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.
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Showing posts with label Hotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hotel. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 April 2009
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.
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.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Shanghai Pudong Airport
When you're booking your flight to and from Shanghai, you should pay attention to the arrival and departure times so that you can decide how to travel between the airport and the city. It's no good saving money by taking the red eye special only to lose all of the saving on an expensive taxi ride to your hotel or hostel.
The cheapest way into the city is to take one of the many airport shuttle buses, a ticket can be had for about 18 Yuan, however the bus takes a good hour and a half to complete the journey.
Check schedules here:
http://www.chinaairlinetravel.com/airport-guide/shanghai-airport/pudong-airport-bus.htm
The next cheapest, and my favourite way is on the MAGLEV train to Longyang subway station and then by subway to the most convenient station to your hostel / hotel. You will get a discount on presenting your flight boarding pass so don't throw it away beforehand. Going to the airport from Long Yang you need to show your flight ticket to qualify for the discount. Standard ticket one way is 50 Yuan, Discounted ticket one way is 40 Yuan.
On arrival at Longyang just head down the escalator to the subway station. You can buy a train ticket from one of the machines or from the ticket office, the most it should cost is four Yuan. All stations are announced in both Chinese and English prior to arrival. I've put some pics of screen shots from the ticket machine at the subway stations, these too are in both Chinese and English.
The cheapest way into the city is to take one of the many airport shuttle buses, a ticket can be had for about 18 Yuan, however the bus takes a good hour and a half to complete the journey.
Check schedules here:
http://www.chinaairlinetravel.com/airport-guide/shanghai-airport/pudong-airport-bus.htm
The next cheapest, and my favourite way is on the MAGLEV train to Longyang subway station and then by subway to the most convenient station to your hostel / hotel. You will get a discount on presenting your flight boarding pass so don't throw it away beforehand. Going to the airport from Long Yang you need to show your flight ticket to qualify for the discount. Standard ticket one way is 50 Yuan, Discounted ticket one way is 40 Yuan.
On arrival at Longyang just head down the escalator to the subway station. You can buy a train ticket from one of the machines or from the ticket office, the most it should cost is four Yuan. All stations are announced in both Chinese and English prior to arrival. I've put some pics of screen shots from the ticket machine at the subway stations, these too are in both Chinese and English.
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