August - Part 1

I need to break August into two parts.

My first half of August was spent in Gansu. Gansu is different from Chongqing in so many ways. One of the best ways is that it was dry. Yes, it did rain a few days. But it was somehow better than Chongqing rain. Outside of the mountain area there was almost constant blue sky and if there is one regret I have, it's that I didn't pack long pants and a jacket. When I was told to pack warm clothes, I didn't fully believe that it would actually be cold. If you go to Gansu, pack warm clothes.

Manic
You can also see the "Yellow" river in the background. It was red/brown. Liars.

When I arrived in Lanzhou, I went directly to the hostel and met a girl named Manic. The entire first day I was with Manic, she spoke Chinese the whole time. It was a good boost of confidence for me. After she got tired of talking to herself, we started speaking English. We went sightseeing together one day. She insisted on climbing this mountain. We got to the top around 2:00. Then she announced that she wanted to watch the sunset from the mountain top. We waited there 5 hours. Just as the sun started to approach the horizon, about 1 hour after the sandstorm, the clouds came in and Manic says, "What a pity! We can't see the sunset. Let's go before it gets dark." Yes. Let's.

Xiahe, Gansu

One main street runs through Xiahe. All of the buildings are colorful.
It seems to be becoming more touristy based on the new shopping areas being built outside of the monastery.

I left Lanzhou and went to Xiahe. Lonely Planet described Xiahe as an "alluring monastic town." IF YOU ARE IN GANSU, DO NOT MISS XIAHE. There have been few times in China when I say, "Wow! That exceeded my expectations." This was one of those few times. We stayed in the Tibetan Overseas Hotel. It was good (Clean, quiet, and hot water. Refreshing after Huar Hostel in Lanzhou). The people working the front desk were also helpful. If you can, take the outer kora and if you intend on renting bikes to go to one of the grasslands, reserve them the night before.

Friendly faces and bread.
It doesn't get better than this.

A view from the outer kora down to the monastery.

Since we couldn't get bikes, we walked to the grasslands.
The trail ended and we needed to cross the river. 

Short of swimming or turning around, this was the only option.

The prayer wheels around the monastery.

 I could have stayed in Xiahe for the rest of the trip, but it was time to move on. After the train ride from hell, we arrived in Dunhuang. Dunhuang should have a blog post of its own. Dunhuang is known for the Mogao caves. These caves are the largest collection of buddhist art in the world and are particularly impressive because of their age and how well they have been preserved. If you have more time to stay in Dunhuang, you can also take camels out into the dunes and spend the night in the desert for about 400 kuai (see Charlie Johng's Dune Guesthouse). 400 is pretty cheap when you consider you're going to pay 120 to get into the park to see the dunes anyways and it covers the guide and food.

A view of the dunes from the Silk Road Hotel.

Mogao caves
Getting here was an adventure. We were informed that tickets had to be bought online only.
Internet-less, we called Caroline, she got the tickets, we picked them up, hitched a ride from
 some other tourists to the caves, and then realized
we could have bought the tickets at the visitor's center AND the caves.

 We then went to Jiayuguan and I saw the Great Wall for my first time.

Great Wall

To get to our hostel from the street we had to walk through this restaurant.
There were 2 poster-sized Maos in this restaurant.

 Our last leg in Gansu was Zhangye. Seeing the Danxia landforms was my priority. Scenic spots like this can't be accurately photographed. It was more incredible than any picture could show.

We said a sad goodbye to Gansu (its diversity, cool weather, and bread) and it was time for Sichuan province.