The bus kept making stops and the lights would go on all night, so none of us got any sleep by the time we got to Cherchen at around 5am. We walked over to a hotel by the bus station and got ourselves a good rate on 2 double rooms thanks to Mike. I woke up around 11am the same day, and the guys were still getting some much needed sleep. There was no water, so I went downstairs and let the hotel owner know, with the help of my phrasebook. He got the idea and said something, but I didn't really get it. So I walked back up, hung out, went back down a couple hours later and still nothing. I could not really understand the replies, but the owner and his family were all very friendly and we smiled at not being able to understand one another. One man in the lobby asked me where I was from and when I replied Pakistan and America, he bought me a Future Cola. I asked about an internet cafe and followed directions down the street. Once there I realized I didn't have my ID on me, so I went back to get it. By then the water was back and I cleaned up before going back to the internet cafe.There is a lot of paperwork at the hotels and internet cafes whenever you sign in. Language barriers don't help this, but the girl and guy at the internet cafe very sweetly typed things into google translate in Chinese and translated their questions to English. They were very patient and polite, as many people I have found here. Another thing that I really appreciate is, even if people might look at you a bit because they don't see foreigners all the time, they still extend the exact same politeness and courtesy to you as they would any Chinese person, for the most part. There are many sweet polite things that people do, like handing you change with both hands in a very respectful manner, or saying there's no need to thank when you say thank you etc. There are many polite customs here, and it adds something good to even the smallest interactions with people.My friends met me at the internet cafe once they were ready and we set out to wander the streets of Cherchen. Andy had found some fresh sesame nan, so we got a few and munched on that. We stopped at a music store, because music always trumps food when it comes to priorities and picked up some traditional Uigher music cds. There Mike met an interesting, assertive character who shall be referred to as the Low Rider for her interesting bicycling techniques. She joined us as we explored the market, funny babies with poop ready pants, and settled down for food at a restaurant.After that we walked down the road through some neighborhoods with beautiful, ornate, wood doors and brightly painted metal ones. Along the way we met many friendly people, and walked through some corn and sunflower fields before making our way back to the hotel.There are lots of cute and funny little kids here. Often, little ones, seeing us foreigners will shout out "Haaalllooo!" with the happiest little smile you have ever seen while walking past with their moms.The little boy in the last pic of the third image met us at lunch. He played with us all during our sit at the restaurant. When we walked outside, he picked out a special booger from his nose and then hugged a leg off each of us..well except the Low Rider. He pulled away from her. She likes kids..but I'm not sure they like her :).We rested a bit, then head out to get Andy from the internet cafe and check out some music at a club with the Low Rider. The music was fun and seeing some people dance was also cool, but it was a monday night and the place was fairly empty so it lacked a certain energy.Andy, Omar and I head out to explore a little further outside. We came upon an open area full of pool tables, food stalls and people enjoying the night. We tried some iced, yoghurt flavored with sugar and pineapple juice that we added.We met a very sweet Han Chinese woman who was born in Cherchen. She explained and translated for us with the Uigher shopkeeper. She talked about how her family had moved there from across China for better economic opportunities, then also mentioned a 24 hour ice cream parlor. She had no idea how much joy that brought us. She'd probably never seen 3 grown men so excited about ice cream. We got directions, then walked over to it, only to find it open, but all out of ice cream. This was worse than the time we found the ice cream machine shop, full of wonderful ice cream dispensing machines...but no ice cream.A little broken hearted, we decided to return the following day. After a long dark walk, we got some sleep.