The Silk Road: the final installation
Day 8 continued. 8/23
After eating, and packing up our bags we hop back onto the busses and take them out to a random spot in the middle of the Goby Desert. There are already tents set up for us, so we merely grab sleeping bags and blankets and toss our stuff down before gallivanting off to play. There is much picture taking, wandering, ultimate Frisbee playing, and watermelon eating before we all gather around an enormous campfire. We sing for quite a while and then head off to bed dressed in our warmest to protect us against the frigid cold. Rumored frigid cold I should say, because by morning I was sweating.
Day 9. 8/24
This morning we woke up to an endless number of stars, we took a bus to the singing sand dunes and then boarded our camels to set off into the desert to find an appropriate spot to watch the sunrise. The camels were quite possibly the best thing that had happened so far. My camels name was Genevieve, and she was magnificent.
When we got to our sunrise spot the people tried to charge us 10 RMB each to use the stairs to get up the sand dune. Justin (one of our chaperone types) was furious. “This is not your sand!!!” Then in a fit of defiance he charged up the dune with all of us behind him.
The sunrise from the top was beautiful, though not as spectacular as I feel it would have been if there were a few less clouds in the sky. Still though, the sunrise over the Goby desert.
Then we took the camels to Crescent Moon Lake, which was kind of pointless, but I did play with the macro on Mike’s camera for a while and take some interesting pictures while I wandered about. 
A lot of the boys did ATV-ing, but I wasn’t about to spend 100 RMB for that.
Our faithful busses then took us to a restaurant back in town for another TBC provided lunch, which this time, surprise surprise included al the rest of the TBC-ers! Because there are so many in TBC this year we had split up into group A and group B each with 50 kids, and here we met up with our other half. This is Group A Brian and I.
We hung out with them for a while that afternoon and then we put back on the bus and back to the train station for one of our longest train rides yet.
Fortunately this time we had soft sleepers- cars with individual rooms with 4 beds each in them, instead of stacked openly in the cars, which are called “hard sleepers.” Don’t know why, the bed quality is about the same.
Day 10. 8/25
Once we got off the train we found that our hotel was merely across the street, so we crossed as one big horde of Americans (this got us quite a few stares) and dropped our stuff off. Then we took a bus, then a boat, to get too the Binglingsi caves, which interestingly enough are what my presentation had been on.
Carved over a period of 1500 years, the Binglingsi caves were an important center of Buddhism that flourished under the Song and Ming dynasties. Excavation work began only in 1952, and the caves are accessible only by boat and only during the summer.
Though Buddhism originated in India, thanks to the Silk Road by 3rd Century AD it was flourishing in China. Around 1st Century AD missionaries first began traveling to the Oasis Kingdoms in eastern Turkistan via the Silk Road to encourage the religion’s spread throughout Central Asia.
As the religion became more popular so did the tradition of excavating caves to serve as Buddhist Temples. Buddhist sanctuaries were carved into cliffs mainly in secluded valleys. The locations for the places of worship were frequently chosen for their beautiful landscapes, many Buddhists were said to have enlightening visions in the selected areas.
After viewing the main Buddha and grottos, a few of us dropped 10 RMB and hopped into a jeep to go farther onto into the wild of the area. We found a group of Buddhist monks who gladly showed us about their home, and with a mix of poor Chinese and poor English we ended up having a nice cup of tea with them.
This is a picture taken from the ferry that took us to Binglingsi.
That night after a really good dinner in a local restaurant where one of our dishes was set on fire, and I spilled JT’s beer all over myself, we went out to a club because it was one of our local guides, Summer’s, birthday, so we all celebrated with her and danced the night away.
Day 11. 8/26
We checked out of our hotel promptly this morning and took a bus to Yellow River Park. Then for a small fee (everything in China costs a small fee, though it’s not always small) I boarded a goatskin boat and made my way across the river. This was an interesting notion for a few reasons.
One is they say if you go into the Yellow River you’ll never again be clean the rest of your life, another is that these boats were made of dead beheaded goats, whose bodies had been gutted and then blown up and tied together.
That was kind of a gruesome description, probably more so than necessary. It was kind of gross though.
The rest of the day was spend in route to Xiahe (“Sha-huh”) no doubt my favorite location of the whole trip. Xiahe is a “significant Tibetan monastery town that attracts many devout Buddhist pilgrims to its Labrang Monastery every year. As a result the town is a mix of Hui, Tibetan, and Han Chinese.”
Upon arrival we were presented with traditional “Hadas” long white cloths, like a scarf, that are a traditional practice of respect and hospitality in Tibet. Then we walked off for our group dinner down the street for our hotel. Unfortunately we (Danny, Jamel, JT, Mike, Jon, and I) got lost on the way to the restaurant- though it literally was straight down the street from our hotel no corners or anything, and arrived a bit behind schedule. I had to scarf down my food in order to leave in time to reach our evening event, which was an amazing traditional Chinese dance presentation. Not everyone went because it was 80 RMB, but I am so glad I did, I loved it.
Then back to our incredible, no exaggeration, hotel, it was so wonderful, only made more wonderful by the breakfast they served us the next morning.
Day 12. 8/27
For breakfast for today, and tomorrow, we had really good thick bread with jam, fried eggs, and coffee. It was amazing. Especially in comparison to the traditional Chinese breakfasts we were being served everywhere else, Chinese breakfasts consist of pickled vegetables, and rice porridge with vinegar, and just awful awful things. That I think is the worst part of China, the breakfasts, and maybe the driving.
We then walked down the road to the Labrang Monastery.We had a tour through the primary worship and ritual areas and then had a few minutes to meet with one of the monks and talk to him and ask questions, with translators present. We learned quite a bit about Buddhism, including the 3 basic evils, 1. Hatred, 2. Ignorance, 3. Desire.
After the morning spent at the monastery I spent the afternoon with Mike, shopping basically. He is an exceptional bargainer, and we did very well. Too well I think maybe.
We also had a really good lunch across the street from the hotel in this café with such. Good. Pizza. It was amazing. Unfortunately the secret got out and soon almost all of our 50 person group was there and the pizza’s started taking a really really long time. I had lots of time to wander the village though and didn’t mind.
Late that afternoon we took a somewhat pointless bus ride out to see local peoples yak farm. It was freezing, and not that interesting, but the yaks were pretty cool; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yak in real life before.
Day 13. 8/28
This morning I woke up at 5:30 am, and with a group of about 5 others, set out to walk and spin the prayer wheels. This is an important part of Tibetan (Theravada) Buddhism and most people of this town come out every morning, the monks also. The multitude of wheels circles the entire monastery and if you correctly follow the procedure it takes about 2 hours to complete. It only took us an hour and a half but that is primarily because we were not allowed inside many of the more sacred areas where the largest prayer wheels were held, still it was a really significant ordeal for me.
After yet another wonderful breakfast we checked out of our hotel and made our way back to the train station at Lanzhou.
Day 14. 8/29
Home stretch.
Only a few days left of the trip, unfortunately this day was probably my most unlucky yet, rivaling my hospital stay. Curse my parents for naming me Mallory (“unlucky one”)
I spent the night on the train throwing up again, so for this first day in Xi’an (She-an) I laid discontented in my hotel room instead of visiting some of the local sights, though I heard I didn’t miss out on too much. By the early evening I was feeling a lot better, better enough to go out to the Big Goose Pagoda water show.
We got completely ripped off on our cab ride on the way there, with the driver going in just straight circles to rack up our meter, and us scouring a dictionary trying to figure out how to say things like, “don’t trick us” It was ridiculous and we ended up paying twice what other groups going to the same place paid.
We get out of the cab, and walk 20 feet before I realize my camera is not in my bag.
Therefore it must be in the cab.
We try to run after the cab, I’m hitting myself because of course this is the one time I didn’t ask the driver for the receipt.
To forget my troubles we end up causing a huge spectacle by dancing in the water show. It really did astound me though that no one else did this. But a group of Americans certainly caused a stir, and after we were though we had quite a few pictures taken with random Chinese.
Day 15. 8/30
This morning I am very glad I was not sick, but very bummed I didn’t have a camera. (I had Justin call the cab company numerous times over the next few days but to no avail.)
I was happy to not be sick because this day was the trip to see the infamous Terracotta warriors. They were awesome; we even got to meet with the farmer who discovered them only 30 years ago. He doesn’t usually meet with groups, and he even took a picture with us, which he never does.
I bought a small terracotta warrior here, you can really get them at any tourist shop in China, but because there were in the actual museum they are certified to be more authentic, and actually made from the same clay as the actual ones. You may not believe that, but I do, and hopefully my little general will protect me from any further misfortune.
Then we had lunch at the museum which included optional snake wine, of course, we took that option. This is China, we don't want to miss out on anything.
We also visited a wax museum of what they suspect Qin Shi Huang’s tomb looks like, though it hasn’t been excavated. Supposedly there are rivers of mercury on which his coffin flows throughout the interior of his tomb, and he was buried with his concubines and warriors to protect him and keep him company. It was a pretty magnificent wax tomb I though.
We spent that afternoon at an herb market, primarily used for Chinese Medicine treatments, a lot of people complained but I really enjoyed wandering through the bins and bushels of snakes and centipedes (dead) and dried plants and such. I even ate a scorpion. It was salty.
Day 16. 8/31
After checking out of our hotel we stashed our bags in the lobby and walked to the city wall. There we got to spend the morning biking along it to view this ancient city from above. Xi’an was China’s capital for 11
dynasties over 4000 years. “Xi’an peaked during the Tang Dynasty, when its position at the eastern end of the Silk Road transformed it into a bustling metropolis, luring foreign merchants and faiths, including Nestorian Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Manicheans, and Buddhists.”
After a few hours on the bikes we made our way down art and Antique Street where I was able to find a surprising number of appropriate gifts, and just fun souvenirs. Not that any of you are getting gifts or anything…
That night we had the best meal of the trip, including steak, and these incredible potato things, and just the best food, and then we packed onto our very last train back to Beijing.
The End. (Of the Silk Road at least)
After eating, and packing up our bags we hop back onto the busses and take them out to a random spot in the middle of the Goby Desert. There are already tents set up for us, so we merely grab sleeping bags and blankets and toss our stuff down before gallivanting off to play. There is much picture taking, wandering, ultimate Frisbee playing, and watermelon eating before we all gather around an enormous campfire. We sing for quite a while and then head off to bed dressed in our warmest to protect us against the frigid cold. Rumored frigid cold I should say, because by morning I was sweating.
Day 9. 8/24
This morning we woke up to an endless number of stars, we took a bus to the singing sand dunes and then boarded our camels to set off into the desert to find an appropriate spot to watch the sunrise. The camels were quite possibly the best thing that had happened so far. My camels name was Genevieve, and she was magnificent.
When we got to our sunrise spot the people tried to charge us 10 RMB each to use the stairs to get up the sand dune. Justin (one of our chaperone types) was furious. “This is not your sand!!!” Then in a fit of defiance he charged up the dune with all of us behind him.
The sunrise from the top was beautiful, though not as spectacular as I feel it would have been if there were a few less clouds in the sky. Still though, the sunrise over the Goby desert.
Then we took the camels to Crescent Moon Lake, which was kind of pointless, but I did play with the macro on Mike’s camera for a while and take some interesting pictures while I wandered about. 
A lot of the boys did ATV-ing, but I wasn’t about to spend 100 RMB for that. Our faithful busses then took us to a restaurant back in town for another TBC provided lunch, which this time, surprise surprise included al the rest of the TBC-ers! Because there are so many in TBC this year we had split up into group A and group B each with 50 kids, and here we met up with our other half. This is Group A Brian and I.
We hung out with them for a while that afternoon and then we put back on the bus and back to the train station for one of our longest train rides yet.Fortunately this time we had soft sleepers- cars with individual rooms with 4 beds each in them, instead of stacked openly in the cars, which are called “hard sleepers.” Don’t know why, the bed quality is about the same.
Day 10. 8/25
Once we got off the train we found that our hotel was merely across the street, so we crossed as one big horde of Americans (this got us quite a few stares) and dropped our stuff off. Then we took a bus, then a boat, to get too the Binglingsi caves, which interestingly enough are what my presentation had been on.
Carved over a period of 1500 years, the Binglingsi caves were an important center of Buddhism that flourished under the Song and Ming dynasties. Excavation work began only in 1952, and the caves are accessible only by boat and only during the summer.
Though Buddhism originated in India, thanks to the Silk Road by 3rd Century AD it was flourishing in China. Around 1st Century AD missionaries first began traveling to the Oasis Kingdoms in eastern Turkistan via the Silk Road to encourage the religion’s spread throughout Central Asia.
As the religion became more popular so did the tradition of excavating caves to serve as Buddhist Temples. Buddhist sanctuaries were carved into cliffs mainly in secluded valleys. The locations for the places of worship were frequently chosen for their beautiful landscapes, many Buddhists were said to have enlightening visions in the selected areas.
After viewing the main Buddha and grottos, a few of us dropped 10 RMB and hopped into a jeep to go farther onto into the wild of the area. We found a group of Buddhist monks who gladly showed us about their home, and with a mix of poor Chinese and poor English we ended up having a nice cup of tea with them.
This is a picture taken from the ferry that took us to Binglingsi.
That night after a really good dinner in a local restaurant where one of our dishes was set on fire, and I spilled JT’s beer all over myself, we went out to a club because it was one of our local guides, Summer’s, birthday, so we all celebrated with her and danced the night away.
Day 11. 8/26
We checked out of our hotel promptly this morning and took a bus to Yellow River Park. Then for a small fee (everything in China costs a small fee, though it’s not always small) I boarded a goatskin boat and made my way across the river. This was an interesting notion for a few reasons.
One is they say if you go into the Yellow River you’ll never again be clean the rest of your life, another is that these boats were made of dead beheaded goats, whose bodies had been gutted and then blown up and tied together. That was kind of a gruesome description, probably more so than necessary. It was kind of gross though.
The rest of the day was spend in route to Xiahe (“Sha-huh”) no doubt my favorite location of the whole trip. Xiahe is a “significant Tibetan monastery town that attracts many devout Buddhist pilgrims to its Labrang Monastery every year. As a result the town is a mix of Hui, Tibetan, and Han Chinese.”
Upon arrival we were presented with traditional “Hadas” long white cloths, like a scarf, that are a traditional practice of respect and hospitality in Tibet. Then we walked off for our group dinner down the street for our hotel. Unfortunately we (Danny, Jamel, JT, Mike, Jon, and I) got lost on the way to the restaurant- though it literally was straight down the street from our hotel no corners or anything, and arrived a bit behind schedule. I had to scarf down my food in order to leave in time to reach our evening event, which was an amazing traditional Chinese dance presentation. Not everyone went because it was 80 RMB, but I am so glad I did, I loved it.
Then back to our incredible, no exaggeration, hotel, it was so wonderful, only made more wonderful by the breakfast they served us the next morning.
Day 12. 8/27
For breakfast for today, and tomorrow, we had really good thick bread with jam, fried eggs, and coffee. It was amazing. Especially in comparison to the traditional Chinese breakfasts we were being served everywhere else, Chinese breakfasts consist of pickled vegetables, and rice porridge with vinegar, and just awful awful things. That I think is the worst part of China, the breakfasts, and maybe the driving.
We then walked down the road to the Labrang Monastery.We had a tour through the primary worship and ritual areas and then had a few minutes to meet with one of the monks and talk to him and ask questions, with translators present. We learned quite a bit about Buddhism, including the 3 basic evils, 1. Hatred, 2. Ignorance, 3. Desire.
After the morning spent at the monastery I spent the afternoon with Mike, shopping basically. He is an exceptional bargainer, and we did very well. Too well I think maybe.
We also had a really good lunch across the street from the hotel in this café with such. Good. Pizza. It was amazing. Unfortunately the secret got out and soon almost all of our 50 person group was there and the pizza’s started taking a really really long time. I had lots of time to wander the village though and didn’t mind.
Late that afternoon we took a somewhat pointless bus ride out to see local peoples yak farm. It was freezing, and not that interesting, but the yaks were pretty cool; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yak in real life before.
Day 13. 8/28
This morning I woke up at 5:30 am, and with a group of about 5 others, set out to walk and spin the prayer wheels. This is an important part of Tibetan (Theravada) Buddhism and most people of this town come out every morning, the monks also. The multitude of wheels circles the entire monastery and if you correctly follow the procedure it takes about 2 hours to complete. It only took us an hour and a half but that is primarily because we were not allowed inside many of the more sacred areas where the largest prayer wheels were held, still it was a really significant ordeal for me.
After yet another wonderful breakfast we checked out of our hotel and made our way back to the train station at Lanzhou.
Day 14. 8/29
Home stretch.
Only a few days left of the trip, unfortunately this day was probably my most unlucky yet, rivaling my hospital stay. Curse my parents for naming me Mallory (“unlucky one”)
I spent the night on the train throwing up again, so for this first day in Xi’an (She-an) I laid discontented in my hotel room instead of visiting some of the local sights, though I heard I didn’t miss out on too much. By the early evening I was feeling a lot better, better enough to go out to the Big Goose Pagoda water show.
We got completely ripped off on our cab ride on the way there, with the driver going in just straight circles to rack up our meter, and us scouring a dictionary trying to figure out how to say things like, “don’t trick us” It was ridiculous and we ended up paying twice what other groups going to the same place paid.
We get out of the cab, and walk 20 feet before I realize my camera is not in my bag.
Therefore it must be in the cab.
We try to run after the cab, I’m hitting myself because of course this is the one time I didn’t ask the driver for the receipt.
To forget my troubles we end up causing a huge spectacle by dancing in the water show. It really did astound me though that no one else did this. But a group of Americans certainly caused a stir, and after we were though we had quite a few pictures taken with random Chinese. Day 15. 8/30
This morning I am very glad I was not sick, but very bummed I didn’t have a camera. (I had Justin call the cab company numerous times over the next few days but to no avail.)
I was happy to not be sick because this day was the trip to see the infamous Terracotta warriors. They were awesome; we even got to meet with the farmer who discovered them only 30 years ago. He doesn’t usually meet with groups, and he even took a picture with us, which he never does.
I bought a small terracotta warrior here, you can really get them at any tourist shop in China, but because there were in the actual museum they are certified to be more authentic, and actually made from the same clay as the actual ones. You may not believe that, but I do, and hopefully my little general will protect me from any further misfortune.
Then we had lunch at the museum which included optional snake wine, of course, we took that option. This is China, we don't want to miss out on anything.
We also visited a wax museum of what they suspect Qin Shi Huang’s tomb looks like, though it hasn’t been excavated. Supposedly there are rivers of mercury on which his coffin flows throughout the interior of his tomb, and he was buried with his concubines and warriors to protect him and keep him company. It was a pretty magnificent wax tomb I though.
We spent that afternoon at an herb market, primarily used for Chinese Medicine treatments, a lot of people complained but I really enjoyed wandering through the bins and bushels of snakes and centipedes (dead) and dried plants and such. I even ate a scorpion. It was salty.
Day 16. 8/31
After checking out of our hotel we stashed our bags in the lobby and walked to the city wall. There we got to spend the morning biking along it to view this ancient city from above. Xi’an was China’s capital for 11
dynasties over 4000 years. “Xi’an peaked during the Tang Dynasty, when its position at the eastern end of the Silk Road transformed it into a bustling metropolis, luring foreign merchants and faiths, including Nestorian Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Manicheans, and Buddhists.”After a few hours on the bikes we made our way down art and Antique Street where I was able to find a surprising number of appropriate gifts, and just fun souvenirs. Not that any of you are getting gifts or anything…
That night we had the best meal of the trip, including steak, and these incredible potato things, and just the best food, and then we packed onto our very last train back to Beijing.
The End. (Of the Silk Road at least)
posted by mal at 4:23 AM
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