Kashgar (Kashi)

Arrived in a huge dust storm which I later discovered had reached all the way to Urumqi and Turpan, overturning trucks and cars and closing roads for several hours. Took a share taxi from the train station the Maitian Hostel on Old Donghu Road http://www.yhaks.com/ and on the third attempt the driver found the place. I'd made the mistake of showing the driver a map with the location clearly marked which only served to confuse him. The hostel is located right next to the one and only lake in Kashgar both of which are clearly evident on the map but for some inexplicable reason he tried to deposit me about three kilometers away from either, then he had the temerity to offer me his name card for future bookings. The hostel is a pretty basic attempt but it serves the purpose and does have free internet and laundry, the managers are friendly enough but don't expect any English or any other language other than Chinese here.
Within Kashgar the main areas of interest are located in the rapidly disappearing Old Kashgar situated North of Renmim Road. It's an interesting quagmire of narrow alleys and streets with bazaars dotted throughout. If you want to see Old Kashgar you will need to visit sooner rather than later as the redevelopment is well under way and in a few years it will be indistinguishable from just about any other small Chinese city in architecture at least. For good information in English, French, Japanese and German you could do worse than to drop in at Jamaica Cafe in the Seman Hotel complex, E-mail attella20@yahoo.com and let Abdullah know when you intend to be in town, his good friend Adulrahman Abla has a small travel Service business and can tailor a package to suit your time and budget. http://www.karakoramtravel.com These are both genuine friendly guys trying to make a go of it in a political situation not geared to helping Uyghur in business, they are not rip off merchants.
This is the end of my China Silk Road journey, it's not complete by any stretch of the imagination and there is so much more to see and do, but I've achieved what I set out to achieve, for now.

Turpan to Kashgar,

Took the bus from Turpan to Daheyan in order to catch the train to Kashgar, there's a lovely new tollway for most of the distance and that is what was used on my way into Turpan, on the return however the driver took an entirely different route through the back blocks on mostly dirt roads and the trip took at twice as much time. Just as I was beginning to think a monumental mistake had been made and that I was on the wrong bus, we returned to the sealed road and shortly after arrived in Daheyan.
Departing at 1501 precisely, the train has passed through several forms of desert landscape, surely making this one of the worlds more interesting train trips. I've seen black rolling hills with not even the most rudimentary sign of life, flat black sand that stretched to the horizons on both sides, soaring snow caped mountains and wide valleys dotted with sheep, cattle, horses and even a camel, ruins of villages of past generations, jagged rocky hills with raw seams of coal showing at one stage and the discolouring reds, browns and greens giving evidence to the mineral riches contained within them. Now a flat scrubby desert in the midst of a severe dust storm so intense that the train has slowed to a crawl on several occasions and along it all the occasional oasis of cultivated farmland.
My respect for the caravan traders of the past has appreciated significantly in the course of this journey and I've gained more of an appreciation of just how significant an event it was to be cast out through the various gates of the great wall into the unknown expanses of this unforgiving landscape.
To go from the second lowest depression on the planet and the lowest train station on earth up into and through permanently snow capped mountains in a matter of several hours is one of the more memorable travel experiences I've had, such a pity the grime on the windows made photography impossible. I really don't think the tourist authorities appreciate what a spectacle this is. It seems that unless they can charge an entry fee and set up souvenir stalls all selling the same junk that the Chinese have trouble recognising a real and natural tourist attraction , I enjoyed the view from the train ride more than all of the so called significant sites in and around Turpan.

Dunhuang to Turpan (Tulufun)

The train to Turpan and/or Urumqi DOES NOT leave from Dunhuang but rather from Liu Yuan which is two hours bus ride away. Buses depart at 1230, 1400, 1600 and so on 20Yuan. Sorry but I don't know the schedule for those traveling west to east but from observation there were mini buses waiting for arriving trains presumably to get return fares. Where it not for Zhang I would have been completely unaware of this fact and would have made my way to the sparkling new train station on the outskirts of Dunhuang. Sitting in Charley Jong's cafe when another traveler dropped in and happened to mention he was catching the train to Urumqi the next day, he was also not aware that he had to go to Liu Yuan and was very grateful for the info, even if he did take a bit of convincing.
Arriving in Turpan (Tulufun) is little better with the train station while being marked on the schedules and your ticket as Tulufun it's actually at Daheyan 55km from Turpan. My train arrives at 0530 and the first shuttle bus into Turpan is at 0900. Plenty of taxis service the route into Turpan for 20Y per person but they will always try to get four passengers and you may be waiting around for the next train to arrive if the quota isn't reached. I got lucky and was offered a lift by a well healed American tourist called Ray who had a private car with driver and guide waiting for him.
Stayed in the Turpan Guesthouse which despite it's name is a 3 star hotel. Singles start at 180Y but ask for a travelers bed and it's only 50Y per bed in a three bed dorm with ensuite, being the off season I have the room to myself.
Decided to hire a guide and driver for the day to take me to all of the main attractions around Turpan, Bezeklik Caves, Tuyoq Valley (Turpan Grand Canyon) Tuyoq Village, past flaming mountain, the Karez irrigation system, the ruins of Yarkhota and lastly the Emin Mosque and Minaret. Unless you are on an organised group tour, a taxi or private car and guide is the only way to get around the sites. Cost of car and driver was 280Y with the attractions costing from 21 to 38Y. To be honest it is all a bit disappointing with the only site of any real interest to me being the ruins of Yarkhota. The caves have been so plundered by archeologists or damaged by Muslims that there is little of interest to see other than the spectacular setting they are in.
The city itself holds little attraction so only staying here one night and then off to Kashgar (Kashi) by overnight train.

Mogao Caves and Dunhuang

Hooked up with Toru and Atsushi to share a mini bus to the grotto, not bad value at 20Y for the return trip. There is a shuttle bus that goes from the city to the train station and then to Mogao, I'm not sure of the cost but expect it to be in the order of 5Y each way. Stops for the bus are clearly displayed in Chinese and English around the city.
The caves are an incredible attraction and have been preserved pretty well with some restoration and reinforcement along the face of the cliff that in no way detracts from the interiors. It's 80Y for Chinese tourists and 100Y for foreigners, the extra being to pay for the guides in English or Japanese. Zhang just told the ticket seller that we all spoke Chinese so we all got in for 80Y and listened to the guide in Chinese. Those are OFF SEASON prices, high season prices are DOUBLE. Cameras are forbidden and are supposed to be handed in at a holding station along with large bags, however once inside the enclosure I spotted several domestic tourists openly brandishing cameras and one with his phone taking pics inside the caves.
I'll refrain from going into detail about the history of the caves but will just leave it with the statement that the fact they escaped the attentions of the Red Guard in the Cultural Revolution is something to be thankful for. The mini bus makes a stop at a “Minerals Exhibition” on the way back to town where you'll be pressed into buying highly over priced trinkets with the promise of a discount, just for you.
Dunhuang is a really nice, sleepy little city of about 100,000, with wide sidewalks in good condition, good roads without excessive traffic and it's quiet. The night market in the off season is not much but still offers a good selection fresh and dried fruits, small restaurants as well as the usual tourist souvenirs that you simply can't go home without.
In the same street as the long distance bus station, Mingshan Road, are a collection of internet cafe's with English menus and reasonably priced Chinese and Western food and drink. Hotels along this stretch range in the 60 to 200 Yuan price range, the more you pay the cleaner the room. Charley Jong's Cafe also offers a “Backpacker Lodge” a bit out of town near the Mingsha Sand dunes, they are also the place to go if you want to go on a camel trek into the dunes, 300Yuan per person per day.
Ph:13893763029 http://blog.sina.com.cn/juckljpyqsz E-mail:dhzhzh@163.com

To Dunhuang and Mingsha Mountain

I had a front row seat right behind the safest bus driver I've yet experienced in China. The bus was a medium sized long distance number with reasonably comfortable seats and it seems a no smoking policy.
Sitting next to me is a Chinese bloke taking a couple of days off to see the sights in Dunhuang before he goes to Guazhou for work. On the map Guazhou is marked as Anxi (Placid West) but along with Hami not so far away it is a major melon producing center and so has been renamed from what I thought was a rather delightful name to Melon City. The guy sitting next to me is Zhang Yun Feng, his English is patchy but miles ahead on my Chinese so we've had some interesting if somewhat tiring conversation along the way. The scenery, to me at least, is just fantastic, the left side window displays a very rugged range of low lying hills close by that present the illusion of a huge mountain range in the far off distance. Contrasting this out of the right side windows is a flat as a billiard table to the horizon, without a tree to be seen in either direction. The infrastructure in this country never ceases to amaze me, we traveled on a duel tollway almost the entire distance with another free single lane sealed road running alongside. Keep in mind that this area is relatively sparsely populated and is also serviced by rail. The trip took about five hours with two stops; one in Melon City, along the way.
Managed to get some pics of crumbling ancient signaling towers along the way and would have loved to stop for closer examination but no chance of that. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect trip was the two old farts behind me competing for the national championship on noisy eating of boiled eggs.
Have decided to split the cost of a hotel room with Zhang in this so far delightful little city in a no star place on the main road and close to the city center. There are plenty of cheap hotels here in the main street and close to the bus station. By the way, the train station is a long way out of town.
We took the No.3 bus 1Y to Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake. This is one of the major draw cards for the city and just 10 minutes bus ride. Foreigners will be hounded by taxi drivers as soon as they appear on the street but it's a waste of money when the bus is so frequent. Be warned though that not all fare collectors on the buses are honest, the one on the bus to the attraction wanted to charge me 5Yuan until Zhang set him straight. No problem on the return bus. Ticket cost for Mingsha Mountain is 60 Yuan and in my opinion it's worth it. Sure you can see the dunes without going through the gate but you can't see Crescent Lake. A bit on that subject; it's absolutely beautiful and must have been a real sight in it's original incarnation, the lake forms a perfect crescent in a valley between towering sand dunes and has a delightful looking pagoda and temple structure on it's shores. The lake and buildings we see today have been there since about 1986. It seems the lake dried out and the original buildings fell down many years previous so the government to their credit had the whole lot reconstructed. See some of the pics in the slideshow to see the restoration work. Incredibly, I ran into two Japanese guys; Atsushi and Toru, at Mingsha who I'd spent some time with in Xian, the last I'd heard they were on their way to Lhasa.
I've had a great day climbing sand dunes and taking lots of pics and then a very nice feed in a nearby restaurant; it's so handy having a native to do the ordering.

Jiayuguan, “The less said, the better”

This is first and foremost an industrial city with VERY little to offer the traveler. It is a major steel producing city with a foundry employing over 50,000 workers. The industrial pollution mixes very nicely with the dust from the surrounding desert to create a constant haze. It's only April and already the heat is starting to make itself felt by the middle of the day. While Summer is suggested as being the best time to visit for beautiful scenery, I think the heat would be hard to take then.
The main areas of historical significance have been turned into “theme park “ attractions and at best are poor imitations of the real thing. The Jiayuguan Chenglou “ (JiayuguanFort) is better than the reconstructed “Great Wall”, not that they should be patting themselves on the back over that but it hardly warrants the expense of stopping here to see it. I can see how this would fit into an organised tour of the Silk Road as it could be completed with a single night stop. My searches for blogs or any other travel experiences for here all indicated that the writers were indeed on guided package tours.
The best advice I have for any solo travelers contemplating a brief stopover in Jiayugoan is DON'T BOTHER.
I have a bus ticket 70 Yuan to Dunhuang for 0900 tomorrow, site of the Mogao Caves in the Mingsha Hills. That will be my last stop in Gansu and puts me closer to the mighty Taklamakan.

On to Jiayuguan, “First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven”

Depending on your geographical perspective, Xi'an is the start or end of the “Silk Road” proper and even today it has the feel of a major medieval trading center. The streets of the Muslim Quarter are packed with stall holders selling everything from preserved fruits to life like miniature insects meticulously hand crafted from wire and paper and selling at ridiculously low prices. The ever visible city wall with it's watch towers, the drum and bell towers and the fabulous Great Mosque all add to the charm of this fine if somewhat polluted city. The food stalls reflect the variety of ethnic groups represented, it's great food, filling the air with fabulous aromas and CHEAP. It's entirely possible to have three good meals a day on as little as 15 to 20 Yuan. Breakfast of Nan Bread 1Y two boiled tea eggs 1.5Y tea, made yourself with free boiled water from the hostel. Lunch Two flat bread rolls filled with steaming mutton 5Y bottle of juice 3Y Dinner 6Y for mini smorgasbord at countless restaurants, bottle of fruit beer 3Y. I have done it for less by just having fruit and water for lunch but this gives an idea of how cheaply the traveler can live by staying clear of fancy restaurants, KFC, Starbucks and Hamburger joints.
Now on the train to Jiayuguan, boarded at 2215 and got away pretty well on time at 2250. I've been lucky again to score a bed at the end of the compartment right at the back of the train. This is a good spot because it means very few people noisily making their way past all day and night. My fellow travelers in this compartment are a sleepy lot with one bloke still snoring loudly as I write this at 0900.
The day looks typical China so far with a heavy haze blanketing the land destroying what should be great views of the passing fields with their backdrop of mountains. It's like the old time shower scenes in movies, a view of the beautiful leading lady through a frosted glass shower screen, you know it's all there but you just can't appreciate it. Fingers crossed for clearer skies out west, but as it's April and the season for dust storms, that might be wishful thinking.
Now three hours West of Lanzhou and the land is dotted with farming villages consisting of compounds and grain storage structures. The farms seem to predominately rice producing with the fields configured into a crosspatch of low earthen walls to aid in flood irrigation. For the first time in China I've seen several flocks of sheep being tended by shepherds on the dry rolling hills running off into the still hazy horizon.
Around mid-day and farming land which gave way at first to rocky desert plains and hills is now very reminiscent of outback Australia's dry scrubby flat ground with low lying rounded hills leading into jagged red peaks further in the distance. The only signs of human life being endless lines of telegraph poles, and power lines running adjacent to the railway for kilometers before detouring off across the desert. Animal sightings have so far been restricted to donkeys, sheep and double humped camels. The haze persists still, no doubt supported by the familiar looking swirling dust devils. It seems to be clearing for awhile and then grows thicker as the train progresses.
Two of my fellow travelers; a middle aged married couple have just provided a stunning demonstration of how much noise it's possible to make in the act of eating a small cucumber each. Thankfully the performance seems to have drained them both of energy as they have retired back to their respective bunks once more At this stage the compartment has taken on a somewhat musty odor, not dissimilar to stale socks. One of the downsides to being located at the end of the carriage is that it it's close to the toilet and washbasin so I get to hear the loud hoicks followed by the spit into the basin or the bin all day. Oh well only another four hours to go.
1600, farmland had been re-established over the desert which after some distance once again dominated for kilometer after kilometer only to be once more overhauled by the labours of the farmers. What I previously thought was rice paddy is actually vegetable and corn field. Farming is a much more labour intensive operation in this part of the country than in the east where machinery dominates. Dwellings are like those seen in history books of medieval eastern Europe. Were it not for the sightings of vehicles and satellite dishes on mud walled and roofed houses I might be convinced that the train was some sort of huge time machine transporting me back to the time of the ruling Khans.