Dunhuang, China

 Dunhuang, China

We had crossded the border from Kyrgystan into China and had caught the overnight train from Kashgar to Korla. We had time to visit the Mongol museum in the city pictured above.

It retells the history of the area, including dioramas...

...and maps.

There are a lot of exhibits in cabinets, and not just the usual artefacts of jewellery and pieces of pottery. They included mummies...

...and traditional costumes. 

Then we took a flight to reach Dunhuang. It was an important stop on a crossroads on the Silk Road as both an oasis and where two main routs crossed. Buddhism flowed along the Silk Road and Buddhist monks dug caves into some local cliffs from the third century AD onwards. There are more the 900 caves and some are thought to exist and to still be discovered.

                                       

The entrance to the cave site.

The most important caves have been protected from the weather by a concrete wall with doors and walkways on different levels to allow access but also to protect the scultptures, carvings and paintings form wind, rain, heat and frost. The outer surface of the protecting conrete wall has been carefully finished to  appear as a natural rocky surfce that mimics the texture and colour of the surrounding rock face. 

The grand entrance to one of the grander caves...

..and another preserved entrance...

...and another.

After the caves we had lunch and moved on to the sand dunes for which the oasis city is so well known. Not quite Abbey Road. A view down the road to the gate and the sand dunes.

The gate.

One of the many activities that can be enjoyed on the sand dunes, tobogganing.

The 'ladder' up the sand dune, a series of small planks or logs on a chain, pegged deep into the sand to help visitors walk up the slope.

The Crescent Moon Lake.

The pagoda, part of the monastery complex overlooking the lake.

A detail of the monastery...

...the pagoda.

Another activity that visitors could indulge themselves in was going for a ride on a camel. In the foreground is a local dressed up in traitional costumn having her picture taken. It has ecome quite a thing to hire or buy a traditional costumn and have photos taken with a backdrop of the dunes, monastery or the lake. Other activities on offer are quad bike riding, dune buggy rides, hot air ballooning, hang gliding and helicopter trips.