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Published: October 9th 2007
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Ahhh. I'm an old lady now, so I'm allowed to start this entry with "I remember when..." but since I've never been here before I can't compare. Tegan gave me a vegan Oreo cookie with a lighter flame that threatened to set the train on fire at about 6am on my birthday, mmm tasty.
Dunhuang has been a mixed experience so far. The train ride here was relatively easy, hardly anyone on board we crossed the desert for another 13 or 14 hours. It was pretty bare out there, but we watched the desert change from brown to reddish to yellowy white then to stones, and finally to the apricot farms of Dunuang. Another windfarm, that's always good to see! We met two American girls on the train, had enough of working at home and up and went to Pakistan for some trekking. Sounds like they had an amazing time - I'd love to go someday.
We tried to book a hostel with dorms, but it seems that all of the dorms listed in the Lonely Planet have evolved into pricey hotel rooms, so we treated ourselves and got a room with big beds and actual heating. Working out
Mogao Grottos 9 level tower
home to a 31m seated Buddha statue originally made around the 8th Century AD the hot water was another issue, let's just say they haven't really cottoned on to water conservation in China, you have to let the tap run for 3minutes on full bore before it even starts warming up...
Speaking of cotton, there seems to be a lot of it around here. And it's harvest season, so if you're not watching people bent over in the fields collecting the white fluff by hand, you can sit in a cafe and watch tiny tractors go by pulling huge trailer-cages stuffed with cotton - occasionally with a farmer stretched out on top to hold it all down. Looks pretty comfy, but I'm glad I don't actually have to pick the stuff!
Our first adventure in Dunhuang was to hire a bike each and head for the sand dunes. "Everybody" says it's not worth paying for, and that you can go around the fence. So after a few extra km of pedalling up gravel tracks and getting yelled at by farmers, we gave up on the free method and paid (120Y!!! pirates of the sand dunes!!) to go in the main gate... Tegan took one look at the sand dunes and said "I've
climbed enough hills lately let's get a camel" so we did. They're pretty funny creatures, massive muscly legs and weirdly bending knees. Swaying shaggy necks, longish eyelashes. THey're pretty cute, and for the most part pretty docile. However I did see one Chinese lady screaming as the camel behind her goobered its guts out all over her perm... ha! Almost worth 120Y...
We climbed the dune, thankful it wasn't a windy day, and the view from the top was pretty amazing. Looking out across the "singing sand dunes", over some ancient tombs & graveyard, to the Gobi Desert and beyond that another cold-looking mountain range... The dunes are amazing. Footprints disappear each night, and it's easy to see why they were named MingShan or magic mountains. The pagoda and crescent spring were much smaller than I expected, and surrounded by people even at this time of year. Nevertheless, pretty spectacular. Some folks were staying to watch the moonrise, but it was too cold for us so we headed back down the dunes.
There, we discovered that some enterprising pirate had put his own lock onto our already-locked bikes, and wanted 2Y to take it off. Pirates! and not
the good sexy type either.
We found some great vego food, and checked out the night markets, which were disappointingly stocking the exact same schmalz we've seen in Beijing and Xinjiang, only the pics on the postcards were different. Stuffed camel toy anyone?
So today we headed out early for Mogao Grottos with our new American friends Kelly and Ripul. Took a bus which hung around town for ages until the seats were filled. Back through the apricots and cotton fields, back through the desert, to a river canyon with a cliff on its western side. As we grew closer we could see heaps of tiny holes in the cliff face, caves.
We paid another exorbitant entry fee, got a very knowledgeable guide called Sunny who showed us around the caves. We saw about 8 or 9 different caves, ranging from 7th Century to about 11th Century. What an amazing place! There are 735 caves, spanning about 10 dynasties including a period where Gansu was part of Tibet. The art styles change pretty dramatically, beginning with a very Indian style and morphing through Chinese and Tibetan styles, to incorporate Chinese Taoist myths and reflecting the development of
Chinese Buddhism... The caves also tell the tale of Western colonial theft. A hidden cave containing over 40,000 manuscripts was discovered in 1900, and prompted a wave of visits from English, Russian, French and Japanese archaologists who carried away the best bits. What they didn't take was spread out through the corrupt Chinese bureaucracy as bribes... it's outrageous! There are chunks missing from murals, statues missing, as well as the majority of the manuscripts and paintings from the Library cave.
The caves were built by families hoping to bring good fortune to their current and future lives. Chinese buddhism believes in reincarnation as well as all people being equal in their ability to become Buddhas - hence the Thousand Buddha name for the grottos. There are Buddhas painted all over the walls and ceilings of the early caves. Later on, Bodhisattvas and guardians as well as Apsaras (Chinese versions of angels - they fly around scattering petals and singing apparently) show up as well as scenes from the epic tale Journey To The West (Monkey Magic for those who didn't know), scenes from Paradise, Chinese nature gods, dragons with many human heads that shephard the dead to Paradise, as well as the female Bodhisattva Kuan Yin (also known as the Goddess of Infinite Mercy, or the Goddess of a thousand hands and eyes, Ayalokitesvara I think). The changes in times is reflected in the painting contents, the style of statue, the clothes that the statues wear...
Poor families couldn't afford big caves so the sizes range from tiny niches open to the weather (contents have weathered away) to huge cathedral like caves housing massive Buddhas, including a 31m Seated Buddha, a 26m seated Buddha and a huge reclining buddha accompanied by 72 disciples... Stunning, awesome, and amazing that these clay, reed and wood sculptures have survived so long! The paints are made from crushed gemstones, including Turquoise and Lapis Lazuli - an expensive one!
After our tour finished we tagged along with some other groups and got to see some more caves without a translation but still worth it! Then wandered around looking at some funeral stupas on the opposite river bank. The exhibiton centre was also great - containing 10 replica caves painstakingly reproduced, as well as a heap of copies of murals & silk paintings from the Library cave... could have spent a whole day there! The museum also documented each archaological expedition & what they took, and for how little money they got it. Depressing.
We came back to Dunhuang and moved our gear to Charley Jhong's Dune Guesthouse - an oasis of friendly prices and sweet helpful staff, out near the dunes. Met an aussie guy named David whose birthday it is today, he's going to come camel trekking with us tomorrow.
more from the mixed bag soon!
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