Desert Trip ( part 1)

I’ve always had a certain interest for deserts whit out really knowing why. The Gobi desert, one of the world’s biggest, lies in part in China. In fact, almost the whole northern part of China is quite dry and in many places, totally desert. Having one again the urge for travels, I once again decide to leave and seek adventure and of course, without much of plan. All I know is that I want to see big sand dunes and from what I have been told, the biggest ones are in Dunhuang. I first have to go to Jianyuguan and there take a transfer. So a few days before leaving, I pass by Beijing Central Train Station to buy a ticket. The big departure towards the unknown is fixed to next Sunday at noon.

The train is probably the most enjoyable and affordable way to travel in China, especially when you can get a bed. Once comfortably installed, I gradually get to meet with the 5 other people whom I sharing this cabin with. There are all Chinese of course, 2 couples and one other guy whom quickly moves to the neighbours’ to play cards and drink white alcohol (54%) called “Baijio” It is absolutely undrinkable but Chinese, mostly men, seem to like it. At the very least, it is a kind of rite of passage and is almost unavoidable amongst business men. To do business in China, you have to be able to drink large quantities of Baijio and never ever refuse a cigarette.

On our side, I am being asked all the usual questions: What country am I from? How long have you been in China? What am I doing here? Do I like China? Etc… Luckily, one of them, Li Tao, can speak a few words of English, about as much as I can speak Chinese which is not a lot. With a bit of efforts on both sides, we eventually get to understand each other.

It is very interesting to watch the scenery go by. It feels good to get away from the big city of Beijing for a change. The contrast is simply enormous. Rural China is remarkably much poorer. Even there, we can see a lot of cell phone networking companies’ publicity sings painted on clay house walls. On other instances, we come across big modern building and huge monuments crowned with chromed statues lost in the most basic countryside. I can’t avoid asking myself what on earth these things doing there? The contrasts and contradictions abound everywhere and in all directions.

Some32 hours after my departure from Beijing, I finally arrive in Jiayuguan. With the help of a cabin neighbour, I make it to the hotel that my friend Li Tao had recommended me. At a first glance, the hotel and the city both seem to be without great interests to me. It is past 9 PM now and I leave on a quest for cold beer. It is at the back of a dark alley that I find a cluster of small skewers eating places that I find it. Two cooks invite me to their table to chit chat, or at least try. After my beer I return to my most ordinary hotel room for the night.

The next morning, while I was searching around for breakfast, I passed in front of a photo printer shop. A particularly beautiful photo attracts my attention. It resembles a bit to the Grand Canyon but inversed, that is to say, orange striped mountains. I ask them: Is it far? Is it easy to get there? It seems that it is not so I kindly as the clerk to write me on the route to take on a piece of paper. Of course I can’t read it at all but this piece of paper becomes nonetheless very important since it is the only clue I have about where I want to go. Back at my hotel, I pack my stuff and I walk to the Central Bus Station. I show them my piece of paper and they give me a ticket. Lucky, my bus is just about to leave. Four and a half hours later, we are in another little town. I have no idea where I am and I’m being told that this is my stop and I have to get off. A happy looking lady is right there so I show her my magic note: “I want to go there…” She is nice enough to take me a few meters farther to the local bus station where once again, after showing those scribbling I’m being given yet another bus ticket. This time it is packed with people. The landscapes are immense, flat, and very dry. The only other places I’ve seen such a large and wide horizon were on water far away from shore and in the Canadian prairies. The sky is huge, with a perfectly flat horizon. The ground is most often very rocky, it feels like another world. In the distance, I can vaguely glimpse at some high snowy peaks. We are so minuscule and insignificant in our bus, lost in the middle of an arid sea.

This time, it is in a small rustic village that I’m being told to get off. Every look turns to me, at the very back end of the bus when I have to sneak my way through a very crowded central aisle. It’s about 18:30 and there’s not the shadow of a restaurant and even less of a hotel. All I see is a big board with a similar picture to the one that first inspired this small detour. Luckily, as I’m walking towards it, a young man comes to me and invites me to follow him to his house. It has a typically Chinese inner courtyard and is very inviting with all its trees in blossom. They are farmers that also make office of hostel most particularly aimed at photographers on the hunt for beautiful images. They have big prints on all the walls.

The sun is just starting to come down, so I ask him if we can go check it out. We get on his motorcycle and we head to the mountains. Quickly, I realize the luck I had to find this trail and to have followed it. It was well worth it. The view is truly splendid. Finally, I find myself in a totally natural environment, far away from the hectic life of the big cities like Beijing. I’m lost in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere and it feels great.
The place is so charming and the people so welcoming that I decide to stay a few days. Even though it is only for a few days, it is interesting to live on a farm. They cultivate their own vegetables; farm their own cows, lambs and chicken. They even have 2 camels at the back for those who would like to take pictures of them amongst the mountains. They all work hard and are visibly in good shape.

The visibility is not at its best during the second and third day due to sand storms although in fact, in looks more like fog than sand. Having thus a bit of spare time, I spend my afternoons, against their will, to give them a hand which makes them laugh more than anything. “We” build some kind of outdoor sink and washing station with bricks and concrete.

They speak Chinese with an accent that I don’t understand very well. The boy of the family can only say very few words of English. The experience of travelling alone is an excellent occasion to practice and keep it all in my RAM memory if I can say. Without wanting to fool myself too much, since I’m obviously still quite limited, I realise that my classes are now bearing fruit. I encourage myself by the fact that I’m able to make myself understood relatively often. Communication is never easy but I still surprise myself since it is at least to some extent possible.