More sand than shoe
I'm standing on a precipe... metaphorically speaking. Tommarrow morning I head off into areas of Xianjiang with no Idea how I'm going to navigate through them. Maybe everything will go smoothly, or maybe I'll spend the next month traveling in cirles through sand dunes. Whatever the case, there are sure to be very few tourists.
At the moment I am in Dunhuang of the Gansu province now which is a pretty easy place to rest. What's really amazing about Dunhuang is that 6 kilometers away the dirt just stops and a wall of sand dunes hundereds of feet high flank you on either side. The dunes rise up at extremely steep angles and it is somewhat discombobulating to be in a lightly forested area and then in one step find yourself in a completely baron desert. I walked about 2 or 3 miles across the the dubes yesterday and really enjoyed it. There is a peacfullness in it that is hard to find anywhere. At the end of my walk when I crested the last sand dune and looked out over the desert, all I could see was sand for miles. I beleive this is the beggining of the Taklamakan Desert which I will be crossing over the next two weeks.
I met a really cool guy on the train to Lanzhou in the Gansu Province. His name was Dr. Wong and before I left Lanzhou he showed me around town. Also in Lanzhou I visited the yellow river and saw the traditional Uyger rafts. They are made of completely intact goat skins that are air tight and turned into inflated pontoons. This forms the base of Uyger rafts. Its pretty strange to see what looks like barrels attached to the rafts until you realize they're goat legs sticking out ofthe bottom.
I'm going to miss the Kashgar Bazzar which is too bad, but I imagine that the southern road of Xianjiang will make up for it.
I also hung out with a really sweet older couple from Holland. They had been visiting one of their children in Lanzhou. It was funny running into some people who default to the role of parents when they are around younger people.
Not much else to say and at the same time too much. Nothing of groundbreaking imporance though. I'll try to post some pictures of the Sand Dunes when I have the chance.
I really have no idea what to expect over the next 2 weeks, but I will post when I can.
At the moment I am in Dunhuang of the Gansu province now which is a pretty easy place to rest. What's really amazing about Dunhuang is that 6 kilometers away the dirt just stops and a wall of sand dunes hundereds of feet high flank you on either side. The dunes rise up at extremely steep angles and it is somewhat discombobulating to be in a lightly forested area and then in one step find yourself in a completely baron desert. I walked about 2 or 3 miles across the the dubes yesterday and really enjoyed it. There is a peacfullness in it that is hard to find anywhere. At the end of my walk when I crested the last sand dune and looked out over the desert, all I could see was sand for miles. I beleive this is the beggining of the Taklamakan Desert which I will be crossing over the next two weeks.
I met a really cool guy on the train to Lanzhou in the Gansu Province. His name was Dr. Wong and before I left Lanzhou he showed me around town. Also in Lanzhou I visited the yellow river and saw the traditional Uyger rafts. They are made of completely intact goat skins that are air tight and turned into inflated pontoons. This forms the base of Uyger rafts. Its pretty strange to see what looks like barrels attached to the rafts until you realize they're goat legs sticking out ofthe bottom.
I'm going to miss the Kashgar Bazzar which is too bad, but I imagine that the southern road of Xianjiang will make up for it.
I also hung out with a really sweet older couple from Holland. They had been visiting one of their children in Lanzhou. It was funny running into some people who default to the role of parents when they are around younger people.
Not much else to say and at the same time too much. Nothing of groundbreaking imporance though. I'll try to post some pictures of the Sand Dunes when I have the chance.
I really have no idea what to expect over the next 2 weeks, but I will post when I can.
posted by Robert at 8/25/2005 10:38:00 PM
1 Comments:
This sounds pretty daring.....like a 19th century explorer. Good luck navigating the Taklamakan Desert. We're thirsting for pictures. mom
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