China - Part 2

Dunhuang

We made it to Dunhuang with our “art supplies” in hand! We are all happy and relieved. There were some moments of uncertainty.

After getting to our hotel in Golmud just before midnight, we got some sleep and headed for Dunhuang early morning in our big luxurious bus. We have a new driver and there are no more policeman and Tibetan guide. We have come out of the mountains onto the plains of the Taklamakan desert. I should not say plains, because this is quite a mountainous desert, especially where it hits the border ranges with Russia in the north.

Some of the group were excited about the idea of overnight camel rides into the desert, so the girls went into the desert for the night and were lucky to get a wind-still perfect sunset. Of course Heathcliff went with them and gave the camels a hard time.

While the girls slept out in the desert the rest of us went for dinner at the night market. We off course had no idea what was going on, so Yan had to come with us to explain, translate, order, and work out bills. Everything comes on a stick and is grilled on the barbeque to order. They ask if you want spicy or non-spicy. Be warned, spicy means spicy! John broke the language barriers and went to the chef to make his own skewers.

Today we went to the Magao Caves. These are quite something else. It is a big wall of sedimentary rock in the middle of the sandy desert next to a big river bed. In the wall there are hundreds of ancient dug out caves with temples and Buddhas carved into them. The most spectacular caves have the lying down Buddha and the largest sitting Buddha at the time it was built. It is strange to stand in the cave and look up at the Buddha’s head high up above you, or walking along the dusty lying down Buddha. Our guide tells us that they leave the dust there to preserve the ancient paint. It is obvious that some of the paints last much longer than other faded colours. There has also been lots of ransacking. In one of the caves with a thousand Buddhas painted on the walls, most of the gold faces have been chipped off. Nonetheless this place was amazing. It is one of the highlights of western China.

This evening we went to the Goddess Acrobatic Show. It was quite the spectacle. It has a massive cast of young kids to old men and even two camels. It tells one of the stories depicted in one of the Magao Caves. Good versus evil, and with lots of summersaults, balancing and juggling good prevails.

Big desert

Lisa with her camel

On the way into the desert

Lisa, Liz & Zoe enjoying the desert sunset

Desert camp

Heathcliff the Tuareg

Desert sunset

You really get the feeling of solitude here

Morgan had a loo roll accident

At the Mogao Caves

Picture of a picture of the lying down Buddha

Entrance to the caves

Steps disappear in the desert sand

The Dunhuang Goddess Acrobatic show

Dunhuang night market

Turpan

As I said before, the Taklamakan desert is BIG. It took us two days to get from Dunhuang to Turpan. As things go, we had some adventure on the way. On a whim, the Chinese authorities decided that buses need two drivers, not one. They held us up at a checkpoint and we had to call the bus company and get them to send out another driver. But as things go, when the police changed shift, the new guys didn’t care about this new rule, so they sent off all the waiting buses. In the meantime Karen and Morgan were playing cards outside. At first this attracted a lot of attention from the local Chinese travellers. These guys go crazy about gambling. They soon figured out that there was no money involved and the crowds dispersed disappointed.

The reason we stop at Turpan is to visit Yar City. We went there early this morning, before the crowds and before the hot desert sun. We were the first people there and it was peaceful and quiet. The site is also known as the Jiaohe ruins. There have been people living here for almost 4000 years! It is still a fertile valley with vineyards all around. The ruined city has a kind of eerie feeling to it when you are the only person walking in the passages with the low morning sun throwing strange shadows all around.

The rest of the day was spent walking around town, visiting the mosque and the underground aqueduct, and relaxing at John’s Café under the pergola.

The crowd dispersed quickly when they found Karen & Morgan weren't playing for money

Jaiohe ruins

Girls posing in Turpan

Vineyards in Turpan

Drying houses in Turpan

Our hotel in Turpan

Kashgar

Kashgar is our last stop in China. Again, it took us two days to get here, with an overnight stop in Kuche. It is close to the Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Russia borders. You really don’t have the China feel here anymore. There is such a big mix of cultures and races. It is obvious that this place has been on a trade route for more than a thousand years. There is a much stronger Muslim presence here and we start hearing the calls to prayer. We will be hearing this more and more as we journey west.

Brooke and I went out to find a new computer. In Lhasa we had some bad luck with our motherboard and have been without one for two weeks. It has been quite a challenge for us. We found a new laptop, but the operating system is all in Chinese! It is impossible to use! We will first have to get an English version of Windows and Office. More adventure! Luckily John’s Café have fast internet.

For the rest of the day the guys went to Old Town Kashgar. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. It is like a separate little world inside a big Chinese city.

Tomorrow we head to Kyrgyzstan! We are all very excited to explore the small mountainous country.

Kashgar Old Town