The day was doggedly hot. I had walked a long way to get to the ruins of Gaochang, downing a bottle of water at every store I saw. But, as I got closer to the ruins, the landscape became more rural, and there were no stores to buy water. The road came to a T-intersection. …
The sun was beating down on us. We walked the half mile down the road to where the Bezeklik Caves compound was. Caves is not an accurate way of describing Bezeklik. Bezeklik is actually a series of man-made grottos carved into the side of a tall cliffface above a small river. The Mutou river runs …
All of the guidebooks mentioned Emin Minaret. The tower was built in 1777 and finished in 1778. Its construction was blessed by the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong Emperor to honor Emin Khoja, a local ruler and general who had teamed up with the Qianlong Emperor, though the details of their collaboration were always left vague. I …
We were able to get rinky-dink bikes and make our way out of Kashgar. It was not hitchhiking, but it was an unconventional means of transportation, and it gave us a chance to meet people and get a feel for the countryside along the six mile stretch between the city and the ruins of Jiaohe. …
I entered the museum’s exhibit hall. The air was quiet and the entrance dark. The sensation was not normal for China. It felt like I was entering a church, somewhere holy and slightly frightening. Inside the first exhibit, the rumpled body of a man lay on a wooden bed, his legs folded up, a white …
We walked along the highway for no longer than three minutes. I was about to take a traditional Chinese roadside bathroom break, when Galen warned against it. We were fairly close to a series of small military camps, and Galen, in the distance, could hear a large diesel engine humming towards us. I did not …
When we had been at the Mogao Caves the day before, a light breeze whisked through the leaves of the trees planted beside the caves. The next day, though, as we were walking into the desert to find a campsite, the wind whipped across the desert hills. Storming out of the red mountains that face …
When we came up on the Crescent Lake, Galen’s disappointment was palpable. Hordes of Chinese tourists in bright orange sand boots milled about. Galen took a few pictures and then shrugged. He asked me to get a video of him being disappointed. I was more prepared. I have walked into too many Chinese tourist traps. …
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Dunhuang is the Silk Road par excellence. From Xian to here, the route of the Silk Road is clear, running west-northwest. Other than the side trip we took to Xining, along a route that was sometimes used when the main Silk Road was too dangerous, there is really only one way to go along the …
I am happy to announce that Galen and I are far away from Yumen, the city near Drink Horse One Army, featured in this post and this post and to be featured in two more posts. We are happy about this because, if we were there, we might not be making our flights back to …