Dunhuang – Day 57


Had a nice sleep-in and awoke to the paradise we had arrived in the day before.



After a couple of hairy days, we wanted to take it fairly easy. We decided against going to the legendary Mogao Buddhist Caves, because of the absurd prices and we heard that alot of the caves were closed for restoration. The thought of pushing past droves of fellow tourists for a couple of hours was also off-putting. Instead we drove to the Western Thousand Buddha caves (西千佛洞）, about 10kms south of Dunhuang over more roads-under-construction.

Some of the caves have been in use since the 4th century CE when Buddhist traders stopped in Dunhuang to pray for a safe passage through the treacherous Taklamakan (or to give thanks after a safe journey). We looked at six grottoes, the only caves open.



They keep most of the caves closed to stop the degeneration of the artwork, and some caves were being repaired because some of the ceilings were collapsing due erosion caused by water seeping through the soft sediment from the embankment from which the caves had been made. We weren’t allowed to take photos or video, but Lulu (as usual) went ahead took some video anyway.



Going to the Mogao caves may have been more spectacular, but the grottoes, with the accompanying guide, were a great way to get a feel for the history of the place.

We wanted to go to the ‘South gate’, apparently a gate marking the start of the southern silk road route around the Taklamakan desert, stretching off in the direction of Khotan. We stopped to ask some truck drivers how far away it was (20kms), and they told us it was merely a gate just like the one we were standing under, so we saved some time (and jarring) and took a picture right there.



After driving around and exploring on our day off, we needed to relax properly, and spent a couple of hours in the restaurant having drinks with the hostel manager, talking to him about travels in India and Tibet. He gave us a couple of glasses of (rather bitter) wine that he brewed from grapes grown in Dunhuang and Lulu dazzled us with her dancing skills.