I am still telling the story of our Silk Road Tour.
Our train arrived in the morning in Liuyuan at the train station and we took the bus through the Gobi Desert
to Dunhuang, in the province of Gansu. The desert was rocky, flat, and barren. It was obvious that coal is being mined somewhere as we saw mounds of coal along the way.
Dunhuang is a great place to visit. The outskirts of the town had the usual signs of extreme poverty, but the city
center is very nice and it was obvious that it is a tourist town.
Dunhuang was a major oasis stop on the old Silk Road and it would have been so welcome.
It has always been a frontier town with great strategic importance. It was at the crossroads to roads leading to
the west regions, east to Xian, south to India and north to Mongolia and Siberia. The Great Wall was extended to Dunguang.
Dunhuang is also called the "City of Sands."
This is because the Gobi Desert landscape becomes one of huge sand dunes at the southern edge of Dunhuang.
The sight was everything that most of us picture when we think of "desert." The dunes were massive and the sand was fine. It was a medium brown colour. Of course we had to have a camel ride and the place was set up for tourists. There were hundreds of camels waiting for their turn to take tourists on a one hour camel ride. Many of the young tourists were climbing the dunes and sliding back down. They had to wear cloth boots and you can see them in the photos. Bright orange. It was a long, hard climb.
After the camel ride we walked to Crescent Moon Lake. I wish I had realized how important a landmark this lake was. It was beautiful situated on the edge of the dunes. Apparently it has been a fresh lake for a few thousand years.
Good bye for now,
I would be happy to answer any questions.
MOM/ Grandma/ Kathleen/ Kathy
PS. Camels are beautiful animals. OK we were being dopey tourists, but it was fun!
3 comments:
when i was in korea (seoul) everything was in a yellow haze. they said it was sand from the Gobi desert that blows into korea at that time of year. it was like yellow fog.
wow...riding a camel !! You and Uncle Don have done and experienced some incredible things in you lives.
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Don --
I have just read all of your posts aloud to Martin, although I can't pronounce any of the city names. He went to China a few years ago so he makes the occasional suggestions.
We are loving your adventures! And (of course) we love the little history bits you through in.
I hope your classes are going well. I did not think of any other suggestions on conference going other than what I said on the phone. If I think of any others, I will email.
Keep safe and keep the stories coming. They are wonderful.
Love,
Maren & Martin
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