Dunhuang

An oasis town and once an important hub of the silk road, Dunhuang has little left of its historical character. However, out of town lies a wealth of fascinating sites.
Arriving at the train station in the dark, cold early morning, I was greeted by a wall of taxi drivers all competing for passengers. Behind them dozens and dozens of old volkswagons were lined up, nose to bumper. I found a driver and he led me to his car... Now, how were we going to get out? There was a lot of impatient shouting and manouvering of cars through tiny spaces until we were free.
In the morning I explored the Mogao caves; over 700 buddhist caves built into the sandstone in the Gobi desert. I found another westerner (German man) and we had a tour together. The frescoes and statues inside were inredible and so we preserved given many are over 1000 years old.
Later, I went to the sand dunes where the original oasis is. The chinese have managed to give it a slightly theme park air to it but once I had scaled the first dune (via the stairway to heaven), the views were incredible. I even joined a group of chinese to do a tandem rubber ring down the other side, flying through the sand very fast. For dinner I tried donkey which, if you're wondering, tastes like roast beef.
The next day I took slowly and spent the afternoon sitting on the rooftop of the Silk Road Hotel with Tess and Francesca, a mother and daughter team who are cycling the Silk Road. Very admirable. They are lovely, interesting people with many stories to share.Meer informatie