Youth Hotel Jiayuguan

... given melon and water by them, and had hotel rooms found for us when the local hotel staff have been less than co-operative. It is amazing how, with a little police help, a hotel that formerly had no space manages to suddenly have lots.

On the subject of hotels, the sleeping arrangements crossing the vast tracts of Xinjiang have been somewhat varied. A selection of our (very well hidden) campsites have included: behind rocks, behind bushes, behind sand dunes, in a shack ...

The trains in China have been clean and comfortable. We are now quite far to the west of China and this is the furthest extent of the Great Wall, which we will see later tday.
Our first visit was to the Jiayuguan fort, which had been the last outpost of the Chinese Empire since the Han Dynasty. This fort was built in the Ming Dynasty in 1372.

The setting was dramatic; with the snow ...

... film 'The Exorcist', et s'est mise a essayer de frapper l'homme avec son manche de parapluie comme une dechainee pendant que sa famille essayait de la retenir. On n'a pas vu la fin de la bataille car ils ont poursuivi le tout en sortant dehors du site, mais on peut vous dire que c'etait tres perturbant!

Immediatement cette merveilleuse scene, nous avons ou aller visiter une temple dans le fort. Nous avons pu y observer des images peintes sur ...

... and her family in order to leave. After an ice cream I was on a bit of a sugar high and so decided to cycle to a restored section of the great wall. Despite having visited Beijing several times, I have never actually been to the parts of the wall near Beijing. In fact, before I went to Jiayuguan, I'd never been to any part of the great wall. Which is peculiar given my obsession with walls. The nice security guard at the fort gave me some rather vague directions out to the wall. Not ...

A quick stop in Jiayugaun (嘉峪关) to see the end of the Great Wall. Driving through the area you can still see the original wall. But the Jiayuguan Fort (嘉峪关城ઌ 4;), 61 yuan entrance fee, has been rebuilt. Jiayuguan isn't anything special, but if your interested in following the silk road it makes a pleasant stop.

... more stunning. A collection of around 494 caves with the most beautiful Buddhist artwork dating back to 600AD. I was surprised by the amount that was still intact, yes some had been restored but still there was so much and so full of colour. One of the caves had a buddha in it that was 35 meters long, his feet were taller than me...he was partly carved and partly sculptured but what a job. It was all very impressive and especially after having read the history of it ...

... Dan feels nauseous-from eating saltine crackers too quickly, apparently-but still takes pictures like a pro. The other people on our tour appear in the golden shafts of light piercing the tree canopy, posing with colored scarves and silly poses, reminding us of elves. If calling it an enchanted forest weren't so clichéd, that's what I'd call it. Sitting on the bus on the way to E Ji Na we congratulated ourselves for even finding it. Last year our friend Winnie's friend ...

Not a lot to do except go to the fort and the overhanging great wall. The fort was way overpriced, 100 RMB. The forbidden city in Beijing doesn't cost that much. Well, it was interesting enough I guess and the land scape was very different from eastern China. On the train ride in I woke up to the ...

... packed it all up in a suitcase Lord she took it away to Italy I'm walkin' down your highway Just as far as my poor eyes can see I'm a gonna get rich All the way to the Statue of Liberty I kept trying the ignition on the off chance it would start working again. I walked for several hours as big trucks flew past. A police car drove by, but showed no signs of stopping. A sign that said "Exit 2 KM" slowly came into existence. I tried the ...

... which is on a cliff overlooking a river and a small replica town. We went down to the town replica to explore what life was like way back when. To get there we had to cross the river on a really long cable suspension footbridge that was really shaky. Agatha was scared to death, but she made it! Once on the other side, we found some giant marble statues of horses and Buddhas and took some pictures with them. We also ...