More pictures from our backpacker journey

Dunhuang - an oasis far away

11.01.09
Arrived this morning in Dunhuang, in Gansu province. A famous laid back oasis, with surrounding desert and many historical buddhist caves and grottoes. Dunhuang is a nice little city, and we will stay here for two nights, heading for Jiayuguan on the 13th.
Walking in the desert, riding camels, and looking at the oasis from afar was a really nice experience. The fact that we are doing this in an area that was a part of the old Silk Road makes it even more exciting. There was a bit of snow in the desert when we visited it, which made it look different from anything we have ever seen before.
We also visited The Thousand Western Buddhist Grottoes, which was situated alongside a beautiful river canyon just outside Dunhuang. The grottoes were closed when we came there, but the sights were amazing.

Ningxia University's foreign students trip 08

Thursday the 23rd of october we were invited to attend a trip for all the foreign students studying Chinese at the university. We had a fantastic time. The day started with museums, and after lunch we ended up in the desert, near the Huang He (The Yellow River), outside Yinchuan. We got to try a lot of fun stuff. Both of us tried "Desert Surfing". The surfing started already when we entered a crazy machine, a kind of desert bus, that took us up to a steep sandhill next to the Yellow River. The vehicle and the ride was awesome and thrilling. Until that day we didn't know that you could surf the sand, but it's possible. We also tried a ziprope which was fun, the view from the top was stunning, and the end of the ziprope was just by the river. After that we saw camels and sheepskinfleets. After a while, most of the students and some teachers joined desert-volleyball or desert-football.

The day ended in an Inner Mongolian restaurant close to the Yellow River. It was a round big hut, with great food. Grilled lamb (the whole animal on a plate) was served as the main course, which this region is famous for.

There were musicians and we helped to serve, which was fun. Those who wanted could entertain after eating. Both teachers and students entered the stage to a lot of applause.

After the entertainment was over a big bonfire was made and we stayed outside in the cold night, dancing and having fun.

All in all it was a great day in a great place with a lot of great people. Great!