| Leaving Dunhuang, we follow the Silk road route by bus into
the trackless wastes of the Gobi desert. Even though were at least
3000 km from the Great Wall's endpoint at Beijing, we meet the
beginning and Western most section of the Wall. Along the way we
pass Chinese chain gangs; prisoners brought out here to plant trees
and work on the road. They can't runaway in the middle of the Gobi
desert. |
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| (Above)Jill prepares her attack on the Westernmost section of
the
Great Wall (Below)Naturally, I'm there to defend, but she's
completely safe because my archery skills stink (I couldn't hit any
of the stuffed, scarecrow-like targets planted in front of the Wall
for tourists to shoot at). |
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| (Below) This beacon tower, built 2000 years ago during the Han
dynasty, was the first old relic we saw as we entered the Gobi
desert. It's called a beacon tower because soldiers lit fires on top
to warn the surrounding countryside of an impending attack. A line of
these
towers carried the message for many miles (the towers are built every
50-100 kilometers).
Old monuments such as these are out here unattended, so anyone can walk
up and view them closely. Unfortunately, I've been having a serious
stomach problem, so I ended up going to the bathroom in a ditch by
the tower. At least in the desert there is little chance of someone
walking up on you. |
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