I didn’t really know what to expect when riding to Dunhuang - it certainly wasn’t what I found. A sleepy oasis town with a section almost completely dedicated to the summer tourists, a dramatic view of dunes in the background, and thousands of years of history.

My original plan for this time was to spend some time “camping” (glamping) in the desert, so I checked out early from the hotel in town on Thursday morning to make my way over. It was a decent amount more expensive than other hotels in the area so I was keen for a nice experience.

Alas, that was not to be! When I arrived:

• the location was a random parking lot with no one around
• I eventually found someone that tried to get me to cancel my booking and stay at his place instead (his place was not nice)
• when calling up the hotel staff to try figure out what was going on, they refused to send me a location of where the hotel was…because as it turns out no one was there and due to start working until late in the afternoon!!! I was waiting in the sand with all my gear for quite a while before I figured out where the actual hotel was. While the interior of the tents was okay, it just wasn’t a nice “vibe”. Too many tents packed close together, and the interactions with the hotel staff (over the phone, there was literally no one at the site because it was “too hot”) were not pleasant. I decided that I would not be staying there!

McGlamptions

And tables were broken at the tents!

I spent the morning, until midday, figuring out how to cancel and refund my stay, and then rebooking a better hotel. Then came the next unexpected surprise: I had forgotten to turn my lights off on my bike, and it had run out of charge!

This would have been very bad (as no one was around and it was pretty warm), had I not previously installed a “bidirectional” USB charger. This device allows me both to charge things while the engine is running and to recharge the motorcycle battery from a power bank when the bike’s battery is flat. What a relief when it actually worked.

I made my way to a different hotel, tried to pay, and then realised that I’d hit spend limits on WeChat. Problem after problem, things were not looking good so I decided to rest during the afternoon, and then venture out when no longer tilted. Interestingly, today was the first day this whole trip that I’ve felt frustrated (or any negative emotion more broadly). That’s pretty good all things considered.

Tobacco break

After a cigar and some dinner (did I mention that I hadn’t had any food all day), I ventured out for a ride at sunset. The hotel staff recommended I ride out along the desert highway, and it was stunning. I saw a few 4WDs venturing out from the desert so I followed their tracks to the start of a “desert highway”.

At the edge of the desert at sundown

One of the 4WDs was stopped by the side of the road, so I struck up a conversation. “Are you a group of offroaders?” “Yes, but we’re actually taking tourists out to the desert today.” “Oh what’s that like and are you free tomorrow?” “4 hours from 6-10PM…1500RMB” “I’m in. Let’s add WeChat and I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Side note: I’ve noticed a LOT of smoking here in China, from people of all ages. It is permitted indoors, even in hotel rooms, and seems like the majority of people smoke here. The cigarettes themselves have great packaging, so that got me curious. What’s China’s stance on tobacco? As it turns out, the tobacco industry is state owned, and profits contribute 10–15% of NATIONAL TAX REVENUE. This is insane! No wonder they are so permissive…it’s another (highly addictive) way to tax the people (especially the informal sector which doesn’t really pay taxes).

Friday was a new day; my tour guide and driver had arrived (overland tourists are required to have a tour guide with them in Xinjiang, and it may not be possible to get fuel without them), and on the agenda today was the Mogao Grottoes and the desert adventure in the evening.

The Mogao Grottoes are a series of man made caves, hollowed out of a cliff in the Gobi Desert near Dunhuang. This was done at the behest of monks and wealthy patrons from the 5th century (Wei Dynasty) onwards, who inside placed statues of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and protectors and murals of thousands of Buddhas. It is said that Buddhism crossed over to China from India via the Silk Road, with Dunhuang being a major transit point at the time.

Mogao Grottoes

I was very impressed with the way the tourist operation was run.

1. There are 18,000 tickets available each day for tourists to visit, to ensure that individual caves are not subjected to too much humidity (from people’s breath)
2. the operation is quite linear and quite efficient
3. The guides are knowledgeable and have an interest in preserving China’s cultural heritage After getting tickets at the site (it was sold out online but they keep some tickets available for foreigners at the door), my fellow tourists and I were shepherded into a movie cinema to watch two films of about 20 mins each, about the cultural heritage of the location. These types of films are usually quite dull, but I was really surprised by the production quality; movie-level production.

Outside the Grottoes

Original wooden awnings from the Song Dynasty (over 1000 years ago I think)

Then we were guided to a series of buses which took us to the actual site itself. There we were met by tour guides who would explain about each individual cave, and ensure tourists don’t do anything too crazy to damage the site.

No photos allowed inside…sneaky shot of our group and tour guide.

Then it was time for lunch, this time in town, where I had traditional food from Dunhuang. I had the chance to try a sheep’s head, which actually was pretty good (including all the organs, like eyes, brains etc). Would eat again.

Lunch…yum

Then it was time for the main event. I was picked up by probably the coolest-looking person I have encountered in China, in his white land cruiser. He had a swagger about the way he drove and had Chinese (and western) drum and bass blasting from the speakers.

Mr Offroad

I have never been 4WDing off-road, and this was quite the introduction. We peeled off the highway about where we had met the day before, and were amongst the dunes in ~15 minutes.

New pose unlocked

It is such a thrilling activity; like a self-directed roller-coaster. It was quite fun, we just tore up dunes around the desert for a while with loud drum and bass.

Photo pit stop (or should i say pic stop)

We had a 30-minute break with freshly cut melon, where the guide made a route recommendation for some canyons on my way west tomorrow.

Dunes in the dying light

We paused on a high dune to watch the sunset, the driver added air back into the tires, and then before long I was back at the hotel.

The sun sets beneath the mountains in the west

Off-roading in the desert is probably one of the best experiences I’ve had on my trip so far. Funny how a negative experience (the awful hotel) can directly lead to a positive experience in such a short amount of time.

Tomorrow I enter Xinjiang; Shan-shan (or Hami if I can’t make it).

Some stats

• 96 km travelled
• 6 unique interactions
• 14.7 litres of fuel added
• 55g coffee consumed