Silk Road Day 13: Turpan

We arrived in Turpan this morning and went to visit the museum of the underground irrigation system, which was started thousands of years ago and is still in use today. Turpan is famous for its grapes, largely due to the irrigation system.

We saw the Emin Minaret (only from the outside) and visited the local bazaar where Kendall bought a Uighur hat and a Mao cap.

We also visited the ancient city of Jiahoe which was built in 100BC and is largely still intact. Quite fascinating and very picturesque.

We then spent nearly three hours driving from Turpan in the Gobi Desert to Urumqi in the mountains. Our bus driver did not seem to understand the concept of brakes, or driving in a straight line. Scary stuff but we made it in one piece.

Silk Road Day 12: Dunhuang

This morning we visited the Mogao Caves. They are a series of caves carved out of the cliffs and full of Buddha statues and lovely frescoes. You're not allowed to take pictures of them, however.

After the Longmen Caves we were not so excited about seeing more Buddhas so we looked at the first couple and then went back to the car park to take more photos of the sand dunes.

We got back on the train last in the afternoon and after being organised enough to get some laundry done we went to the Bar Car for a drink, and never made it back. Oh, we did rush back to our cabin to put on our pyjamas for the pyjama party, which was great fun, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed Kendall's impersonation of Peter Allen singing I Go To Rio, complete with maracca action. It was a very late night and much alcohol was consumed.

Overnight on the train.

Silk Road Day 11: Dunhuang

We left Jiayuguan at the crack of dawn and took the train to Dunhuang. We went straight to the Singing Sand Dunes (noise made by the wind) where the majority of the group went on a camel ride. Other less adventurous souls took a golf buggy tour. Riding Bactrian camels is way more comfortable than riding Dromedary camels. Just an observation.

Then we climbed the sand dunes - I nearly died - and did a toboggan ride to the bottom. The near-death-inducing climb was totally worth it - it was awesome!

See that tiny dot in the top right corner? That's where we climbed to, to do the toboggan run.

Tonight we went to dinner at the Silk Road Hotel where they put on a little show for us. The best part was the fireworks display, again all for our group. Once again we have two single beds which are as hard as tables but we're so exhausted from the sand dune climb we should fall asleep pretty quickly anyway.

Silk Road Day 10: Jiayuguan

Arrived this morning in Jiayuguan and went straight to the end of the Great Wall.

Bloody long climb straight up a vertical mountain but we made it to the top, as did most of the group, except Louis who is 85 and therefore excused :)

Then off to the Jiayuguan Fort, which sits between two mountains and marks the end of the Great Wall.

There was a film crew there and they were offering the chance to shoot bow and arrows at a dummy in the courtyard so Kendall had a go, and managed to get one hit which was pretty impressive.

We then zoomed through the local museum. Dinner at the hotel which included a massive birthday cake for Kendall. Early to bed on beds which were so hard it was like sleeping on a table.

Silk Road Day 9: on the train

This morning we left Xian and are travelling to Jiayuaguan, which marks the end of the Great Wall of China. We have travelled through some lovely mountain scenery and also the desert. There are farms everywhere and I don't know how they make a living.

Tonight we spend our first night sleeping aboard the train. The beds are very narrow - I hope I don't fall out! As we have two compartments Kendall is sleeping in the other one so we both have a lower bunk.

Silk Road Day 8: Xian

Today was my favourite bit of sightseeing so far. We saw the Terracotta Warriors. What an amazing sight.

Three huge excavation pits, and over 7,000 warriors inside. Archaeologists are still putting together the pieces and it is truly a wonderful spectacle.

The only downside was our local tourguide Jackie, who seems intent on telling us every single that has happened in China's history in the space of three days. She's exhausting. Sweet, but every now and then I want to tell her to shut up.

Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant (!) then on to the Banpo Neolithic Village Museum. Not really my cup of tea and hard to photograph as it was mostly piles of dirt with signs pointing to them saying "this is where the house was" but surely interesting to some.

Tonight we get to choose where to eat so we are having Australian steak from room service. No Chinese food for our meal! I went for a swim in the evening but there were too many kids so I only stayed half an hour. Oh well.

Silk Road Day 7: Xian

A real western breakfast set us up for a busy morning of sightseeing - first the Forest of Steles, the largest collection of stone tablets anywhere. Very peaceful with lovely gardens around.

Then a walk atop the part of the city wall here which is in excellent condition.

We also visited the Wild Goose Pagoda, which is a working Buddhist Temple. If it looks a little wonky, that's because the Pagoda has a slight lean to it.

Lunch was a special dumpling banquet but I could only find four dumplings to eat. Plenty of other food though so it was all okay.

Had a free afternoon so I booked in for a massage at the day spa. Felt pummelled but relaxed afterwards, especially since it finished with a milk bath full of rose petals. Tonight we went to a Tang Dynasty dinner show. The food was surprisingly good and the show was very entertaining. And short enough that we didn't get bored. Forgot to take my camera though.

Silk Road Day 6: Luoyang

This morning we visited the Longmen Caves, a series of more than 2,100 grottoes containing carved images of Buddha. Quite amazing but 10,000 carved images of Buddha are a lot to appreciate when you are not a Buddhist. Spent a pleasant two hours walking along the river and climbing various sets of steps to look at the carvings. Some of them were huge!

Gayle - our wonderful tour leader - had arranged for golf buggies to collect us at the end and ferry us back to our bus. Very civilised and being on tour with the oldies has its advantages.

After lunch - more Chinese food - we visited the Chariot Museum, a discovery that was made in 2002 when the city was excavating for their new city square. Very sad to see all the horses that were killed and buried with the chariots, all because some Emperor wanted them! On the train late in the day for dinner, and a late arrival into Xian where we are staying at the very lovely Sofitel Renmin Square.

Silk Road Day 5: on the train

After leaving the hotel at the crack of dawn this morning, we spent the whole day on the train. We have two very small but gorgeous compartments with a tiny washroom in between them. It's all rosewood with gold handles; very opulent. We had lunch on the train, then a lecture on the history of the Silk Road from our resident expert Tony Pritchard.

Dinner on the train - yet more Chinese food - then relaxing in our cabin watching the world go by until we arrived in Luoyang, quite late. Our hotel room was perfectly nice, with a bed approximately one acre in size.

Silk Road Day 4: Beijing

Today we saw the big three: the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. All were amazing. Wish I could say the same about the weather. It was foggy and raining all day. This did not seem to deter approximately 200 million Chinese people, all of whom seemed to be in the places we went today.

Standing in Tiananmen Square, you could picture the tanks rolling in to stop the student demonstration in 1989. And that huge queue of people? Those are all people waiting to go into Chairman Mao's mausoleum and pay their respects.

The Square is huge, much bigger than you expect. It is bordered by Mao's mausoleum, the Houses of Parliament, and the Forbidden City. You could probably fit a million people in it, it's so big.

The Forbidden City was ridiculously enormous; it must have been so intimidating for foreign dignitaries to visit.

I couldn't get over how steep the Wall was, and although I had a migraine today I still managed to climb part of it so I was pretty proud of myself.

Quiet night tonight as we have an early start to our train journey tomorrow!

Silk Road Day 3: Beijing

This morning we went on a rickshaw tour to the old part of Beijing, the Hutong houses. These are traditional houses and most have been demolished to make way for high rise apartment buildings, but the Chinese government has realised the historical value of the remaining residences and is making an effort to restore and preserve those that are left.

After lunch we visited the Summer Palace of the last Emperor, which was massive and insanely ornate. The Emperor used to go there in the summer (duh) to escape the oppressive heat of Beijing. It is built right next to a massive lake which contributed to the cooler temperatures, and it's still in the city itself.

I would just like to point out that EVERYWHERE you go in Beijing, there are so many people. Millions of them, in fact. There is no escaping the crowds. That's why there are always going to be lots of people in my photos. Be warned!

We then visited the Temple of Heaven, where the Emperor used to go once a year to pray to the gods for a good harvest for the year. Apparently he would walk from the Forbidden City to show his humility (it's about a three mile walk).

The temple was built 300 years ago but is wooden and was completely destroyed by fire in 1899, and rebuilt the following year. No nails were used in the construction, which is pretty amazing.

The weather in Beijing has been less than impressive so far; very soggy and overcast. Not great for taking photos but I did the best I could.

Tonight we had dinner at the best restaurant in Beijing. The food was good and they did a little floorshow which was very funny, especially as they made Kendall get up and join in. Early start tomorrow for a big day: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.

Silk Road Days 1 - 2

We left Melbourne today, flying with Singapore Airlines. A few weeks ago we got offered an upgrade to the Suites on the A380, which we gladly accepted. Best decision of the year! We were the only passengers in the Suites and so were totally spoiled. You know it's a tough life when your biggest decision is to drink either the Krug or the Dom Perignon. We even had our own separate bedroom to nap in. What a life. We had a four hour stopover in Singapore and landed in Beijing at 7am on Sunday. Met some others from our group at the airport (Beijing airport is HUGE) and have settled in at the Westin Beijing. It's bloody cold - it was -3C when we arrived.