The Long Way Home

Last week you heard about my travels through the majestic hills of Zhangjiajie and the historical city of Xian. This time we trek through the scorching sands of the Flaming Mountains and treacherous roads of the Taklamakan desert, making our way westwards to Kazhakstan, home to Borat, Koy-bas (boiled sheep’s head) and the ancient city of Taraz.

Day 8, Bus 1, Xian to Lanzhou
15 hours, 676km, Sleeper bus
There’s not really a whole lot to get excited about in Lanzhou itself. But it’s the only way to get to the pretty-much undiscovered Tibetan village of Xiahe in the mountains nearby. After setting out, however, we discovered that the police had forbidden the sale of tickets to Tibetan villages to all foreigners this year due to the Olympics. Disappointed, we skipped the Tibetan village and made our way to Jiayuaguan.

Day 9, Train 5, Lanzhou to Jiayuaguan
10 hours, 770km, Hard sleeper
We heard that Jiayuaguan isn’t worth spending a great deal of time in, but we found it a very pleasant place with exceptionally friendly people (and camels). There was plenty of weird architecture to marvel over, dirt cheap and deliciously spicy soup noodles in the markets, and of course, the site where the Great Wall comes to the end of its 10,000-kilometer mission. Here, rather than stone, the wall is built with straw and sand. At the top, you can see the striking change in landscape from the desert below to the snowy peaks above.

Day 11, Train 6, Jiayuguan to Turpan
10 hours, 590 km, Hard sleeper
Xinjiang is a northwestern province of China with a huge Muslim population. It borders eleven countries, most of which end in “stan.” No surprise then that the food is very Middle Eastern. Apart from the two main cities, there are very few Han Chinese people and it feels like a completely different country.

The city of Turpan itself is a bit of a wreck, with a construction zone on every street. So instead we took a trip to the ruins of the ancient city of Jiaohe. This largest, oldest (2,300 years old) and best-preserved earthen city in the world (even bigger than Pompeii) sits on a plateau and looks very much like one of the desert scenes from “Star Wars.” It is one of the most impressive and pristine tourist sites we’ve seen so far. We wandered through the remnants of the monastery, government office, infant burial ground (a mystery) and residences on paths winding through this primitive city of sand. There were very few tourists and it seemed almost everyone was either a reporter or photographer.

Then we took a ride up to the notorious Flaming Mountains, said to give off so much heat that birds flying overhead drop dead on the sand. As the name suggests, the giant dunes are a vibrant red color and it was so bright we couldn’t take off our sunglasses. We decided against the camels and hiked our own way to the top but paid the price as the sand burnt through the soles of our sandals, scorching our feet.

Avoiding the burning peaks, we went down to the aptly named Grape Valley for lunch, where we sat under a canopy of the lush green fruit, their trellises hanging so low you could lift your head and eat the grapes right off the vine.