Jinlong Hotel Dunhuang

... Diamond Sutra, the first known printed book in the world - now in the British Museum.

Now, due to tourism and the general interest in the area, Dunhuang is again becoming an important place - with a new airport, a new casino [!] and a huge new station - all due to be completed in the next few years. So in a few years time....well, thank goodness we have missed out on those joys!

The ...

Dunhuang was our next stop along the Silk Road. It was a desert town where you could literately see huge sand dunes at the end of some of the roads. Our purpose there was to visit the Mogao Caves and although the caves that we saw were pretty impressive it was a bit of a disappointment. The caves were run in true Chinese tourist style. We had to have a guided tour, we could not take our cameras in and we ...

After Qinghai we left for the Gobi Desert and the city of Jiayuguan. Our first stop was Jiayuguan Fortress which is at the very end of the Great Wall. It acted as a border check station for any travelers going into or out of China. It was also attacked a few times by invaders. And they had all sorts of dangerous activities for us to try!! Refer to pictures for details.

Jiayuguan as a city though sucked. It was a pretty big city, but it was like there weren't enough ...

... as many Buddhist centres were completely destroyed. Based on what we have heard about Tibet, they may have been right. Perhaps one day these documents will be returned.

The Mogao caves are worth reading about if this is of interest to you; try Wiki for more information on the Harrison Fords of the past.

The following morning we wandered off again into the desert and headed off to Golmud.The Black Hole of China.

... br>
Au bord des Dunes, on se marrait bien des touristes chinois qui se mettaient des espèces de gros couvre pieds oranges hyper voyants qui leur montaient jusqu'aux genoux juste pour ne pas avoir de sable dans leurs souliers, ils avaient l'air ridicules et faisaient tellement 'touristes'. Nous on avait mis nos sandales, donc pas de problème, c'est comme se balader à la plage, et c'était plutôt plat au début ...

... 1504;ראה שאני אקפוץ היום לדיונ 93;ת שקצה העיר לצלם שקיעו 14; מדברי 93;ת עם המצלמ 92; החדשה.

... sun was fully up the headwind appeared. Stronger and gustier than I have ever experienced on a bike. Dangerous as well as the wind blew you across the road as you didn't have the strength to stay in the same spot. When the trucks were flying past it made it even worse. It felt like you were having a pillow fight, as on one hand the wind was hitting you in the face and then the trucks came past to give you another blow across. At two occasions I had to stop as it was too ...

... Signmaking, melden Sie machen, Summa, newstar, Omega-, Vinyl-schneider, Vinyl Cutter, Summagraphics, Graphtec ...

... little place on the side of the road. They had outdoor seating that was amidst their vineyard. It was nice, and we bought (stole?) some (a lot) of white grapes for the road. They were delicious! Then we went to the West Thousand Buddha Caves. There is little to see here. Many of the caves are closed and the ones that are open aren't very unique. If you are a Buddhist cave afficionado, these caves may hold some special significance ...

... to get different views and then headed down and met the others again. My companion gave me half of his coffee flavoured coke to drink when my water ran out. I was amazed at last a Chinese person who picks up rubbish. On the way back to the bus he bought a melon and got them to cut it up and gave me half. Then that was it goodbye back at the hotel. I was relieved, as I had got worried he was being a bit too nice, but he was just nice. I had some tea. Friday 15th of ...