Sun Village Hotel Dunhuang

... were amazing, and I will never forget the most wonderful reclining Buddha, as well as the incredible frescoes - the colours still so bright, due to the dry conditions.
Photography is not allowed inside the grottoes, so the photos I have included come from:
http://www.chinamuseums.com/du nhuang_mogao.htm

Dinner was a great Mongolian Hotpot;

and then the last overnight train - to Turpan.

... only see a handful of caves. The caves suffered badly at the hands of an earthquake so to support them new fronts were built but these looked like 60's style urban concrete so ruined any impression of gaining a feel for what they looked liked. The frescos inside the caves were amazing and there was a really cool HUGE Buddha but overall we left a bit disappointed.

Time for another long train journey.

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 ...

We spent an uneventful night in another faceless Chinese Hotel eating great food from local restaurants. Note to anyone wanting to lose weight, try a total chinese diet, it works. The morning dawned bright and clear and we set off to one of the major focal points of this part of the trip. The Mogao Caves.

Finally a tourist stop for the Tombies. Simply put this is one of the greatest deposits of Buddhist art in the world. As ...

... 1495;ות מ5 ס"מ של צעיף, אבל זו התחלה.
492;מצלמה מדהימ 92; ומוזר לחשוב שמה שהיה לפני שלוש שנ ...

... caminets erratics, per les arestes i a banda i banda; de tant en tant una emprempta de cos sencer, i sempre puntets de potes lleugeres que amb prou feines toquen terra. Els humans ni rodoloen ni voleien, ni deixem simples puntets de gravetat aigualida, pero podem baixar a la plana dibuixant els nostres camins pel sorral verge, corrent per pendents de 45 graus, enfonsant els peus nus fins a mitja canya, a la sorra fina i fresca de finals de tarda.

... wurde, aus einer langen Erfahrung in verwandten Branchen.Wir sind der Marktführer in China Zeichen der ...

... to the hotel, we had an okay night's rest. Our hotel room was pretty shabby, with communal toilets and showers, but what can you expect for like 20RMB/night? It did the job. Oct 1 - We woke up and met the driver (Shi Peng) and headed for Yumen Pass (Jade Gate Pass). It's not very interesting. Really just a big square building in the middle of nowhere, but it's an important historical location. It was crucial as a water station on ...

... to get off to sleep and did for a little while. We stopped though and they sorted out the problem, a bit of welding. I was pleased, as I had been worried about being stranded in the middle of nowhere. Thursday the 14th of September 2006. Into the desert and first views of the Silk Road. I slept really well; I was surprised to wake up in a town. Even with the delays we were in Dunhuang on time 07:00. My book showed two bus stations but I was at the one opposite the hotel ...

... Hoehlen - Grossartige Kunst ueber Jahrhunderte In der Umgebung von Dunhuang gibt es einiges zu sehen. Aber wofuer dieser Ort wohl am beruehmtesten ist, sind die Mogao Hoehlen in der Gobi Wueste etwas ausserhalb der Stadt. Die Hoehlen zaehlen zu den grossartigsten Zeugnissen buddhistischer Kunst. An unserem dritten Tag in Dunhuang besichtigen wir diese und wir sind begeistert. Der Eintrittspreis von 120,- Yuan (12,- Euro) schmerzt zwar, aber es lohnt sich ...