Dunhuang, in the far northwest of Gansu, was once an
important oasis town on the Silk Road. Nowadays it's famous for it's sand
dunes (the SW edge of the Gobi Desert) and the Mogao Caves, one of
the finest repositories of Buddhist art in the world. Call us Philistines if you
want, but we decided to give the caves a miss! After all, if you were a little
girl, what would you rather do: spend a morning traipsing round an underground
art gallery or two days playing in one of the world's biggest sand pits?
The Camel Trek
Our camel trek involved two nights camping, setting off in the cool of the
evening, spending one whole day out in the desert, then returning to Dunhuang by
the middle of the second morning. Here is Lesley (with Edie hidden in front of
her) heading into the Minsha Shan dunes. Our guide, Mr Li, is leading the camel
train - two camels for us, and one packbeast (we had a lot of water!).
Camp 1: Ali and the girls enjoying breakfast and the post-sunrise light before
the heat began to build.
Apart from camels, animal life in the desert is restricted to desert rats
(gerbils?) and these well disguised sand lizards (desert tigers?).
After a breakfast of bread we broke camp and set off into the dunes...
After a couple of hours Mr. Li announced we had gone far enough, so we found a
shady bush, pitched a tent and settled down to a few hours of resting, sipping
water and trying to stay as cool as possible. The sand seemed to enter every
orifice. Lunch was melon and instant noodles. At around 5pm it was cool enough
to continue on to the site of our Camp 2.
Camp 2 was situated at the foot of a huge mountainous dune. Dinner was, you've
guessed it...instant noodles. We sat around another campfire and enjoyed the
stargazing.
The camels were lovely gentle beasts, and Mr. Li looked after them well. Here we
are at camp on our last morning. The water is on the boil for...instant noodles!
We broke camp for the last time and headed back to Dunhuang (and the comforts of
civilisation). The Mogao Caves will just have to wait...
POSTSCRIPT
Back in touristy Dunhuang we decided that we wanted to see the
Crescent Moon Lake, a spring in the dunes. We didn't want to pay the exorbitant
Entrance Fee to the site though...
...so we walked round the perimeter fence until we found a bit which was drifted
over with sand. At the top of the dune we got this splendid view of the lake.
Shortly after this photo was taken the security guards arrived! Ooops! Sometimes
playing the part of the bumbling, incompetent foreigner has its advantages...
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