Of Palaces & Deserts: Western China

Last heard from in Lanzhou, our intrepid group waved goodbye to Penelope, me and my very own personal Chinese guide, Cathy, at the station. The three girls were off to Golmud while Will and Anita took everyone to Tibet.

Taking the train was a bit of change of pace and the group enjoyed the scenery as it changed more into that of a high plateau. Snowy mountains and yaks everywhere!

Peter, Jo & Kent check out the train

Yaks

Kelly tries out the supplied oxygen - the train goes over 5,000m

Eugene, Will, John, Jo & Anil in their compartment

Eamonn on the top bunk

Sunset over one of Tibet's many lakes

The bunks were 3 high this time so everyone had fun performing in an Odyssey version of Cirque du Soleil while getting to bed.


The train got into Lhasa mid-morning, leaving the group the rest of the day to acclimatise to the higher elevation, wander around and tuck into the different cuisine.

Prayer flags

Beer from the Roof of the World

The next day was dedicated to the towering 13 storey Potala Palace, winter residence of the Dalai Lamas, and Jokhang Temple, the spiritual heart of Tibet.

Kelly, Anil, Eugene, Jo, Eamonn, Kat, Will, Rob the Elder, Maree, Rob the Younger, Jen & Ed outside the Potala Palace

The long stairway up

Potala in the sunshine

Eugene and action Anil at Jokhang

Ladies walking clockwise around the temple, gaining karma in the act of Barkhor kora (pilgrim circuit)

The giant bell at Jokhang Temple

Will, for scale

Devotees performing kora outside the temple

The second full day took the group to Norbulingka, the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lama, and Sera Monastery to see the debating monks.

The Summer Palace gardens

Beautiful ceiling artwork at Norbilingka

The debating monks at Sera Monastery

For some lucky members of the trip, this was their second time in Lhasa. They took the opportunity to explore the lesser seen attractions, go on excursions outside of the city or simply wander the streets and alleys soaking up the atmosphere.

Spinning the prayer wheels

Jo being shown around a local man's house

Yak pats drying on a wall, to be used later as fuel

On the final full day, a visit to the nunnery was arranged, with the afternoon free and then an evening of champagne and pass the parcel (followed shortly afterwards by a session of gift bartering/swapping!).

Julia at the nunnery

Nuns chanting

Rob the Younger making friends with a yak

Statue-making workshop

Kelly, Anil, Rob the Younger, Jen, Maree and Ed look on as Rob the Elder tears into the parcel with more glee than his expression would suggest!

Martha (visibly gleeful) with the champagne

After one more morning in Lhasa it was time to board the train again for the trip back to Golmud and the waiting Penelope.

More Tibetan scenery

Penelope had been having a little fun herself too, with other vehicles to overtake…

That's a car stacker and a half!

Alien ruins?

…and some interesting road signs en route. Once in Qinghai province, the signs were in Tibetan and Mongolian script, as well as Mandarin and English.


I picked everyone up from the station in Golmud at a very unfriendly hour and after a little more sleep we all hit the road again, reunited. I was very excited to see them all and hear all the tales from Tibet, especially after a few days by myself! The road to Dunhuang went over a few high passes and we even got a bit of sleet, making for some very cold bush toilet stops. Gone are the handy frequent service stations of eastern China – here the options are few and far between, and often it’s much much more pleasant to stop in the wild anyway!

Snowing in the desert

Girls to the right of the truck, boys to the left!

Despite the miserable weather on the way, our late afternoon arrival into Dunhuang was bathed in glorious sunshine.

Sand dunes run right to the edge of town

The night market in Dunhuang provided excellent lamb skewers with flat bread. Anil lived up to his name again, this time in the culinary department, and went for lamb brains. There was also a great selection of dried and fresh fruit to balance out all the meat!

We had 2 nights in Dunhuang, with a free morning to romp around the dunes and then an afternoon trip out the Mogao Caves.

Crescent Lake, in the middle of the dunes

Anil, Kelly and Jo take a ride on some Bactrian camels

The view of Crescent Lake from the top

Kat, Eamonn the frog and Jen

The Mogao Caves were built into a 1700m section of canyon wall as places of refuge and Buddhist prayer for those making the long difficult journey along the Silk Road. Today, the main section has has the front reconstructed to make it more accessible but much of the original interior remains. Unfortunately, as with sites in Tibet, photos were not permitted inside.

Inaccessible caves

The entrances to the many monasteries and rooms

The drive to Turpan was our longest yet, with a very early start. Due to China operating on one single timezone, the further west we headed the later the sunrise, meaning we could enjoy it on the road.

We passed what we think must be the largest wind farm in the world.  We got a real idea of the size of the blades!

Jen having a moment with the truck donkey

Turpan was a great place to spent a couple of nights. We were now in Xinjiang province, the final one before we cross into Kyrgyzstan. Predominately Muslim, everyone was dressed up and on the streets, ready for the 5 days Korban festival (or Eid-Al-Adha). It was an interesting time to visit!

The back streets of Turpan

Kat, Eamonn, John, Ed, Maree, Kent, Rob the Elder and Eugene toasting to Turpan

We took a morning trip out to the ruined city of Jiaohe, one of the largest, oldest and best preserved ancient cities in the world. Its buildings are remarkably well defined considering the age and the exposure to the elements.

Jiaohe

Peter, very pleased with his pineapple ice cream

In the afternoon, some members went to look at the the karez irrigation system, only found in the Central Asian region. Developed by the Uighurs as a means to get underground water to their farmland, it doesn’t require pumps, relying only on gravity.

The karez system, Turpan

Turpan is only just above sea level, so it was very enjoyable to wander around town and to enjoy the mild weather before we hit the mountains of Central Asia proper.

Drying grapes

The mosque

Emin minaret

Our last stop in China was Kashgar, closer to Pakistan and Afghanistan than most of the rest of China, and closer to Moscow than Beijing. We definitely felt like we had left China proper and were somewhere in-between there and Central Asia. Road signs were now in Arabic and Mandarin and had no English at all.

China is enormous and nowhere is this more evident than in the far West, with Kashgar two full days drive from Turpan. The road skirts the edge of the Taklamakan Desert to the south and is framed by snow capped mountains to the north – spectacular for sure, but also rather repetitive after 2 days!

Ratty and Rosie take a ride on Carl the Camel (who is now enjoying himself strapped to the top of Penelope!)

Multicoloured mountains

Kashgar is a place name from the tales of the exotic, like Timbuktu, and probably just as remote. We had 2 full days to explore, with the first being a Sunday, which meant a visit to the Sunday livestock bazaar.

A row of sheep butts

More sheep

Julia makes a friend

Rob the Elder, Maree, Ed, Eugene & Kelly having fun on their "taxi"

Abakhaja tomb

Dressed up for the festival

Street barber

Martha and a big teapot

The Uighur musical instrument shop

Will tries out a hand made instrument

Street donut stall

John trying to order food

Ed all dressed up

With our time in China at an end, we had to bid farewell to the wonderful Anita. We will miss her terribly and we’re very grateful for all her help and patience!

Anita and her cake (it was also her birthday the day after she left us)

So, a thank you also to China for being a varied and fascinating host. Now we begin the next stage of the journey, across the notoriously bureaucratic Torugart Pass into Kyrgyzstan, where there will be less tarmac and more burrowing into cozy sleeping bags!