Took a trip with Beijing Hikers during the October National Holiday week. There were about 20 guests and we caravaned in 7 jeeps and had giant feasts at every stop along with interesting walks, fascinating scenery and great conversations.
Flew to Urumqi (2200m from Beijing) over the desolate Gobi desert. There were a few random oases and even fewer roads. But surprisingly there were numerous dry sand rivers - big ones - flowing out of mtns, though it was hard to get perspective from that altitude and with such an homogenized color.
 |
| Dry, dry, dry - no living thing is sight for hundreds of miles - a very clear rain shadow from the Himalyas - big mtns block lots of rain! |
 |
| SUDDENLY out of nothing was this phenomenal development |
 |
| Whole families on a scooter or cyce are not uncommon. Equally common are whole families inside NEW cars. |
| |
| Hot charcoal cooked yams. DE-LICIOUS |
 |
| A spot of tea on your way to work? |
 |
| Carcoal cooked yams! DE-LICIOUS |
 |
| Vibrant in color and aroma, this Silk Road market was full of treasures both real and otherwise. |
 |
| pussywillow? for what purpose? |
| |
| A spot of tea on the way to work |
|
| 100 varietals of grapes - which make DE-LICIOUS raisins |
 |
| Chrysanthemum flowers for tea - quite beautiful, rich color. |
 |
| Fresh lavender with an unbelievable scent which filled the whole bazaar. |
 |
| A mud brick house in the Turpan oasis |
 |
| Interior courtyard and the scent of ripe grapes was rich and welcome. |
 |
| Table for our group feast - followed by a dervish dance which reminded me of a combination of belly dancing and Greek dancing. |
 |
| A raisin Packing and shipping facility. I suppose if we look for this label, we could find some of these delicious raisins. |
 |
| The Karez - ancient irrigation project that made this oasis possible at the lowest point in China. Wells of variable depth are struck then channels are dredged/cut to let the glacial water flow by gravity down to the oasis. A huge project which was started about 2 thousand years ago! Consider the engineering needed! It's amazing. |
 |
| Bronze sculptures squatting in the actual channel to demonstrate the process. |
 |
| This is a functioning channel dug tousands of years ago - freezing cold water kept cool by the feet of dirt above. Very cool near the stream - hot outside. |
 |
| The ancient city of Jiaohe. Centrl to the Silk route in its day. A naturally defended mesa, diverting a river around it on both sides. The riverbed still holds lush gardens, but the ancient city is dissolving from erosive winds I guess. This city was here as a way station on the Silk Road and fell into decline after a big battle with Genghis Khan in the late 1200's. It reminded me a little of Masada in Israel in it's hot mud brick buildings on a protective mesa. Masada is certainly more dramatic, but this has a lot of history too. |
 |
| An impressive building, if only a remnant of its former glory/ |
 |
| We laughed about whether this brick layer was drunk on the job! |
After this stop we had a long sleepy drive to Hami and the desert campsite. I had been looking forwarrd to the desert camping from the very beginning. (And it turned out to be worth it and could have been longer as far as I was concerned.)
Grabbingthewave@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment