Xi’an. What a great
city! Putting to one side briefly the
incredible Terracotta Warriors which have made this one of China’s most
internationally well-known cities, the city has a fantastic vibe, great sights
and markets and is a very easy place to spend a couple of days exploring.
Xi’an marks the official start of the Silk Road, an ancient
trading route that we will be following on our journey west. It was more than goods that flowed along its
many paths for thousands of years – ideas, religions, technologies – all of
these were shared along the Silk Road as well.
In Xi’an you can enjoy fantastic (and cheap!) food in the Muslim
Quarter, where dumplings, noodles, mutton stew, meat skewers and even peanut
brittle are all made in street side stalls and small simple restaurants. The energy in the market is incredible, and
as the vendors aren’t pushy at all, wandering the streets and stalls can be
done at leisure.
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| Drum Tower |
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| Night market |
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| Making noodles |
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| Skewers |
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| Nuts & dried fruit |
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| Private dining |
Of course the Terracotta Warriors are a must-see.
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| Frank & Julie |
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| Rob |
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| Ongoing restoration |
Lanzhou was our next stop, mainly a transit point, but it
does have a fantastic night market.
Everything from skewers of chicken wings, lamb or calamari; hot pots
with vegetables and noodles; goats heads and innards; and an amazing array of
live seafood (amazing given that Lanzhou is the “bulls eye” of China, right in
the middle!). A few of the group braved
the seafood with no ill effects, enjoying a delicious stir-fry of razor clams
and spring onions, others stuck to the Chinese hamburgers and chips, familiar
yet definitely locally spiced, and a big hit.
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| Mike meeting the elder statesmen |
To the mountains we go, our destination the Tibetan enclave
of Xiahe (pronounced something similar to “shark-her”). Our hotel was agreed to have the best beds in
China so far (Chinese beds do tend to be a little on the firm side!), the local
ladies on the corner had the best bread in China, and the nearby Snowy Mountain
Café was a popular favourite with its yak pizza and yak biryani, as well as
copious quantities of red wine. Even a
power failure did little to dampen spirits when the Great Wall Dry Red kept
flowing.
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| Traffic jam! A couple of hours delay... |
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| How to cope with a delay? Gin is the answer! |
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| Amazing sunshine through the clouds (sneaking suspicion there was a camera setting at play here...) |
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| Gin club in Xiahe - Helen, Carol, Mel, Sue, Bev & Kirsten |
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| In the Snowy Mountain Cafe |
The Labrang Monastery is a wonderful, spiritual place to
wander, with stunning decoration, and devout pilgrims and monks walking the
kora, the route around the monastery, spinning the prayer wheels. A beautiful spot, and we enjoyed beautiful
clear blue skies during our stay, encouraging many to wander off into the hills
on foot or on bike.
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| Julie, Frank, Carol & David T |
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| Prayer wheels |
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| Looking down into Xiahe town |
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| The monastery complex |
Lyn, Bev, Pam and Mandy took advantage of the
glorious weather conditions and took a taxi ride out to the Sangke Grasslands
in the hope of seeing some wildlife. In
their words: ”Pam negotiated a horse ride with a local woman for herself
(the rest of us declined) and we were taken to her abode, and treated to a bowl
of sweetened yak yoghurt, before she allowed us to visit her yaks in the
paddock. While waiting for the taxi to return, we looked through the local
stalls, buying yak tooth necklets, and bracelets. On the return journey, we
stopped beside the road, and bargained with a local selling honey. With bees
flying overhead Pam haggled, but was only able to save 10 yuan, coming away
with a bottle of fresh honey to be consumed at our bush camps! The taxi driver
was very accommodating, and willingly stopped for camera shots along the way. In
all, it was a magic, unforgettable, and enjoyable experience - one that will be
treasured!”
One of the joys of overlanding is the places and people you
see in between the destinations. Driving
through the villages surrounding the Lijuiaxia Dam was one of these
experiences, glimpses into a lifestyle so very different from our own. As the weather gets cooler we are seeing
families preparing for the winter months, stockpiling wood and grains,
harvesting crops and tending to their sheep.
Living simply, with none of the luxuries we take for granted.
We were here to visit the Bingling Si grottoes, renowned for
their Buddhist art dating back for centuries, and in more recent times, for the
incredibly friendly monk, the last remaining attendant at the monastery high up
the valley. While still impressive,
compared with the art work we had seen at the Yungang Grottoes (and that which
we would later see at the Mogao Grottoes outside Dunhuang), the colours had
faded more, and time and environment had damaged the carvings and frescoes to a
greater extent. However, the boat trip
to the caves, and the ride up to valley in small carts (that appeared
completely unsuitable for the terrain, yet handled it with ease) make this a
fantastic experience in its own right.
Stunning scenery during the drive, and then a lovely peaceful monastery
presided over by the most charming monk, it was a privilege to visit him.
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| Bingling Si boat trip |
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| Interior decoration in the monastery |
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| Carol, our favourite monk and Kirsten |
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| Penelope went for a boat trip as well! |
Our first bushcamp – a momentous moment for any overland
expedition, and one for which the crew particularly pray for good weather! And happy days, that’s exactly what we
got! Sunny skies, a starry night, and a
campfire, accompanied by a yak stew and Frank on the guitar, it was a lovely
start to our bushcamping experiences on this journey west, and left everyone
keen for more.
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| Collecting firewood - Sophie leading the charge! |
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| Fishing lights at night on the dam |
A brief stop in Zhangye where a visit to the Giant Buddha
left even Pat impressed, and then we headed for the edge of civilisation. Well, at least that’s what it was considered
to be in times of old, with only “savages” further west. We visited the fort, which has an excellent
Great Wall museum. A short distance from
the fort we drove through a gap in the wall, and set up camp with views over
the “overhanging” great wall in the distance.
Another lovely meal (BBQ pork steaks with oyster mushrooms), a campfire
and more singing from Frank and a bit of star gazing, another lovely bushcamp.
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| At the fort |
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| The Great Wall |
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| David H, Lyn, Pat, David T, Sue, Bruce, Jane, Helen & Carol |
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| Great Wall bush camp |
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| Julie & Frank |
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| Fantastic fresh ingredients from the market |
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| Kirsten cooking up a storm |
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| Campfire happiness |
And so the next day we found ourselves leaving Kirsten
behind for a day (to get visa extensions) and going beyond the edge of
civilisation… and what we found was
really quite civilised – the city of Dunhuang – although, our journey wasn’t
all that civilised, with first a dust storm and then a rain storm (in the
desert!). After arriving, we headed to
the night market, disappointed to find that the dumpling man’s stall was closed,
although the Chinese hamburger man must have been delighted with the situation
as he definitely came out a winner!
On our second day in Dunhuang, with Kirsten safely returned
(and very grateful for the truck having travelled across to Dunhuang by bus),
we headed to the Mogao Grottoes which impressed with their stunning Buddhist
artwork and carvings (sorry, no photos allowed inside!). Pam was
particularly pleased to be able to celebrate her birthday with a visit to the
caves, and we all enjoyed a very Chinese birthday cake. Pam generously put some money behind the bar
at the café in the courtyard of the hotel, and there was much merriment! Rob even got dressed up for the occasion in
partial disguise which later thrilled the ladies at the night market while he
snacked on a poor sheep’s appendage…
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| Mogao Caves |
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| Pam and her birthday cake |
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| Rob ready for a party |
China is a huge country.
Really, really big. And never is
that demonstrated more clearly than in the journey from Dunhuang to Kashgar via
Turpan. There have been huge
improvements in the road in recent years which has reduced our drive times
substantially, by days even. But there
is still a big distance to cover with not a huge amount to see along the
way. There is some amazing scenery as
you come out of Turpan, and the roads themselves are interesting for the
driving techniques and incredible loads that are transported by road, but
generally these days are best spent reading, playing cards, blogging, sorting
through photos, or perhaps snoozing. And
of course being grateful that we are able to do it in a couple of days in the
comfort of Penelope, rather than several weeks on the back of a camel!
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| Gin Club in the desert - Carol, Helen & Sue |
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| Snow capped mountains above the desert |
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| Kirsten seems to be winning this argument! |
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| The sights we see on the road... |
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| Anything goes when it comes to road transport |
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| Taking up both lanes in the tunnel |
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| Good advice seen in a service station toilet |
Our major stop off on this drive is the city of Turpan,
another oasis city thanks to the karez underground
irrigation canals that bring water from the Tian Shan mountains. It was an important stop on the Silk Road,
and the Jaiohe city ruins evidence the population that used to live here. We visited the ruins, and also the karez –
being a holiday weekend, the sights were busy to say the least, just getting
out of the carpark took a bit of pushing and a whole lot of patience!
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| Sophie in guide mode with Lyn, Bruce, Mandy, Tom, Jane, Julie & Frank at Jaiohe ruins |
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| Carol, Helen & Pam |
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| Rob stemming the tide so we can read the explanation of the karez system! |
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| The karez did have a disproportionate amount of shopping vs museum! |
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| Dubious statuettes... |
From Turpan we headed back into the Taklamakan Desert, and
then, hey presto, we were in Kashgar.
Our last stop in China, we could clearly see a huge change in clothing, food and culture that signal our entrance into Central Asia. With a couple of days to explore, visits to
the Id Kah mosque, Sunday Market (despite the name, it is open every day) and
the streets of the old town were all on the agenda, with some very keen to
purchase some carpets and ceremonial knives to add to already bulging bags.
And there we have it.
After 30 days and 6,500km of exploration and adventure in China, it is
time for us to say goodbye to Sophie, our local guide and to cross the Torugart Pass and head to (literally) pastures new in
Kyrgyzstan. How to summarise our time in China? Well, that might be need a whole blog to itself!
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| Pam & Sophie |
