How old is this lonely tree?
You want me to walk across this to sell your used silk underwear?
Middle of the desert eh?
Sara made a friend today
Remains of the city beside the river
The Great Wall Western Edge
Today we left at 8am on a tour of some silk road sites and the edge of Han control. The area about 80 kilometers west of Dunhuang was the end of Han controlled China until this century. This was also where the different overland silk road routes split, one going south and the other north before meeting again in Kashgar. While an oversimplification the point is the same. We started the day at Yumen pass where beside a small river and on the edge of the desert was a small Han fort. We almost had climbed to the top through a small passageway when some tour guide/site protector started yelling at us. We relucantly turned around and walked around the inside and outside. The construction was made from some bricks covered with straw and mud. After that we drove to some of the last remaining/furthest west sections of the Great Wall. Unlike the wall near Beijing made from stone this section was made by layering levels of mud and straw. It looked like it would have been 10 feet tall when it was active. By this time the sun was getting high in the sky but a stiff breeze stopped us from truely feeling it's effect. Next stop was Hechery City, a city (maybe a place for troop storage) along the same river. We looked for Aladin's lamp with no success. The river still flows and is quite a strange contrast to the bleak desert environment all around it. You could almost see the buildings surrounded by tents and camels grazing near the river getting ready to start the long journey across the desert. Down by the river both Sara and myself were swarmed by bugs that packed quite the bite, however running away was not an option as all the vegetation contains some rather sharp thorns.
Next stop was Yang Pass, a lookout and government outpost located on the top of some hills that were 15 kilometers from the river and beside a lake and river oasis of their own. The place had been rebuilt to it's formed glory. It is going to be one of the next major tourist stops in the region. A friendly tour guide (just practicing her english) meet us just inside the gate and lead us through two museums. Then to the government house which had about 8 chinese dressed in period costumes. Through this was the gate to China, which you even in the Han days needed the proper paperwork to get through. After the gate, to get to the only original structure, the watchtower you could take a bus (10 Yuan) or a camel (40 yuan). Since we're riding camels tomorrow we decided on the bus. The watchtower was used much like the watch towers in the Lord of the Ring - Return of the King. If someone saw danger they would light a fire on one watch tower which would be relayed back to the army and government headquarters. The view from up there was amazing. Beside the oasis' the desert stretched out in all directions. If someone told me if I walked out into it with silk on the other side would be people willing to buy it, for profit, I'm not sure I would go. It looked formitable and the heat was amazing. We still didn't feel the sweat due to the wind, but we were already drained, and in a brake in the breeze could feel the oven affect.
After getting lead through the milk run (set of gift shop rooms one after the other selling all sorts of stuff) we left for the last stop on our adventure. The 1000 Buddha caves. We drive through the desert to this little patch of green, which turns out to be 80 foot high trees, 50 feet down in a little valley. This caves were very similar to the caves at Mogao, same period just hardly visited. These caves were smaller and the statues were mostly missing a arm or a head or something. However we got better looks at the artwork as we could get closer, and didn't feel as rushed as we did at Mogao. Not to mention the greatly reduced price. I wouldn't say not to go to Mogao and do these caves instead, it is just these caves were a good addition to see as well as the Mogao caves.
We returned to the hotel at 5:30 exhausted and napped till 7, when we enjoyed a dinner of Chinese style fried potatoes, fried rice with vegetables, and stirfried tomatos and califlower. Tomorrow we work on getting a train ticket to Turpan and go to the sand dunes and ride camels.
Tyson and Sara
Next stop was Yang Pass, a lookout and government outpost located on the top of some hills that were 15 kilometers from the river and beside a lake and river oasis of their own. The place had been rebuilt to it's formed glory. It is going to be one of the next major tourist stops in the region. A friendly tour guide (just practicing her english) meet us just inside the gate and lead us through two museums. Then to the government house which had about 8 chinese dressed in period costumes. Through this was the gate to China, which you even in the Han days needed the proper paperwork to get through. After the gate, to get to the only original structure, the watchtower you could take a bus (10 Yuan) or a camel (40 yuan). Since we're riding camels tomorrow we decided on the bus. The watchtower was used much like the watch towers in the Lord of the Ring - Return of the King. If someone saw danger they would light a fire on one watch tower which would be relayed back to the army and government headquarters. The view from up there was amazing. Beside the oasis' the desert stretched out in all directions. If someone told me if I walked out into it with silk on the other side would be people willing to buy it, for profit, I'm not sure I would go. It looked formitable and the heat was amazing. We still didn't feel the sweat due to the wind, but we were already drained, and in a brake in the breeze could feel the oven affect.
After getting lead through the milk run (set of gift shop rooms one after the other selling all sorts of stuff) we left for the last stop on our adventure. The 1000 Buddha caves. We drive through the desert to this little patch of green, which turns out to be 80 foot high trees, 50 feet down in a little valley. This caves were very similar to the caves at Mogao, same period just hardly visited. These caves were smaller and the statues were mostly missing a arm or a head or something. However we got better looks at the artwork as we could get closer, and didn't feel as rushed as we did at Mogao. Not to mention the greatly reduced price. I wouldn't say not to go to Mogao and do these caves instead, it is just these caves were a good addition to see as well as the Mogao caves.
We returned to the hotel at 5:30 exhausted and napped till 7, when we enjoyed a dinner of Chinese style fried potatoes, fried rice with vegetables, and stirfried tomatos and califlower. Tomorrow we work on getting a train ticket to Turpan and go to the sand dunes and ride camels.
Tyson and Sara
1 comment:
I saw a bit on the news about flooding in Western China, so I'm glad to see that you guys are ok!
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