirt tracks, dusty shrubs, telegraph poles and the occassional stops (what I would call halts) at rural outposts.
I decided I should divide my 11 hours up into 30 minute segments during which I would do one of the following activities; reading my book, listening to podcasts, listening to music, doing sudoku and eating & drinking. I did more podcasts than anything else because I could lie on my bed and drift off.
In this way I managed to pass the time tolerably well and arrived in Kashgar as the sun was setting and the whole place was bathed in an orange light. What a feeling to be in Kashgar again.