China Day 23 – Turpan – Korla – Luntai

Today would be the most boring day and least memorable day in the trip. It was a 500km journey from Turpan to Korla and then to Luntai. 

No interesting stops and barely anything to see. Worst part is that highways in this part of China, Xinjiang was not free for motorbikes so I had to stop and get a ticket that was calculated based on kilometers traveled on the highway.

Toll Booth in China - Xinjiang Province where Motorcycle is NOT exempted from payment

Long Boring Highways - Xinjiang Province China 

Halfway though the highway and I decided it was not worth the money going the highway since I could see the national road just beside it devoid and empty of vehicles. 

I decided to turn off the highway and made my way slowly going through desert landscape. 

Off the Highway to Local National Road in Xinjiang 

Riding Through Desert from Korla to Luntai 

At this point of the trip, I was constantly the last man since everyone had develop a monster capacity of flying through China in top speed.

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 22 - Hami to Turpan Flaming Mountain the Hottest Place in China

The weather had definitely made a 180 turnabout since Hami. Cool air was no more and all the winter gear was packed up tight below the bag for long term storage and I was now riding in as little clothes as possible and still feeling the heat burning through all the protective gear. 

The good thing was, it was not humid like Malaysia so continuous perspiring was non-existent but heat exhaustion was real.

Riding the Country Road to Turpan 

Oil Rig "Donkeys" all along the road from Hami to Turpan

I must have split from the group too early I think and somehow made my way through another road to the first detour stop. The wrong road brought me going through an oil field where hundreds of oil rig “Donkeys” were in operation.

Tuyugou Valley Scenic Area was a nice old village turned into a pure tourist attraction. It was hard to see any locals still living there and not trying to sell a trinket to a passing tourist but as the oldest village in Xinjiang with 2600 years of history it was still a sight to see.

Local Tourism Dressing up in Traditional Ethnic Costume at Tuyugou Valley 

Old Mosque at Tuyugou Valley 

Tuyugou Valley Ancient City in Xinjiang 

We headed to Gaochang Ancient City Archaeological site next but at the entrance looking into the big empty area which required a cart to explore, all of us surrendered to the heat and gave it a hard pass. 

We still tried to have a little glimpse of the Ancient City without paying the entrance fee by riding around the ring road hence was able to see many of the crumbling walls.

A Glimpse of Gaochang Ancient City Archeological Site 

Third stop was a fun stop for me at least. Turpan Flaming Mountain. It has some origins to the famous novel “Journey to the West” and the flaming mountains looked like flames rising from the ground all the way to the sky. 

History also documented that the summer air temperature was 48 degrees and the mountain surface temperature once reached 89 degrees making it the hottest place in China.

I of course could only imagine Sun Wukong and the team crossing this path and having to fight the Demon Bull which somehow got mixed up with Sun Goku having to put out the flames of the mountain to obtain the Dragonball. I was daydreaming a lot in the third stop for sure.

Statue of Sun Wukong at Turpan Flaming Mountain 

Turpan Flaming Mountain 

Monument of Journey to The West team at Turpan City 

We reached Turpan city late evening and by now, arriving at the destination city no longer became a obligation to explore the city. 

Checked in the hotel and out to find food before heading to bed was the routine. 400 km journey today and it would only get longer tomorrow

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 21 - Zombie Mode Riding from Dunhuang to Hami

Today we crossed into Xinjiang province where everyday the average distance traveled would be 400km or more. For some reason, the ride from Dunhuang to Hami was very boring such that I barely took any photos along the way until I had reach Hami.

We were all exhausted either physically or mentally at this stage and some sacrifice had to be made. Today was my sacrifice I think. Near zombie like riding for the whole day to get to the next destination. A mental rest in a way for me.

Walking around randomly in Hami 

Walking around randomly in Hami 

Walking around randomly in Hami

There was one detour stop suggested which was the Hami Kings Mausoleum but as far as I knew, everyone skipped it. We reached Hami nice and early which means it was late afternoon. 

Local Bread Shop in Hami 

Street Food in Hami 

Street Food in Hami 

Food Street in Hami 

Hit the local food market and really ordered a feast everyone just chatting away with a pint of beer in hand enjoying the evening warm sun which was such a contrast after so many days in cold Tibet.

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 20 - Getting New Tires in Dunhuang & Visiting the Magao Buddhist Grottoes

Finally a second free day in China after riding continuously everyday since Lhasa. We only had three free days out of the twenty seven days travel through China which seams very precious now. 

Dunhuang was also another historical silk road city and almost all roads would intersect in Dunhuang if going from east to west or vice versa.

There were two main attraction that the locals would tell me to visit in Dunhuang. The must see while in Dunhuang as they say and it was the Cresent Moon Lake Oasis and Magao Caves or Buddhist Grottoes. 

Magao Caves - Dunhuang 

Magao Caves - Dunhuang 

I had to choose at this stage since half a day for each would leave me no time for critical errands. I made my way to the bike shop where my new back tires were already pre-ordered in advance. 

New Rear Tire & Ready for Off-roading in Central Asia 

Took the guys a few hours of delicate work as they carefully dismantle and fix up the new tires. I got new semi off-road tires now for the back but still retained the stock road tires in the front. 

This was in preparation for Central Asia soon but somehow was still too cheapskate to change up the front tires.

I message up the group and they were just finishing up the tour at Crescent Moon Lake. A quick ride looking for lunch and with some luck, I found a nice little family restaurant which serve me the famous delicacy of Dunhuang. Donkey noodles.

Dunhuang Delicacy - Donkey Noodles 

After lunch I joined up with the others at the Magao Buddhist Grottoes entrance booth. Mogao Caves are one of the greatest repository of Buddhist architecture in the world. 

They fell into disused after the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty and were largely forgotten until the early 20th century when they were rediscovered by a string of foreign explorers.

Intricate Buddhist Paintings inside Magao Caves 

Magao Grottoes were really massive and while the mandatory guided tour was to ensure crowd control, we notice very fast that each grottoes were locked behind a wooden door to preserve the wall painting that were crumbling. 

The guide would randomly choose a few grottoes, ushering us inside the dark and slowly explaining the uniqueness of each decorated grottoes.

Night time was free time and somehow I managed to find the Dunhuang tourist night market taking a long walk just admiring all the detailed artwork trinkets being sold.

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 19 – Riding from Golmund to Dunhuang

It was a new journey or rather new region now in China that we were to be riding. We had left Tibet a day before and while Golmund was in the Qinghai Province, today we would have a drastic change in landscape and riding condition.

I did not really realized how drastic the change would be although the guide did gave us some heads up. The day started simple and we all headed to the first detour stop which was Qarhan Salt Lake. 

Qarhan Salt Lake Visitor Center 

Qarhan Salt Lake 

The Ring Road Trip of the Northwest Marker - Qarhan Salt Lake

AAAA Tourist Attraction now require a ticket which includes a shuttle bus service. 

Qarhan Salt Lake natural formation used to be a free detour attraction but China was fast monetizing all the tourist scenic spot and this one was no exception.

Qarhan Salt Lake holds the distinction of being the largest salt lake in China and was also renowned as the second largest inland salt lake in the world earning its title of “King of Asian Salt Lakes”. 

The name Qarhan originates from the Mongolian Language meaning salt marsh or world of salt.

I tried to compare it to Salar De Uyuni in Bolivia but it was very different. Salt flats and salt lakes both very beautiful and very unique. Most of us did not venture deep into the salt lake attraction as the walk would take us at least 2 hours and we did not want to pay additional money for the trolley bus. 

Unique Salt Rock Weathering Formation REPLICA at Qarhan Salt Lake

The few that was wiling to fork out the money got to see the unique salt rock weathering formation that looked like alien mushroom. I only got the photo of a replica outside.

We hit the highway after that and it was a long journey. Vast empty land with dried out grass which I did not realized that we were now entering desert landscape until we came across wild camels just lazing around by the side of the road.

Jagged and rugged spiky mountain covered the views from the road and the empty land for hundreds of kilometers just never seam to end only to be broken by windmills farms along the way. 

Jagged and Spiky Rugged Mountain view along the road to Dunhuang 

Desert Land on the way to Dunhuang 

Just some Camels chilling by the roadside in the desert

Just before getting into Dunhuang, we passed by what seam like a weird structure that was so blazing bright that I thought was some kind of demonic tower from Lord of the Rings.

It was alluring in a way that I could not imagine what kinda of contraption this mega structure was suppose to be in the middle of the dessert. 

Later that night in Dunhuang, we all discussed and found out that it was a Molten Salt Solar Power Station. Such a rare sight and truly never expected to find. China was really going the extra mile in green energy technological advancement.

Traveled on: May 2024