Living Out of a Suitcase

Today, we will be leaving Urumqi and taking an overnight train to our next stop along the Silk Road, Dunhuang. Lier is intent on us having a true Chinese experience, so we will travel like true Chinese people on a crowded train. My only request was we get the soft sleeper, which is considered the best accommodations in Chinese standards. Usually, I am not a "prissy miss," but roughing it in China is very different from roughing it in the westernized nations. I am trying not to sound like a rude American, but I just can't rough it the Chinese way. The cost was really cheap too - roughly $35, which is way less expensive than taking Amtrak to any city in the USA. I am excited to be visiting Dunhuang - it is considered to be a true gem along the Silk Road. We will be visiting the Mogao Caves, which houses some of the most spectacular Buddhist artwork in the world - paintings on the walls or statues carved out of the stone or the caves themselves. Dunhuang is a little oasis in the middle of the Gobi Desert, so it will be really cool to experience desert life however brief it may be. I may also try some sand surfing. I heard it was a lot of fun, so I am totally game as long as it isn't too dangerous or too hot out! The heat in the desert has been scorching hot - over 100 degrees fahrenheit! Don't know how the camels and donkeys survive out there for so long.

I just wanted to provide a quick recap below of where we have been so far.

Day 2 - Turpan
Lier made arrangements for us to visit Turpan, another city along the Silk Road. Turpan is known as the hottest place on Earth because it is at a low depression geographically. It is basically in the middle of the desert, but it's main staple is grapes. They have grape vineyards that produce the sweetest grapes in the world (at least that is what I was told). Grapes are easy to grow and require a minimal amount of water, so they are everywhere in Turpan, which is so weird given the city is in the middle of the desert. We took a tour of the karez system (the ancient sewer system started in Turpan), visited the desert home of a famous musician, visited the Flaming Mountain, hiked up to the Jiaohe Ruins (abandoned the hike about half way because it was as hot as Hades up there), visited Grape Valley, and had fruit and refreshments at a Uygur home. The Uygur family even taught us the traditional wedding dance! On the way back to Urumqi, we got stuck in a sand storm. It was so crazy! I never experienced anything like it. The wind was so strong that the sand was obstructing the view of the driver. He was having trouble driving the bus because he couldn't see in front of him. The wind also kept unsealing the door of the bus, so we had to stop a couple of times so it could be tightened and sealed again. It was a little scary because the last thing I wanted was to be stranded in the middle of the desert at 9pm. We made it back safely, but noticed the huge drop in temperature as well. It went from over 100 degrees to about 50 - 60 degrees, which I hear is common in the desert, but still weird nonetheless.

Day 3 - Tianshan Mountain and the Heavenly Lake
While our trip to Turpan was scorching hot, our trip to Tianshan Mountain and the Heavenly Lake was rainy and cold. It was raining and so cold, I had to buy another pashmina to stay warm, since I was wearing a short sleeved shirt. It was funny because at the base of mountain, vendors were set up not only to sell their wares, but also to rent clothing, like jackets, coats and rain jackets. A lot of people ended up renting communist uniform jackets to stay warm, so strange, yet they made a load of money of the rentals - much more profitable that way. We took a bus 3/4 of the way up the mountain and stopped for lunch. I wanted to take a cable care, so I could get a good view of the mountain going up, but the tour guide wouldn't allow it since we had lunch reservations. Lunch was extremely disappointing, but there was nothing we could do about it. The tour guide was very disorganized and didn't supply us with a lot of information and got flustered when we asked her questions about the tour. She got in quite a few arguments with people throughout the tour and really didn't show a lot of care for her customers. Anyway, we hiked up the rest of the way to see Heavenly Lake. I don't know what was worse hiking up the mountain or walking up 236 steps in the tower of St. Mary in Krakow. I do know it was worth the hike. The view was absolutely amazing! Picture should be inserted here, but will try to add one later. You could see the snow-covered mountains and the water in the lake was so clear and glistened, even under a rainy day. We decided to take a boat ride on the lake. The boat took us to another mountain where we had to hike up over 300 steps to reach a Taoist Temple. This hike was worse than the first one, but was well worth the view at the top. We were given a tour of the temple and instructed on how to pray properly. Now this is where the temple turned a bit mercenary. The priest told my mother I was having marriage problems and needed to see the fortune teller to help with my "marriage problem." We went to see the fortune teller and he told my mother I wouldn't get married until 2010. He told my mother I needed to carry a tacky medallion to increase my chances of finding a good match and light a 6 foot tall incense as an offering to the Quanyin - the fairy godmother. The total cost of the package was 6000 Yuan, which is roughly $900 USD. I was like forget it and let's go. My mother told him she didn't have any cash, so he said they accepted credit cards for payment. I have never been in a religious establishment where they asked for money to offer a prayer to god. I have to say it is so China to commercialize everything, including religion. My mother still concerned about my marital state offered 50 yuan ($7 USD) for the medallion and he accepted it - what a rip-off. After offering our closing prayers to the fairy godmother, we headed down the mountain on the cable car. The cable car was and open-air car, so I was able to take some beautiful pictures of the mountain as we headed down. It was so beautiful! The cable car ride was definitely the highlight of the day.

Today was more of a chill day because I am really starting to lose steam - too much traveling and living out of my suitcase. We visited the Xinjiang Provincial Museum where I did more research on the Silk Road and bought a book. The museum was beautiful, even though the exhibits lacked a great deal of knowledge. It didn't go into a lot of content on the artifacts, just labeled them. After the museum we visited the Uygur section of Urumqi, where my mother did more shopping. She purchased a jade Guanyin - hello, customs and luggage limit! The Uygur section was quite interesting and I was able to get a lot of people shots, but one could also tell it was also the most impoverished area in Urumqi. The Uygurs work so hard for so little money. We bought a ton of fruit because it is so sweet, delicious and cheap here. We stumbled across a mosque where the Uygur men were walking in for prayer and saw a ocean of shoes as they were preparing for prayer. I wish I would have been able to go in, but I didn't want to cause another scandal.

I need to pack for our 14 hour train ride, so I will check in soon! Thanks for reading!