Sat: Fly to Kashgar via Dunhuang and Urumqi
Sun: Hike around Lake Karakul/Sleep in Yurt
Mon: Kashgar Grand Bazaar
Tues: Mosque, Old Kashgar, Fly to Urumqi
Wed: Urumqi Museum, Institute of Ethnic Minorities, Train to Liuyuan
Thurs: Arrive in Liuyuan, Bus to Dunhuang, Mogao Caves
Fri: Ride Camels to see sun rise over the desert
Sat: Ride Bikes to Baima Temple, Train to Lanzhou
Sun: Bus to Xiahe via Linxia for lunch, Labrang Monestery
Mon: Zuohai Monestery, picnic in the hills, octagonal village
Tues: Former Sky Burial Site, Tangka Studio, Tibetan Home
Wed: Bus to Linxia, Famous Beef Noodles, Mosque, Bus to Lanzhou, Pig Skin Raft
Thurs: Arrive in Xi'an
(Note: things changed in the schedule, but this is roughly what we did. When traveling, especially in China be a little flexible.)
Day 1: Sept 17: Travel
The first descent into Dunhuang was a rough one, turbulence in the way most people think of it, slight or even mild shaking, could not be the way to describe the actions the plane was making. Sharp lurches, rough bumps, and all sorts of other excitement took place for about a half an hour without pause. The explanation for all the pitching became apparent when we stepped off the plane and were immediately battered by gusts of strong desert wind. Dunhuang airport in in a vast desert plane of nothingness.
Looking down from the airplane as we came into Urumqi revealed a alien beauty. The desert hills seemed specked with snow, and there were stone mountains in the distance. I wish I had taken a picture but oh well. Our four hour wait in Urumqi was spent in KFC playing cards. Finally in Kashgar I saw my first stars in China, and slept in a creepyish doll house hotel that I believe was a former Russian consulate.
The farther west we moved on this trip the more the people changed. In Kashgar the people don't look like Han Chinese, they are Uygers and they use the Arabic alphabet. This part of China is defiantly Central Asia.
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