We arrived at the Liuyuan train station a little after 8 on Thursday and were met by our guide for Dun Huang. We were told that we could sleep on the 2 hour van ride from Liuyuan to Dun Huang, but it was extremely bumpy, so there was little hope for sleeping. We got to our hotel, rested for a couple hours, and then headed to lunch at a nearby local restaurant. I had delicious roasted vegetables, including eggplant, cauliflower, and "tofu skin" or tried tofu. Everyone else had different local lamb dishes. It was all pretty good. We also drank this yummy juice that is made by boiling apricots (very in-season right now) in water and adding sugar. It was delicious and refreshing and I've now come to realize that it's sold all over Dun Huang! After lunch, we went to a cute little cafe for Andrew's second lecture about the famous Dun Huang Mogao Cave paintings. After his lecture, we hopped in the van and went to the caves! It was pretty cool with lots of Buddhist and Daoist artwork. These caves were painted at different times, so we were able to see how the artwork and ideas evolved and learn a bit about the cultures. The paintings and sculptures in the caves was all very beautiful and interesting, though there was lots of damage from an earthquake that had hit a long time ago. It was especially cool having just learned about them and then getting to see them! After the caves, we headed back to the city for dinner (roasted vegetables again) and to browse the night market that is right near our hotel. We tried to get to bed early (though weren't very successful), because the next day we planned to wake up early for a bike ride tour of the city. Today Ricky and I woke up at around 7:30 and headed to breakfast before biking. We had come to an agreed bike rental price the evening before at John's Cafe, so we headed back there and chose and fixed up our bikes for the day. We then rode around the city, checked out the city walls (basically a brown pile of stone/dirt -- nothing at all like Xi'an's), visiting the White Horse Pagoda and then biked to brunch at John's Cafe. After brunch, we had some time to pack up for tonight because we're going on a camel trek out to a camp in the desert, so we needed to pack small, over-night bags. We're now checked out of the hotel and have some free time before dinner and then the camel trek. Can't wait!
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