day 344: 高昌故城 (gaochang city ruins) – 吐鲁番 (turpan) = 47km

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I had no idea that today was going to be my last happy day for a while.

…

I walked through the little village…

…to the 阿斯塔纳古墓 (ancient graveyard of astana):

Nothing much to see here, just a few graves from a bunch of centuries back, some with murals, others complete with mummified corpses in them:

I didn’t find it all that exciting…

…so I left soon.

Then it was a couple of hours on a desert road until I got to the official site of 火焰山 (Mount Huoyan):

What a weird tourist attraction: there’s the mountain, and it’s just sitting there. Then there’s a museum recounting the mentions of the mountain within the old 西游记 (Journey to the West – history lessons, Muslims and water fountains, revenge of the prime target). And besides all that, there is a huge thermometer that has once measured a blasting 49,7°C out here and has also made some kind of world record just for its sheer size:

There was a travel group from Hong Kong, and I was very happy to take a picture with them, mainly because I liked their cute yellow caps:

It felt good, happy. You know.

Then I walked past some more mountain scenery…

…always following the desert road…

…until the sun was about to settle down behind the distant trees…

…and I could see the hazy shape of the city from afar:

That’s when I got another very urgent visit from my old friend Paul (Paul says: constipation is bliss, please stop me when I get into a frenzy), but luckily I made it to a gas station in time:

These friendly guys offered water and medication, and most importantly, they let me use their loo:

Oh, what a relieving moment!

Happiness.

Soundtrack: Rancid – “Good Morning Heartache”

—total: 4444,8km

Posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 10:49 ;Filed under Nightshots, Walk, Xinjiang.

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