Beijing -Xi’an – Xining – Tongren – Xiahe – Jiayuguan – Dunhuang – Turpan – Urumqi ((Tian Chi Lake) – Korla – Kuqa – Aksu – Kashgar – Karakul Lake – Oytag Valley – Kashgar – Beijing
Our Silk Road in China.
Having the habit of building our trips with local agencies, always better informed and above all more flexible to our wishes than traditional agencies, I built this trip ‘in parallel’ with other agencies, and we made the happy decision, with my wife to leave with Serge from China Road for the seriousness, the responsiveness to our desires and questions.
To Serge, from China Roads, with whom we built our Silk Road.
After Along Bay, Matchu Pitchu, the temples of Angkor, the Taj Mahal, Samarkand and Bukhara, we still had Beijing with its Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, and the continuation of the Silk Road with its Buddhist treasures and its Uighur culture, to finish in Kashgar, the last legendary city, gateway to Central Asia.
Arrived in Beijing on April 22, returned on May 15, 2010.
After days of uncertainty caused by an Icelandic volcano with an unpronounceable name, the winds were favorable and we were able to leave for Beijing as planned (the first day of the resumption of air travel in Europe).
I would like to thank Serge, as well as Jeanne, his colleague in Beijing, and the five Guides, all different but overall well-informed about their missions and the places we visited: Sébastien in Beijing, Charles and Claire in Xi’an, Yvain in Xining, in Jiayaguan, a small downside for Jeanne who is a little shy and needs experience, but above all, a big thank you to Sophie who, with her kindness, introduced us to Uighur culture and was more than a guide throughout the trip, without forgetting the drivers, they all took good care of us. We were pampered.
They were all present when we arrived at the stations and airports, regardless of the location or time.
It was very reassuring, flawless, again all our gratitude, it is not always the case…
Beijing, the Forbidden City
Beijing – The Great Wall at Jinshanling
Xi’an, the ramparts, an officer of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi
Wutun Monastery – a Tibetan Lady
It is difficult to say what we did not like and to make a ranking, everything lived up to what we dreamed of knowing, of this chimerical silk road, which leaves from Xi’an and passes through Kashgar, to continue towards Central Asia!!!
At the start:
- The unmissable Great Wall at Jingshanling. Beijing, the city and its temples, the Hutongs.
- Xi’an, the Terracotta Army, the mosque, the ramparts.
- From Xining to Lanzhou, the very famous Buddhist monasteries of Kumbum, Wutun, and Labrang. The Chinese-inspired mosque in Linxia, the caves of a thousand Buddhas in Binglisi.
- The Jiayuguan Fortress, which completes the Great Wall between the Gobi Desert and the Qilian Mountains. The superb Buddhist caves of Yulin and Mogao.
- The dunes of Dunhuang.
- Turpan, its beautiful mosque with its minaret straight out of Central Asia, the ancient cities of Gaochang and Jiaohe, its astonishing Kariz, the Bezeklik caves, and a visit to a typical Uighur village in the Valley of Grapes. The magnificent Tian Chi Lake in its snow-capped mountain setting near Urumqi.
- In Kuqa, another beautiful mosque with its dome covered in green mosaics, its neighborhood of Uighur houses, and on the outskirts, beautiful mosque gates.
- Arrival in legendary Kashgar, the Id Kah Mosque, the tomb of Abakh Hoja, its grand International Bazaar and livestock market, but above all, its old Uighur city with its artisans and characteristic population.
We then took the Karakoram road, and stopped at the traditional Monday market in Upal, before reaching Lake Karakul, and especially on the way back, passing through the Oytag valley which has preserved its population, its original environment with its snow-capped peaks and its glacier, to finish at the Urumqi museum and admire the enigmatic Celtic mummies of Xinjiang.
Return to Beijing, visit the Olympic Park (with its bird’s nest).
A vast program, a legendary 24-day route!!!
We returned with sights and smells that lived up to our dreams.
The sand dunes in Dunhuang
Tian Chi Lake
A village mosque on the road from Korla to Kuqa – The Kuqa Mosque – The Id Kah Mosque of Kashgar
The hotel industry has been dependent on the location, for example, in the hotel in Xiahé there was no water, but there was none in the whole city either… for several days, in Togren the Labuleng hotel provided us with hot water from 7:30 a.m., another in Kuqa, the Kuqa Hotel cut it off at the same time (it balances out!!!), so when you make this choice of journey you have to expect and accept these situations.
Our favorites:
- The Lusongyuan, a charming hotel in the hutongs of Beijing.
- The Silk Road Hotel, a caravanserai-style hotel in Dunhuang at the foot of the sand dunes.
- The Seman Hotel, decorated in Uighur style in Kashgar.
- In other cities: the hotels are comfortable, well…
Weather: 24 days.
Rain on the first day in the Forbidden City. Sandstorms in Xi’an. Another rainy day in the Grape Valley near Turpan.
The cold and snow at Lake Karakul (Mustag Ata uncovered itself for a moment to salt us, while Kongur superbly ignored us, wrapped in its clouds.
The Oytag Valley welcomed us with snow-capped peaks, cloudless, magnificent, fantastic!!!
Another big thank you to Serge.
Today we have an agency in China, China Roads, which we recommend for your future trips.
Jean-Pierre and Francine.