Dunhuang (10-29)

The bus trip to Dunhuang took five hours. For the first four hours we were on a long distance coach. My seat was in the front; so I had great views out the dirty window. Mostly the landscape was the flat Gobi Desert. The snow-capped mountains were on the south side for a couple hours and lower mountains were on the north side part of the way. For the last hour of the journey, the ten of us left on the bus were put onto a local bus to take us the rest of the way to Dunhuang.

The big surprise was that the guesthouse at which I had a reservation was closed. Fortunately, the one next to it was open. Since it’s the low season, only one other room was occupied, and those guests had also planned to stay at the other guesthouse. But this one was good. It’s a replica of an old-style building with an open-roofed courtyard. The owner speaks English well and was very helpful. 

After checking into my room, I headed out for a walk along a path parallel to the sand dunes. The location near the dunes was the reason I had chosen the guesthouse. It was coming home time for the camels, and many groups of them were being taken home by their owners, most of whom rode motorcycles or bicycles. It was exciting to see my first camels in the desert. 

When they arrived home, they were put into their enclosures and given dried corn plants and/or grass. Now I knew where some of the loads of corn plants were going. 

Since it was sunset time, the lighting on the dunes was special.

Monday was my day at Mingsha Mountain Scenic Area, the sand dunes park near the guesthouse. Dunhuang is known for its huge sand dunes. In the morning, very few people were there. It was fun to watch the camels and their owners arriving. But I decided to walk and take a camel ride at sunset another day. 

I walked up one of the dunes on a well-used footpath. It was easier to walk up than I had thought it would be, as the footprints solidified the sand on the ridge and there wasn’t much slipping back with each step. 

At the top, I sat alone for over an hour. I could see a few other people enjoying doing that, too. It was perfect. I enjoyed the contours of the dunes and watching the lighting change as the sun moved.

When I was walking down, I noticed that there were more people and thought it must be about 3:00. It was 2:45. After that, there were short lines of people walking up and across the dunes. Nothing like it is during the main tourist season, I’m sure, but I was glad I had been there in the quiet morning.

In addition to the dunes, the scenic area is known for Crescent Lake, a natural spring named for its man-made shape. 

It has nice reflections of the mountain. It’s the “mountain play” area. From there, there are two ladders up a dune so people can walk straight up instead of taking the longer path. Late in the afternoon, I could hear a few motorized dune buggies, too, and was glad not to have had them earlier.  I read that there are sand slides, but I didn’t see them. Perhaps they are not there now that the main tourist season is over. At the lake, there are willows and poplars that are over 100 years old. One sign informed us that poplars can live for a thousand years, then stand for a thousand years after they die, and then it takes another thousand years for them to decay.

After my day on the dunes, I went to the city to pick up some snacks for the next couple days. I ended out at the Night Market, one of the places the city advertises for tourists. It’s a bit of a misnomer, as most of the area is open all day. The crafts and food vendors open in the late afternoon. One area has fruits, one had vegetables, and another had dried fruits. The last area has handicrafts and then a BBQ section. I had grilled veggies and noodle soup at one of the sidewalk cafes there. Later I found another section of the market where clothes and such items are sold.

Tuesday I joined a small group tour to Yardan Formations Geopark. I was glad Charley had mentioned it because I had thought about going there but wasn’t sure I wanted to pay the high cost of hiring a taxi for the whole day. The van driver picked me up at 7:00 AM and then picked up the eight other people. On the way to Yadan, we stopped at the remains of a fortress 

and the Dunhuang Great Wall. This section is from the Han Dynasty and was built in about 200 AD. Like the building I visited in Zhangye, it is special because it is not restored and it is amazing that it stands as it was so many years ago. You can see how it was constructed.

We arrived at Yardan Formations Geopark at 11:00, having driven through a flat part of the desert. 

There are shuttle buses that drive you to the three main viewpoints, which took an hour and a half. The park is famous for its rock formations jutting out of the desert. They reminded me of similar places I’ve been to in the U.S. I do like rock formations. One thing different about these is the vast quantity. 

One group is almost parallel lines of formations.

We left the park at 1:45 and arrived back in Dunhuang at 4:00. On the way back, it was quite windy and sand was blowing. I was glad it had started after our sightseeing. And I was glad it had been calm when I had my day on the dunes on Monday.

Wednesday was a slow day. I decided to stay in bed until the sun shone in the room at 9:00. While I was slowly eating breakfast, Charley told me that he had a couple going camel trekking that evening; so it was a good day for me to go. Therefore, I changed my plans and decided to go to the museum. However, it was closed. Charley had mentioned that it might close for lunch, but it still wasn’t open when I checked at 3:00. Later he went to the museum to read the sign and learned that it was closed for the season.

Since I couldn’t go to the museum, I walked around a bit. It was chilly when I left and I was wearing my winter hat, but soon the sun was shining and I realized that I’d forgotten my hat with a brim. So I decided to buy a new hat, as I thought I’d need it on the camel trek. Later the sky became overcast and I didn’t need the hat after all, but I now have a good hat with a brim that ties under the chin. When I was wandering around, I found the local market that’s on a different street than the night market. At one point when I stopped to cough. I heard someone call out “hello” and the man was showing me that they do foot massages a few shops down the street. So I decided to have one. Not only was it a great massage, it was a good way to pass the time until it was time for the camel trekking.

Camel trekking was great. Two other people made up the group—a man from England and his Chinese girlfriend. It was the sunset ride, but, since it was overcast, we knew there would be no sunset. We rode through a quiet part of the desert outside the scenic area for a little over an hour. We were the only people out there, but during tourist season many people go on the treks. 

In the first part of the trip we saw several fields of dead-for-the-season grape vines. 

Then we went through an area full of cemeteries for the local people. Areas for a family were plotted out with stones. The bodies are buried, not cremated. The guide told the Chinese woman that the local people believe that being buried lower is better; so they are on flat ground or in low basins. I found it fascinating. We also learned that people keep camels only for tourism purposes; if it weren’t a tourist business, they wouldn’t have the camels. They have from two to seven camels.

  

The first part of the desert we trekked across was flat and solid like cement. Then we went up the sandy dunes and into a basin surrounded by the dunes. There is very little vegetation in this area of the desert. This was our destination and was where the couple would be spending the night. I had wanted to do that but decided that it was too cold for me to sleep outside, as the temperature that night was to get below freezing. 

While the guide set up the tent, the three of us walked up the dunes for a view of the area. Some of the sand was soft and was challenging to walk up. At the top ridges there was a solid layer that was easy to walk across. The view of the vast desert was magnificent.

When we returned to the basin, dinner was ready—instant noodles and rolls. The rolls were a local kind that are rather hard, but when dipped in the soup broth they were delicious. After dinner, the guide’s wife arrived with a dune buggy and he took me to the meeting point with Charley. This was another first for me, as I’d never ridden a dune buggy before. When I arrived in my room, I was happy to be inside with my warm blankets.