We went down to a at the local Chinese restaurant – Manvir, Bing and I.

Kirit was not too well from yesterday evening’s dinner and Peter was not fussed about the lunch neither. Manvir, Bing and I enjoyed our lunch.

Checked out the kitchen once again!!

We had nearly five dishes including dim-sum and noodles all for less than £3. Accompanied with the chilly oil and all freshly cooked. It was delicious.

Click Here to Watch Eating With Chopstick Video

Eating with chopsticks is getting easier by the day. The acid test will be – ‘to be able to pick up a grain of rice’. As the video clip shows, not quite there yet!

Today we spent a day wondering around in Golmud and not driving anywhere. We have been pushing ourselves trying to cover large distances in the last four days, so thought it best to take a day out.

However first had to get my laundry sorted out. For the next seven days the hotel accommodation may be difficult or of the low standard, as we have experienced on a few occasions.

Itemising list was in Chinese, so the nice lady somehow managed to get it sorted out.

Second stop: The local supermarket

Click Here to Watch the Hens in the Supermarket Video

Mr and Mrs Fish – will be served on some dinner table tonight.

This was going to be another long travelling day.

Before leaving for Golmud we visited The Magao Grottoes (Caves).
The artistic features of the treasured Buddhist murals represent the artistic style of the Northern Wei (386-543), Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties through the combination of the architecture, statues and murals in the caves.
The Mogao Caves also known as ‘The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas’ form a system of 492 temples 25 km (16 miles) southeast of the center of Dunhuang. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out in 366 CE as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China.

We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the caves, but incredible to think some of what we saw was over a 1000 years old!

Click Here to See The Magao Cave Video

Now came the time for our long drive – from Dunhuang to Golmud. This was our route:

Driver rotation system is working well. We do about two to three hours each and change. Conversation still crisp, intense and prickly at times. Good and nothing taken personally.

Beautiful scenery along this route, we also reached altitude over 12,000 feet in some parts.

Normally the check points we have crossed have been, for the best part, relatively straight forward. But a checkpoint we were stopped on route to Golmud, was a little different.

As we approached, the stationed officials indicated to us to stop the vehicle. I could see an armed sentry, stationed on a large covered platform with the end of the rifle just visible. He was about 25 yards away from us. The ground officials asked for the paperwork and Bing our guide got out with the information. Within the next minute the sentry guard had turned around from his original position (and I think this next bit was quite dramatic), he looked at us with quite a serious face but he was now engaged and pointing the rifle squarely at the windscreen – Manvir was driving and I was the passenger in the front seat – although we carried on talking normally inside the car, this was very unnerving, haven’t had a armed rifle pointed at me – ever!

Paperwork intact, we swiftly moved on. Obviously, for the present anyway, there is no photographic evidence to show you – but it did feel too close for comfort.

The roads were brilliant and we made excellent time and were in Golmud at 6:30 pm. We were going to check into a hotel, bags almost unloaded, but were told the hotel was not registered to accept tourists. So we had to find someplace else. It was not a problem as we are now used to searching a place to stay at and were soon at another hotel.

The place seems like a normal town, slightly quiet but a lot more Tibetan looking people.

Dunhuang is a lovely place, it is also a tourist destination. People seem to be a bit more trendier, more modern dressing then the previous towns / cities we have visited so far in China. The city is very clean and there appeared a mellow tempo to daily life. As you can see captured with numerous photos – the locals, friendly as ever. I do feel as if I am intruding in their lives by taking the snaps, but to date I have not been made to feel awkward when doing so.

Bing, mentioned that Dunhuang is a very typical Chinese city – if this is the case I will definitely be coming back to China again.

Dunhuang had a flourishing trade along the Silk Road and became the most open area in international trade in Chinese History. It provided the only access westward for the Chinese Empire and Eastward for western nationalities.

We got to our hotel and then off to walk in the town.

Here are some of our experiences from the walk in the town.

Firstly, here is a shoe repair shop on the footpath:

Click Here to Watch Video of A busy lady at shoe repair shop

Then is our experience at the local pharmacy, again, similar to the previous ones we have seen in China, this also has many products that look interesting!

Yes and finally – we managed to find a bar for a quick drink and off to bed – have nearly 400 miles to cover tomorrow.

We passed some peculiar signs and sights on the route to Dunhuang. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did….

Click Here to Watch Video of Some Peculiar Sights

There seems to be a lull in terms of the variety we have been used to in the journey to date. However the lull, we are all sure, will turn to unpredictability as we move towards Tibet. It seems from the information our guide, Bing has given us, the little comfort we may have been enjoying recently will be a distant memory. We shall see.

Ganhgu province which we will be going through today and in which Dunhuang, the city we will be spending the night in, has a different ethnic mix too, with more Han people and less ethnic Muslims. However the province does sit at a junction, in this particular region of China, which makes it an area having a mix of all the ethnic groups.

Went walkabout in town later in the day and seems people here in Hami are also very keen on exercise. Some pictures and videos are below:

Click Here to Watch Exercise Video 1

Click Here to Watch Exercise Video 2

Click Here to Watch Exercise Video 3

Click Here to Watch Exercise Video 4

Click Here to Watch Exercise Video 5

Just a quick thank you for all, who are following my blog, I hope you are enjoying some of our experiences.

As you may know we are supporting our pharmacy charity: Pharmacist Support. Please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/pharmacistsupport/

Any contributions you may wish to make will be greatly appreciated.

On the road today, approximate 400km journey. While leaving Turpan, we saw large number of newly built flats  all with solar panel roofs – makes sense, since it hardly rains in Turpan.

Rear passenger, whose lights have been knocked out!

Long endless road to Kumul.

On route passed Flaming mountains otherwise mainly dessert.

As an observation we have not seen much or eaten much fresh fruit in China, as we had done in all the previous countries we had passed. It seems we are now snacking more on Chinese biscuits and crisps than enjoying fruit – probably start putting on weight again!

For obvious reasons, there is a distinct lack of well known brands, in the cities we have already visited in China, such as the obvious i.e. Coke, MacDonalds, KFC etc.

From the time we entered China we have been travelling North East, after we pass Hami and Kumul, our destination (after today) will start our dissent downwards towards Tibet, Nepal and India, whereby we will be heading towards a more South East direction.

We are still in Xinjiang Province and tomorrow we will briefly pass through another Province called Gansu Province and then Qinghai Province.

Passed another milestone today of 8,000 miles travelling, a quick stopover for a photo shoot. It seems the world really is a small place.

We also passed the the Mausoleum of Hami Uyghur Royal Family:

Had an opportunity to go to another market – so much life and energy in a market environment. Lots of photo opportunities, all taken with the full cooperation from the locals.

Market Visit CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Chinese people who we have met in this region, do not for one minute look oppressed or under the cosh. In fact I’d say from what I have seen they are quite relaxed, going about their business and importantly with all the dancing going on – they seem to be enjoying life too. Opinion based on what I have seen so far. There is definitely a noticeable police presence and I am sure they will go down hard on any potential trouble. As we saw in the evening when an altercation occurred outside our hotel, between two guys relating to their vehicles. The cops were in there quite smartly.

Went to dinner in the evening to a restaurant which had a lovely setting, treated to some more dancing.

Click-Here-to-watch- After Dinner Dance

We were going to visit a lake, not too far away from Turpan, when we got slightly lost. Found out from a local that the lake was dry anyway, but by now we were off the beaten track, so we did some off piste driving and the LC was more than capable.

However, the main reason for coming to Turpan was to visit the museum, demonstrating  the endless underground water irrigating channels, built nearly 2000 years ago, and which provides water and with it life, to this region.

Peter wanted to convey some of this information by post to friends in the UK.

The Underground Irrigation System:

Karez water system is an irrigation system adapted by local people to solve the problem of water supply. This refers to special wells which are linked by underground tunnels and provide irrigation in the desert. This method of irrigation was passed on to Xinjiang people during the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – A.D. 24). The wells were sunk at varying distances to a dozen or several dozen meters deep to collect undercurrent water from melting snow. The water is then channelled through tunnels dug from the bottom of one well to the next and led to oases for irrigation. Most of such irrigation tunnels stretch for some three kilometres, but some extend as far as thirty kilometres. There are about 1,100 such wells in the area embracing Hami and the Turpan Depression. Today, the total length of such underground irrigation tunnels in Xinjiang runs for three thousand kilometres. The project can well be compared with the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. The world-famous grapes of Xinjiang own their excellence to the existence of these wells.