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.