14/3/07 Mogao Caves

I'm making a really bad habit of regularly getting up at 10:30am now - it's good when you're on holidays in a place like Coffs Harbour or something like that but this isn't that sort of trip. I should be constantly on the move and seeing new places and people to make the most of it. I guess Dunhuangs sights are few and far in between especially in the winter when half the shops and hostels are closed down because there are absolutely no other tourists here. We (Pauline, Hugo and myself) went to the Mogao caves 莫高窟 today - supposedly the chief attraction around this area. To be honest I was extremely disappointed!

Out of several hundred caves that exist we were only allowed into 6 by the 'authorities' and what's worse is that we were forced to follow a local tour group that rushed through it all without giving us time to really contemplate/appreciate the significance of it all! That's the worst thing about Chinese tourists, they like taking holidays, it's a new experience for the noveau-middle-class, but they have a tendency to visit as many places as possible and as quickly as possible just to say 'I've been there'. It was a huge rort for 100RMB and I think the Lonely Planet should take Dunhuang off their China's main attractions! Then there was the museum that contained the replica works next to the caves - you'd be etter off going to the British Museum or the Louvre in Paris because that's where all the originals are thanks to the looting by British and French 'explorers' in the early 20th century.

That being said, what I did catch a glimpse of was quite amazing - the caves look quite innocuous from the outside, just a hole in the side of a sand dune. However when you step inside, the interior has been carved out to resemble that of a buddhist temple - there are 4 walls, a pyramidal shaped ceiling and usually statues of standing or sleeping buddhas inside. The wallas and ceilings are covered in frescoes - sometimes it's a thousand meditating buddhas side by side, other times it's a picture story about ones path to enlightenment or rebirth - it's amazing when you realise alot of the work was produced during the time of the 3 kingdoms (Wei 魏 being the most prolific) and during the Tang dynasty from the 6th to 8th century A.D. That's 7 centuries before the beginning of the European renaissance yet the work is no less stunning. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take photographs inside so all the photos here are of the exterior of the caves. The big temple in the mountain houses the 3rd largest sitting Buddha in China.

Other than that it was quite a dull day, everybody is really looking forward to go to Lhasa, only 2 more days to go! I'm getting kicked out of the internet cafe now cos its closing time so my next post will be from Lhasa!! I'm starting my 60 hour journey from Dunhuang to Lhasa tomorrow morning - see you all in Tibet