Sand dunes

Greetings from Dunhuang, which I think is somewhere near the Gobi desert, it might even be in it. Either way, it's rather desert like around here and yesterday we had the good fortune to play on the neighbouring sand dunes.

In the morning we first checked out the Magao Caves - one of the most important Buddhist sites along the Silk Road. Since very early times (300AD-ish) people have been creating Buddhist artwork (painting and sculptures) in the more than 700 caves at this site. It is possible there to trace the history of Buddhist art in China from 300AD to nearly present times - and to see the changing influences on Buddhism from traders who came along the Silk Road. One Buddha even looks like Jesus. Others take more Persion, Indian and Taoist influences.

The caves were well and all, but as we went to bed that evening the only thing on our minds were sand dunes. Just as the sun started to cool ever so slightly after the blistering heat of mid-day and the afternoon, we set out to the giant sand dunes, just south of Dunhuang. Deciding not to take a camel up, we just walked straight up the ridge. We even met some local girls up the top - the only language we had in common was 'hello' (what they knew of English) and 'tingbudong' (which means 'I don't understand' and is the little that we know of Chinese).





We then trekked about some other dunes, taking some insane photos of ourselves jumping off the tops of them. We stuck around for sunset, and only descended with the arrival of the cool evening winds and as the moon began to shine brightly. It was a great end to a great day. Lamb-skewers for dinner.


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Only other thing to mention - the day before we were in Jiyayuguan, which is the Western most extent of the Great Wall of China. There's a largish fort stationed in the middle of a relatively narrow pass between two large mountain ranges & it's rather deserty out there.

Xiahe

Greetings once again from China. I am currently at a giant net cafe in the giant city of Lanzhou (in Gansu province). Lanzhou is a strange metropolis that slivers between giant dusty mountains in semi-arid desert. The food here is spicy and tasty. I am only here for a few hours however, as we're only transiting here. We just spent two nights in the pleasant town of Xiahe.

Xiahe sits at 3,000 metres above sea level and is home to a giant Tibetan monastery called 'Labrang Goemba'. The monastery is truly massive - with over 2,000 monks in residence. Our hostel was just outside the monastery. Our first impression of Xiahe was not a positive one however. The town is split between the original Tibetan population and the more recently arrived Han Chinese popultation. The bus stop is in the Han Chinese side of town, which frankly is rather squalarly. The other end of town it Tibetan - which although is also without much financial weath, is wealthy in culture and tradition - colourful dress, architecture and customs. Photos will have to do the explaining because I haven't much time at this net cafe!




The highlight of the trip was yesterday when we set out to the Ganjia Grasslands - home to Tibetan nomads and monasteries. On visiting one monastery, instead of looking inside the prayer room as we were meant to, the monk invited us (group of 2 Aussies, 2 Thais and 1 Canadian) to his room for afternoon tea. We were honoured and sat about his small table. He initially had trouble with the kettle, as his stove wasn't ventilating, which filled the room with smoke, as well as laughter.


Food was a dish called Tsampa - which is eaten like a light brown dough. It's made with dried yak cheese and barley flour mixed in hot water with sugar and yak butter. It's rather tasty, but you have to be careful not to add too much yak butter - it's very rich.


Ok, that's all I have time for. Be sure to check out my friend Rayner's blog: http://mdrayner.blogspot.com/

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Ok, a later update. After writing the above post, strolled around Lanzhou, met friendly locals and even played a game of outdoor pool.

Xian

Greetings from Xian, which I think at one stage was a former capital of China. It's a city of 5 million people and features a rather ginormous wall around its old city (few kilometres by a few kilometres and perhaps about 20 metres up). The plan is to hire a bicycle and cycle around the top of it.

My friend Rayner has two friends in Xian, both of them he met on his trip through Xian last year - one his Muslim homie Bill, who is ten years old, and the other is Alex who is our age studying postgraduate studies at Xian University (of 40,000+ students). We met both of them yesterday.

Rayner met Bill the last time he was in Xian strolling around the Muslim quarter. After a sequence of events he was persuaded by a lady to speak with her son to help him practice his English. As it turns out the kid is rather a genius and carries an English conversation better than I could. So, yesterday we set out to the Muslim quarter to find his mother's shop, a kind of convenience store, which we miraculously somehow found (the Muslim quarter of Xian is large and packed full of alleyways). Some phonecalls were made and after a while came Bill. He was delighted to see Rayner again and it was a rather cool experience for us to be sitting in a small store in the Muslim quarter of Xian chatting with a 10 year old named Bill. Most of our conversation was about Naruto (a Japanese kid's cartoon that I happen to know a bit about) and Fighter planes (of which he seems to know every one). We'll be seeing him again today.


We also enjoyed a delightful serving of hand-made noodles in the Muslim quarter. As usual this attracted a small crowd of spectators about the small shop where we ate.

In the evening we were taken to Xian University to meet with Rayner's friend Alex. We then met a series of other friends and with them were taken around their massive and attractive campus. The friends' English names are rather arbitrary to them and one of them in fact forgot the English name he used when he met Michael last year, so came up with a new one.


Dinner was of a kind of satay - skewers of kidney, what we think might be stomach (it had purple bits though), and some other unidentifiable meat - all delicious. After dinner we all played cards on a campus green in the balmy twilight. At night we went to the 'big goose pagoda' to watch a musical water fountain show - which involved hundreds of jets of water in sync with music, thousands of crowds, and a few game people willing to run between the fountains. Rayner and I joined them, but it was towards the end of the show and we didn't get very wet.

Yoni: out.

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Ok, this is a later update. Since went to Terrcotta Warriors, Rode bike around city wall,

China

Hello world. A brief hello from Beijing, China. I arrived safely, late, into Beijing a couple of days back, meeting my highschool friend Mr Rayner at the airport - who himself flew in from Canada a few hours before me. We've been seeing the sites, strolling around Beijing.

The place is rather spacious for a city of 20 million (I haven't verified this number, it's what I heard from 'some guy'). The spacious parts are the grand avenues and of course the famous Tienanmen Square. There are some rather crammed areas in the old parts, such as where we are staying (a place just south of the centre called 'Qianmen'). Around this part are narrow alleys, gauntlets of shopkeepers and lanes that I think are called hutongs - traditional alleyways between courtyard-style houses.

Somehow both Rayner and myself managed to procure friends here (who we knew before arriving), and have been lucky enough to be taken out to eat with them. The first meal was at a Sichuan restaurant and offered food like I've never tasted before, many of the dishes leaving the mouth hot from chilli and numb from Sichuan peppers. It was great. Our second meal was Beijing style food including the famous Peiking Duck, along with a host of dishes like nothing I've tried before. All delicious. Except from those meals, the Rayne and I managed to enter smallish shop-houses and order local (rather simple) food. Entering those places and ordering had us feeling a bit like those foreign chaps in Western movies when they stroll into a saloon. The chatter stops and all eyes are on you. Both mornings so far we've had a meal accompanied both by curious stares, and by a bowl of hot soy-milk - which although left us feeling rather cat-like, is really yummy.

I was warned that the Chinese might be rude or aggressive but so far people have been overwhelmingly friendly.

Seen some big temples too, photos to follow. Tonight we leave by train to Xian, and I hope to write a post from there. Good-bye world!

Yoni update

Hello all. Apologies for taking so long to write a blog post. This is partly because I had restricted access to the web and partly because I'm lazy. It doesn't have to take long however to summarise what I've been up to over the past weeks.

Malaysia
In my final week in Malaysia I enjoyed several days away with friends on the island city of Penang, in the northern part of Malaysia. Penang is famously known in Malaysia as a food heaven. It didn't disappoint.

Enjoying Asam Laksa (sour noodle soup) and Rojak (fruit salad with sweet shrimp sauce) in Penang

After a day on the beach in Penang (photo courtesy of Caxton Chow)

Thailand
I am currently in Thailand and have been here for a little over a week. In 2 days I will fly to Beijing to meet a friend and start our 6 week Silk Road journey. I have been quite busy in Thailand meeting people, strolling around Bangkok and eating food. I can't complain, it's been a lot of fun! I also somehow managed to watch two fashion shows.

A drinks shop near where I am staying in Bangkok

At some kind of fashion show in one of Bangkok's swanky malls