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Thanks for the messages guys.I checked out the link Jane.Thank you.It was very interesting and yes we are going there.I'm writing to you from DunHuang, the last town of civilisation before the 'wildreness'of the desert.On the 10th I did my first camp.We set up a bush camp beside the western Great Wall of China (I mean right beside it).It was halfway between Lanzhou and Jiayuguan.It was ok because it was nice and dry although the night was quite chilly.The camp food (mashed potato and cooked veg and then fruit and custrad) was a nice change from greasy noodles.I got to climb a hill where I got some great photos of the wall.Beyond the mountain ranges on our right hand side Mongolia began.On the 11th we drove along the Hexi Corridor (a main corrdider for trade of the Silk Route after the wall was built providing protection for mercants and the like from nomads and Hun inavders.We saw the Qilian mountains which are so high(around 5000 metres) that despite their desert location they are snow peaked. We then did three nights of camping in a camp site set around a restored part of the Great Wall (it was all restored and paid for by one farmer).The camp site wasnt great.The toilets were gross, there was no running water and it was a little dirty.The fishing pond looked so stagnant and dirty that its a wonder the carp and Koi fish survive in there.Howver it was great to cimb the wall on the mountains and look sit up in its two towers. The day after we drove into the town of Jiayuguan to see the famous fort there named the 'Last Gate under Heaven'. This fort(part of the Great Wall) marked the end of ancient civilised China and the beginning of the wild west which was inhabited by Nomads and 'Barbarian' tribes.Many Chinese at the time believed that the wilderness beyound was a land of demons and wild spirits and Buddhists who were banished to this land were apparantly doomed to alife of continual reincarnation into barbarians.Disgraced officials and criminals were sent through this gate if they were exiled (considered a fate worse than death) and none really knew what lay beyonf it.For this reason it is synonomous with sorrow. There are many sad stories connected with it.One such story is about a group of swallows that tried to fly over it, but the strength and magnitude of the fort meant that they couldn't manage it and ended up flying into the stone and dropping dead.It's said that if you knock the stone you can still hear their melancholy chirping.The restored fortress is an impressive site.Its very large and very strong.I'll try and get some pics up.I met a little Chinese boy there who was a volunteer guide.He was only 7 years old but extremely bright.His English was excellent and he told us his one hope was to go to Harvard University and his one dream was to become the president of China.lol.Anyway yesterday we arrived in DunHuang after a long drive.Its a very pleasant small town.We are practically in the desert now.Looked around the night market where they had food stalls,karaoke,people hand painting and selling fans and han carving wooden plaques/ornaments.Not sure what you'd call them.A japanese guy in our group (Hiro) who is really cool (he's 68 but fit as a fiddle) got one for a good price. Today we got up early and headed to the Mogao grottos which is essentially a massive network of caves carved into the cliff faces there that make up a big Buddhist monastery.They had caves dating from as early as the 4th century AD right up to updates in the caves done in the 19th century.They contained beautiful sculptures and murials and because of the expensive colour pigments used (imported along the ilk Road from Persian India and Afghanistan) many of the colours are still there.Not all the caves are open to the public due to their rapid deterioration but the ones we saw were great.In one was a massive recling Buddha.In another was a seated Buddha that is the third highest in the world!The detail of the paintings was amazing and because it was a guided tour we got lots of good background information. Each cave is so different.They vary in the periods they were built and you can see the influences from different nations that travelled the Silk Road.One cave had a Pegasus and Apollo and Diana on the murial in amongst the traditional figures of Buddhism so they think the painters were Greeks.Many of the earlier ones are very Indian. 1000 years ago there were around 2000 monks living there but after clashes between the Buddhists and Muslims the monks fled and never came back.Buddhist scrolls from the Monastery library can be found in museums all over the world, including in Turkey,USA and our very own British Museum.We couldn't take photos so I bought some postcards instead.When we got back I had a potato salad for lunch.It wasnt quite what I expected.I got fried potato slices in a vinegary garlic dressing,but it was good.Tomorrow we start heading into the desert even more and we will camp so I'll update you all when I can.
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