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