Dunhuang, Jiayuguan mad bus ride to the start of the Silk Road.

Journal entry 10 September 2010 
Today is critical as we want to see the "Valley of One Thousand Buddhas" the "Magoa Caves" and travel 450 km to the start of the Silk Road at Jiayuguan Fort the end of the great Wall of China. 
Time is running out for us as we only have two days left and we want to visit the city Zhangye where Marco Polo spent a year waiting for  permission to enter the court of Ghengis Khan. And we gotta book a flight out of Lanzhou which is another 12 hours bus ride from Zhangye. 

The Magoa Caves, Dunhuang, Dansu Province, China

The day dawned bright and not too hot as we are in the desert oasis on the edge of the Tuklakaman Desert. It is really !!xx that the Chinese do not stir early. We try to leave early and the first buses and shops do not open till 9 or 10 It is virtually impossible to get going early.
Now last night we had a travel agent knock on our door and demand we go on her bus to the caves. The deal was a tour of the caves and a bus ride there and back. We were not amused. She was very aggressive.  More on that in a moment.
For now we focus on brekkie and flight tickets out of Lanzhou to Beijing for 2 days time. We find a cafe that serves an egg brekkie (not noodles) and some sort of black  stuff called coffee. (Citt is tonguing for a cappuccino). More importantly in the corner of the cafe is a computer that works. So we book on line a flight ticket Lanzhou - Beijing for late on the 12th. Dunno how we will get there. 
(yeah I know wing it).

The 35 meter high Buddha carved from the cliff

Now for the caves. We find the locals run a bus out to the caves and back for 10y and the tour is 35y. Total 45y. The aggressive agent wanted 300y each. Yep gotta watch it when you are foreign can be bloody expensive. 
The bus for Jiayuaguan leaves on the hour every hour so we allow 4 hours for the Cave Tour.
We are not happy as we have realised that this is one of the wonders of the ancient world and we only allow 2 hours to see it but in hindsight there are 240 caves and they only allow visitors into 10 and the tour takes 1.5 hours and no photos or free walking. So there is no reason to stay longer. The monks caves are a long walk and we are not real interested in them but you may be if you go.

Gate to Dunhuang

The caves have been occupied for 1800 years and most are hand made to the size of a small auditorium. The standing Buddha covered by the terrace in the photo is reputed to be the 2nd biggest in the world carved from the cliff and covered by the roof 35 metres high it is open for visitors. Just awesome.

Highway signs

We caught our bus for Jiayuguan and we found out it is a 5 hour ride so we are going to be short of time to photograph the fort which is a disappointment to us.

East gate keepers office to fort

East gate to fort

Incredible the bus took 4 hours and we arrive Jiayuguan at 6.00 with about 1.5 hours light but where is the fort. 
We are in a huge industrial city with lots of traffic and stuff. Luck has it our taxi is aware of our destination and we make it with time to spare.
This marks the outer boundary of the Han Empire 12th century and the end of the great wall. From here anyone who passed through the gates heading west were either expelled from the Empire travellers or merchants. From here on to the West it was uncharted territory controlled by warlords and heathens uncharted territory deserts mountain passes bandits and thieves. 

West gate entering the Empire traveling East.

The bluestone cobbles at the gates had deep pits from countless wagon wheels, the walls of the fort were scratched deep and along the edge of the fort were the spaces in the bricks were timber holes for lean too's where  merchants stalls and houses would have stood. 
We stood very very still dreaming listening to the sound of exhausted camels & donkeys There was beautiful string music coming from the camp fires. Soft sounds of languages long gone, relating tales of mystical mountains, cities over the desert. Kashgar, Bukara, Kiev, Smyrna, Damascus, Liban, Cairo, Bactria, Kabul, Peshawar, Lahore, Delhi, Somakand, Penjikent and Konstantinople. Stories of heroics, travelers tales, great feats. 
The soft unmistakable smell of pot and hash on the wind mixed with the smell of the cooking pots of curry, garlic, five spice and exotic spices from Thailand Persia and Turkey. 

The West gate. The last gate to the known world. Jiagugan Fort the start of a traders journey through uncontrolled lands. 

We were disturbed by traders brushing past turbans, capes, kaftans of exotic colour, Taji men in scarf and tunic and the cossack with high leather boots, Mongols in dells, Kazaki, Urghur, Persians, Heavy set Arabs in white tunics with horses to trade. Women passed by with water tureens on their heads, plying their wares. we heard the sounds and wails of the slaves ready for the market in the morning. The unmistakable sound of the soldiers swords, sabers and the smell of stale urine and sweat. 

Sunset on the West Gate Jiayugauan fort. Photo: Citt Williams

We took one last snap in the last light, looked at each other, wiped a tear off each other. 
Citt and I had travelled so far on the Silk Road. It is a long exciting journey from the Mediterranean to Jiayuguan in China. Covering high mountain plateaus deserts and ancient cities en route.


The light is gone and it is time to depart this time forgotten fort trading post 
We hear the sounds of the Motor-way it is 4 lanes heading West.


It is not how you start but how you finish. A long journey is many steps






They say the Fort was so well engineered that only one brick was over ordered and that brick sits above the West gate.


Tomorrow the last days 48 hours travel.

The bus ride to remember.

Journal entry 9 September 2010
Arrived Hemi by train early morning then a bus to the oasis of Dunhuang to visit the extraordinary Magoa Buddhist Caves  4th - 14th century home to the greatest collection of ancient scripts and paintings. We plan to visit and move on fast as our time is running out. We depart on the 13th from Beijing and Tianjin and we still have a lot to explore. We are contemplating flights we are never going to make it. The distance is killing us. Read on. 

Our bus from Hemi to Dunhuang

We arrived in Hemi after 5 hours in a hard sleeper. Citt freeked out thinking we had gone past our stop in the middle of the night-morning. 
It is first light as we leave the train at Hemi and walk out of the station. Hemi station is like all Asian rail stations, bursting with humanity. The surrounding shops in the square sell the necessities for long rail journeys with the usual noodle shops.  (yup it is brekkie time) Citt points to a picture on the wall and that is our brekkie. (Yup noodles again) Ugh!  But cost 8Y about $1.20. (Dad get with the program)

The highway A1

The rock strewn toll road

We take stock and have a team session (Me slurping noodles all over my shirt).We realize we have a 7 hour trip ahead of us on a bus. And we want to visit the desert hills of Dunhuang in daylight. We did not know where the bus station was or how to get there. But as always we wing it. You bet! Grab a taxi and show him our lonely planet and all would be good. No taxis. Ooops. --- Finally rounded one up. Travel a good 50 minutes reach our bus station and the bus leaves for Dunhuang in 35 minutes, perfect. The fare is an incredible $4 obviously the tourist police have not been here! The bus is modern and clean the seat jockey puts us in the best seat in  view of the road. I am not sure in an asian bus that is a good thing? I can see death coming faster I think it may be better if I just died without seeing the huge trucks and stuff coming at me. (wimp dad)

The road 

Our journey was not without drama. The toll police took a toll for a road that was not there, Incredible, just a sand and boulder track with wall to wall trucks and stuff, no road and they have a toll gate. Our jockey got so upset, Citt and I enjoyed the shouting match. Wow we thought they were going to kill each other. 
We travelled nearly all day dodging trucks loaded with water melons and tomatoes. Our bus had the best klaxon horn. Did you hear us in Australia? We eventually arrived in Dunhuang kissed the earth and found a hotel. 

 Dunhuang is situated on the edge of the Tuklukaman desert, incredibly a spring feeds the crescent moon lake There is a 12th century pagoda with sacred buildings ringed by sand hills 1350 meters high. This is a famous place on the Silk Road. Just imagine ancient traders with caravans setting off and coming in from the desert and with all sorts of goods. Camels donkeys and mules being watered and traders selling and leasing camels for the onward journey. The road forks here. One route is over the desert the other is around the desert. The one over the desert was abandoned in the 16th century when most of the oasis dried up and the road was too dangerous. Global warming has been around for 300 years but it is accelerating in these parts. The lake is only 30% full.

The sun was fading as we arrived we threw our bags into the room and headed out to capture  sunset on the Crescent Moon lake and the sand hills. We did not make the sunset but enjoy the awesome snap of the crescent moon lake, enjoy. 

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We visit the valley of a thousand buddhas tomorrow,

Turpan. My dream comes true. A natural wonder.

Journal entry 8 September 2010.
Our aim today is to get to Turpan and onto the train for Hemi.  Hemi is the closest train station for our onward journey to Duanbuang arguably the most important stop along the Silk Road.    Our train departs Turpan station at 01.30 tomorrow. 

Tuyoq ancient village. Historic oasis on the silk road.

Turpan represents to me the wonder of the Silk Road. I first read about it in Paul Theroux's book "Ride the Iron Rooster" and never ever thought I would see it. The dream comes true. To explain, the area is served by 5000 kms of underground irrigation channels  built by hand 2000 years ago, 80 meters deep in some places fed by gravity, designed by Persian engineers. The result is the vegetable and grain bowl of Western China.
Maybe our planners on the MIA could learn some lessons from the ancient engineers of Persia?

Hotel Tarum Urumqui

To start it was a real struggle to get out of the Tarum Petroleum Hotel which is my idea of a backpackers paradise. Brekkie (not bloody noodles) then a taxi to the bus station for a 3 hour journey to the oasis town of Turpan. Little did we know this was to be one of the most satisfying days of our journey with surprises in store.
After travelling through an area fenced off for demolition, we arrived at the local bus station. Guess who lived in the fenced off areas?
Our bus left on time. Back on travellers terms. 
Luck was with us. On this bus was a young Urghur man travelling to Turpan to see his folks then returning to Beijing university. We chatted for an hour or so.  He gleaned a lot of information from us. In return he proceeded to organise our day.


So it was. 
A taxi met us at the bus stop and whisked us off to -

Touyoq an ancient oasis town 80 kilometres from Turpan.

The ancient oasis town of Tuyoq

The ancient irrigation systems of Turpan (karaz) 5000 kms of tunnels.

The grape restaurants of Turpan fed by the ancient irrigation system.

Grape arbors to beat the summer roast

Jiaohe Ruins an amazing ancient ruins home to 6500 people. 2 AD-9AD

The ancient city of Jiaohe garrison town

The city map of Jioahe showing a natural moat created by the river

We had a full day soaking up the enormous historical information of this incredible place.  Our student, Colin, rang and directed the taxi to the city centre to meet him. We had a couple of hours spare and Colin wanted to make sure we got a taxi at the right price to the train as the station is 90 kilometers from the city centre. 

We walked the City and found a seat in the centre watching ballroom dancing on the rotunda, listening to music and generally people watching. Our presence created a lot of interest with the locals. They all wanted to talk English. In time Citt was approached by a person and he related some very sad stories to her. 

Colin also related the same stories of genocide and discrimination. It would be easy to become involved in their struggle but so dangerous. 
As we bid farewell I recall a conversation with a fellow snapper, Ron Uhlman in Brisbane. We discussed the people of this region and the fact that they just open their hearts and homes to you without reservation. 

Nearly forgot this is where the great man Marco Polo discovered noodles. They serve them thick, thin and some slimy ones made from rice. One place we went they even went so far as to hide the noodles under vegetables in the soup so I did not know. (Ugh Noodles I hate noodles.)

Altai Region-Cash cow. Paradise Alpine region

Journal: 5/6 September 2010 Jiadgeua Altai tourist village room #3145.
The reason we are here is to explore the Kansa Lake and  Hemu (Tuwa village) Altai. The area is alpine country bordering Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The Chinese government has a policy to make this a major tourist area with a new airport and tourist infrastructure. Citt is keen to take a look for professional interest. We spend 2 days visiting Kansa Lake and Hemu Village.

Kanas Lake. Altai

Room # 3145 Your intrepid travelers spend a night cold and bloody freezing. Fully clothed: thermals, jeans, cashmere pullover, socks, fleecy jacket in bed! The room is not heated and the price is the same as 5 star Beijing. 

Kanas lake and Friendship Peak

So here we go, tourism for the foreigners China style where everything is three times the price. Fine if you do not know (like on a package). But your intrepid travelers are mean and know the prices and it hurts. What hurts more is the fact that the locals do not share in the spoils. It all goes to Beijing.
Citt says "Our vow for this area of the journey is not to talk about the price" OK.  


Citt has a special connection to this country.  Shame it is spoiled by greedy operators in Beijing. BUT at the end she is right, as the people make us welcome with awesome hospitality.*

The area borders Russia, Mongolia and China. In fact if you stand on the pinnacle of Friendship Peak you can move with one foot in each country if you have three feet that is.


Our first move after cracking the ice from our noses is to have a "cuppa" and then find some brekkie. 
Marc our driver delivers us to a noodle shop
Ugh, I hate noodles especially for Brekkie.
('Stop moaning Dad')

Kanas River

Belly full. The reason we came here is to explore the region. Citt has had several journeys to the other side of the border and she is keen to see what the Chinese are doing with this area. The Altai mountain range is an important meteorological scientific area for the Russians and Kazakhis. It is also rich in ecological and ethnology being inhabited since 7000 BC ( see standing stones of the Altai, this blog page 1 toolbar). Russia's highest mountain (twin peaked Mt Beluka  4,506m)  is in this range.  It is wilderness UNESCO protected but not so here.

Tuwa horse people

The area is inhabited by the Tuwa people these people are on both sides of the border.  Citt says they are wild mountain people. There are numerous lakes in the region but the most famous is Kanas lake created by a glacier that melted in three different eras. The lake wall is created by moraine from the glacier fed from Friendship Peak. The area is a major tourist attraction for the Chinese. An entry fee is charged. Then another fee for the ride to the top. And another for a ride on a boat on the lake. (see what I mean") (Shut it Dad.)
We hired horses from the Tuwa hoping they would get the money. ( Dad I will belt you.)


All this apart, the area is Alpine timbered, steep and mountainous. Snow leopard, wolf, fox, ermine and wild horse roam the mountains. Poachers are prevelant. See the photos of the pelts. Eco and animal lovers do not look. The area is sub zero for most of the year. 
I will let the images tell the story.


* I mentioned Marc our driver BUT what I did not mention was our interpreter on the end of the phone. Her name is Cocco. Every time we made a change Marc rang Cocco.  It turned out Cocco was a school teacher and she wanted to meet us. A dinner date was established and we sat down with 6 colorful locals and had the best meal. They wanted to know all about us.   Anyway we made it to the plane for our 12 midnight flight to Urumqui. This is what traveling is all about, right? People.

Urumqui does history repeat?

Journal entry dated 8 September 2010 Urumqui North West China

Urumqui (Wuloomqui) is a City of approx 2,500,000 

To the future of the region

 Established 648 AD to collect taxes from the Silk Road Caravans entering and leaving the Empire. 
Qing Dynasty 1644-1912 the Emperor Quianlong In 1755 ordered the mass extermination of all Dzungars estimated at 1,000,000 people. one writer described the resulting desolation in what is now northern Xinjiang as: "an empty plain for a thousand li, with no trace of man.

State farms set up in 1759 with fertile pastures and plentiful water. It took generations to recover. 
The city was called Dihua and is the capital of Xianjing province. 
Following the founding of the Peoples Republic of China the ciity was renamed Urumqui. 
The name means "beautiful pasture" in the Mongolian language of the Dzungar people.

Highway out of Urumqui

The city was the site of major rioting in July 2009 due to conflicts between Han and Uyghur ethnic groups in which nearly 200 people were left dead; most of the victims were Han-Chinese. SO it is said and reported.

Reports of extensive police retaliation against the Uyghur minority have circulated ever since, despite the Chinese government having shut down access to emails and overseas phone calls. I might add as well as all social interactive sites such as face book, twitter, linkdn and my blog, etc. source Wikipedia.

Citt has a keen interest in this area through her work with the UNDP in Russia and Kazakhstan and this finds us in the Institute of Art and Science talking with Professors about problems ethnic, ecological, social and geography of the area. The area has 14 ethnic groups discrimination in the work place and in every day life is evident and the areas around the International market place are dangerous to wander. The Moslems are blamed but to us it seemed the blame was to be placed seriously on the Beijing government due to their heavy policies. It really takes two to make an argument. They have huge problems with water and the tourist influx (development and infrastructure being out of step with the environment)/. The area is a rich source of oil and gas.

Is this just another regime that China is going to have to endure. 

I have a saying learnt forrm my trading. 

"If you want to look into the future look into the past". 

I do hope 1755 does not happen again.

Citt finds a friend

On a brighter note The Autonomous Museum has the largest collection of the mummies from the Western Deserts dating from 5000BC and we were keen to see them and the ethnological history of the area. It is believed this area is the birthplace of the American Indians and other American tribes.

WE did wander into the International Market area for interest. 

Our hosts in Urumqui were hospitable and enlightened us with images, and related stories. We finished our stay with a sumptuous Banquet traditional hot-pot with Professor and students.

Tomorrow we travel to Turpan (Tulufan) and the Karzan irrigation areas.