Messy writing on the bus, sorry!  Left Turpan @8am, driving across open desert with natural gas drilling and pipelines as well as the open well heads of Karizes.  Low mountains to the west are beginning of Flaming Mountains.  Abdullah contrasts the Gaochang Mts. to where we are going with the Jiahe ruins of yesterday by saying the Jiahe was really a military outpost (despite central Buddhist Temples)  - it was a strategically located ridge top site – the city of Gaochang was much larger, encircled by an outer, an inner, and an (I think) palace wall.  So Gaochang served more functions than a military/strategic outpost.  We stopped to view a Kariz well opening at the risk of our driver getting a ticket as every passing car honked madly at us blocking half the road.  Small clay brick houses near the Karez system highlight what Abdullah was saying about the growing population and its impact on the Karez system as it is drying up.

First stop was at the Bezikelik Grottoes a.k.a. Caves of the 1,000 Buddhas, built between 5^th and 13^th centuries by successive dynasties, so there are changes in art and construction style reflecting the different periods.  Bob counted the ceiling Buddhas and found that each one has 518 (17 x 34?) individual seated Buddhas (not 1,000).  Also representations of the reactions of celestials on learning that Buddha achieved Nirvana.  Most of the beautiful panels were either hacked off by Stein et al and hauled off to the British Museum or destroyed by other forces – but the existing remnants of frescoes were way cool – lots of fine detail, obviously great works of religious art.

Ruins of Gaochang – mad scramble of tourists getting from busses onto donkey carts to ride from the entrance thru the ruins to the central Buddhist Temple.  Much of the city was destroyed during the 1950-60’s during the Great Leap Forward when walls were dismantled and the dirt used for farming – a whopping failure as at least 10 million died of famine and disease when there was no food.  Kind of a big step backward but Mao’s image smiles on at Tienanmen Square.

Ashanta Tombs – used on and off for the last 2,000 years – but mostly during Jin & Tang dynasties for burial, diagonal shafts (depth corresponding to social standing of decedents) and painted murals on walls of burial chamber- About 3K burials altogether – 3 open to visitors. Many of the artifacts from those exhumed are what we saw in the museum in Urumqi – such as the tomb guardians – also many of the mummies. 

On way to lunch brief stop raisin-drying house so people could taste grapes and see the drying process up close.  Can dry up to 2 tons/year of grapes but the owners of these fields expect to dry only 1 ton as that’s all they picked.  Then the usual huge lunch in Turpan after which a few of the group walked down the street to hear musicians (3 drums, one trumpet) playing on the sidewalk.  Al danced with one of the group, to wild applause.  Thereafter we hit the road for Urumqi at 2:43pm, got there around 5:30pm and had yogurt ice cream etc. before heading to the airport. Big highlight was the neighboring restaurant’s bread-baking cauldron.  

We made the flight to Kashgar (comments from the crowd – nice pineapple, lovely exchange of unwanted lunchboxes involving an innocent elderly man, and other games by a very punchy group of travelers).

Amusing signage in Urumqi: “Special Instrument Shop” next door to “Rocking Roll Weapon Patent”.  One needs a day in Urumqi just to appreciate all the trilingual signs.  At 10:15pm we checked into the Chinibagh Hotel, site of the former British consulate in the late 1860’s thru early 1900’s, (1920’s) The scene of much intrigue and a major listening post for the British on the Silk Road.

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