Art And Soul 2

Huangin Around

I love Dunhuang. It's interesting. It's diverse. The people are super friendly. There's lots to eat and drink.

I skipped on these three though.

This fella and I chatted for about two minutes, after which he disappeared back into his dad's phone.

Grottoe-inspired art. These are images of apsaras, which are female celestial beings that often fly around the place. Apsaras originated in Hinduism, and were eventually incorporated into Buddhism as well.

Gotta have yer angels mate, or it's no fun at all.

Amazing artist at work, live at the night markets

Another of his works. I'd buy them all if I could.

Another incredible work of art, this time by Angelia Bakery. Yep, fresh apricots and cream. I've now swallowed heaven.

And had bliss for breakfast. Cinnamon fruit bread. You can't know how much I appreciate such things.

I guess that's one option for naming your long distance bus station.

Smelly supermarket

Pass

Pass

Pass. As if we need more plastic.

Stop! Yes please! So juicy, I made a right mess. And gobbled it all in 2 sittings. This is a melon region, and I've had lots of them.

Tea, beer and delicious food. A particularly good local beer, I must say.

How much can a koala bear?

The Dung He runs through one edge of town, it's been predictably Disneyfied, but is actually quite nice at night.

You can walk out across these boardwalks, it's really nice hanging out in the middle of the river, as the air's cooler and you think life is perfect for awhile.

There was also a film projected onto water spray, all about how great the area is. Not my fave.

Mingsha Shan

One hot eve I rode about 6 clicks south from my hotel, until the road ended at a dead end.

For a pretty good reason.

Yeah, I arrived at the edge of the Gobi Desert, at a spot where towering grey sand dunes stretch off into infinity, right before your eyes.

It was incredible. I've never seen anything like it in my life, having never been to the Sahara (well, not yet). The fact that 2.75m tourists also happened to be there at the same time was a slight inconvenience.

But hey, I was one of them. The only Western one, that I could see.

The thing to do is to play dress ups. Hire a traditional costume, get made up with headdresses and jewellery and makeup, and then pose for pics that you can post.

So much fun.

But hardly any men do it.

Poor things. It's actually a really cruel thing making animals take tourists around in this way, because they're forced to do it every day, and don't get enough time to rest, eat and be healthy.

But no one seems to understand that around here. Look at the caravans at the back. Incredible isn't it. And it's not the busy time yet.

Dune snatchers. The bright orange footwear pieces are one piece polyester gaters, that cover the whole shoe and lower leg, so sand doesn't sully the perfection of your clean shoes and socks.

Sad, but predictable.

Of course, I took my shoes off, like every earth-respecting human would do. There were a handful of young Chinese tourists who did the same. I was happy not to stick out all on my own. As if I wasn't sticking out anyway, as nearly the only Westerner within about a 1000km radius.

Once I caught up with the critters ahead it took forever to get up, because people just randomly rested, holding up the whole line. I tried overtaking, given my busy schedule, and just walking past on the sand away from the wooden ladder, but the sand was so soft and slow that it just swallowed me up, and it was actually quicker to wait.

Crescent Moon Lake, and a temple, from the top of the first big dune.

Of course, I went a-wandering alone up there. It really was magnificent. The dunes are so massive, the high point is over 1710m above ground level, and they go on forever and ever.