Impressions of the Day!
Another beautiful day in Turpan began peacefully with a visit to the Emin Minaret and Mosque.  Built in 1777, the Minaret was constructed by the “king” of Turpan to show his appreciation to the Emperor for making him “king.”  The construction of a monument of this sort was not a Muslin tradition, but the “king” incorporated this practice from the Chinese traditions.  Although today Muslims and other religions coexist legally in China, they are still under much control and restriction.

As we drove through the streets and eventually the country roads of Turpan and its surrounding areas, we passed carts, roadside stands and front yards heaped with grapes.

They were not only beautiful and plentiful to see, but we later found them also to be delicious!

Soon we were at the ancient city of Gaochang, amazingly preserved by the dry heat of this desert area.  Then on to the Astana Tombs, where we walked down into three separate tombs to see the mummies that had been preserved there.  The last was that of a military general, whose wife had written an epitaph for him and had five bird and floral nature panels adorn the walls of his tomb, because he was homesick for his native part of China but could not be buried there.

From there we visited an ancient semi-ruined village (name?) in the Flaming Mountains, where we hiked along a ravine toward the caves in which the Buddhist monks had hidden to save their lives, only to learn as we got near that the route had been closed and we could not get to the caves.  We returned to our starting point and were rewarded by a lovely luncheon spread under the grape arbor in the courtyard of a local family home/restaurant.  We were served ice-cold watermelon, cantaloupe, white grapes; tomato, cilantro & peppers salad; “pilaf rice;” and laughaman (sp?) noodles with lamb and many fresh home-grown veggies.  Delicious!! 

After a relaxing and filling lunch we traveled to the Baiziklik Caves (One Thousand Buddha Caves - 11^th and 12^th centuries) in the Flaming Mts.  Much of the wall and ceiling paintings had been taken by a German “archaeologist,” c. 1902, but later were said to have burned during World War II (some apparently have been found in Russia?)

My impressions of this wonderful day were mainly framed by magnificent, red Flaming Mountains; peaceful “villages” with ancient Buddhist tombs and “caves.”  Everywhere, reddish sandstone color and geological formations just glaring at you in the bright sunlight.  All of this enhanced by the extreme dry, hot weather, but relieved by the green along a deep river gorge and the marvelous repast of cool, refreshing and palate-satisfying food and hospitality.  This was probably my favorite day of the entire tour!

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