There was no problem getting tickets for the train from Dunhwang back to Jiayuquan and, as opposed to the 380 yuan coming it was only 129 leaving for “hard seats”. In fact one of the men who stand outside each carriage checking our tickets ushered us into a carriage with nice soft seats, plenty of space and tables. The journey took 5 hours and the train got very crowded at Yumen (Jade Gate) which has grown from a tiny village in Mildred Cable’s time to a big city with rows of tower blocks.
A taxi took us to the hotel and we relaxed for the rest of the day, hoping to see Grace, a receptionist who speaks good English. She wasn’t on duty so I’ll try again tomorrow. We are wanting to book a flight to Xi’an and spend a few days there.
A mural in Dunhwang railway station, copies from the Mogao caves
Mesh used to stop sand from blowing from the desert onto the railway lines.
A wide variety of crops are intensively grown in the Gobi oases, watered by snow-melt water from the mountains and distributed by irrigation channels. The vast fields of sunflowers ae especially striking.
This was a free gift from the hotel