Maiji Shan
Tianshui and Maiji ShanThe last segments of the trip require longer train rides.Tianshui which is a must see stop for the grottoes at Maiji Shan is not on a high speed rail line.Lanzhou to Tianshui is a six hour ride.Although we had “soft seat” this train is still not as comfortable a higher quality first class seating. Less leg room. Otherwise, it does give me lots of opportunity to work.Bless the portable computer with long life battery.
Bingling Si Grotto
Bingling Si Leaving Xiahe, we drive to take a boat to Bingling Si. The caves which are on the Yellow River have been partially flooded due to a dam built across the Yellow river creating a large lake. Our guide Lydia knew of a dock closer to the temple that would require shorter boat ride and lower cost. To find it, we had to navigate an unpaved, rutted dirt road off the main road.
To Lanzhou and Beyond, Xiahe
Bullet train from Zhangye to Lanzhou. Lanzhou is a large city, a hub for transport to western China or Tibet. Train station was new and fortunately had escalators. No lugging baggage up and down stairs. My back appreciated the rest. Concern is that the station is so large that we will not find driver.
The Power of Hello - A brief story about a special person
The Power of “Hello”
Joann is quite a unique person, having agreed to this journey along the silk Road, sharing my vision and accepting my assurances as sufficient to embark. Still, as a reasonable person she began with some concern. It had not passed in Urumqi, and by Kuqa she had gained some confidence that the plans were working. Hotels, while not perfect were more than adequate, we were finding restaurants, and the sights were more than we had imagined.
Zhangye, China
A brief diatribe. The hotel, Zhangye Donghe International Hotel, was a problem from the start. It is claimed to be a five star hotel, but maybe this was the American kindergarden star system, where everyone gets stars. Firstly the reservations were incorrect, secondly they wanted a 1200 RMB deposit, quite high in my experience, and they did not accept any international credit cards. This was the first five minutes.
Jiayuguan
Another early wake up to catch an 0730 train from Dunhuang to Jiayuguan. Lucy and driver picked us up at 0700 and we got to the station with plenty of time. Joann and I who want to get places with plenty of time to spare were panicked. We cleared the security at the terminal and were on the train at 0730.
Uighur Hat on Rich
There have been some requests to see what the Uighur hat looks like on a person.
More Mogao Caves - A Second Day Tour
Mogao Caves - Second Day I was invited by our guide Lucy to give a brief slide show of prior caves visits to the English speaking guides at Dunhuang. I fortunately had photos from this trip but also stored photos on my computer from prior trips. They could identify each of my photos, from Dunhuang and beyond. They really do study their craft.
Camel Ride
Fun in the Desert - In the afternoon of we took advantage of another of Dunhuang attraction, the sand dunes and a camel ride.
At first look they are an intimidating beast. Tall, very angular bodies, long snouts and big teeth. There were literally hundreds of camels in the pen in no particular order. We had the ticket and wandered into the pen as directed and stood around with no one paying particular attention.
Western Thousand Buddha Caves - Dunhuang
Western Thousand Buddha Caves. Yulin caves were on the agenda today, but due to road problems we changed to this grotto. We think these caves are parallel to the Mogao, but this is not clear. Met the director Mr. Fan.
