Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Mt Mingsha Desert

The silk road tour continues... The highlight for the day is the Mt Mingsha Gobi Desert (鸣沙山沙漠) and Crescent Spring (月牙泉) in DunHuang (敦煌市), Gansu Province (甘肃), China.
We were now entering the sandy world ~ and what welcomed us was the sand dunes in Mt Mingsha Gobi Desert.
Ada Desert mesti ada Camel lah...
Cute boh the camel? I think it resembles "Misti" Ostrich. And the camels are not that smelly...
Wah.. Camel with alopecia "skin disease"? Nope, some of the camels do shed fur at certain time of the year...
These two camels are cuter and more photogenic :P
And since I'm here at the desert liao, a ride on the camel is a MUST. Some of my tour group members opt to take the 'car ride' instead of camel ride in the desert. What a waste woh...
Syiok leh riding the camel... Dunno when is the next time I will ride on a camel again?
And the camel brought us to the "centre" of the desert. The little figure in the above picture is my husband. He was busy taking photo of the Crescent Spring from above ;)
Water Springs and Deserts can hardly be related to each other, but the Crescent Spring and the Mt Mingsha Gobi Desert is an exception. And yeah, the sand and and water can actually "live together". And the water is crystal clear and the sand never gets into the spring water, and the spring never dried up. Both the Crescent Spring and the Mt Mingsha Gobi Desert have existed for hundreds or thousand years already (i lupa the exact duration liao :P)
The scene is kinda spectacular and unique huh? Healthy looking grasses, trees and the desert coexist together.
Those interested can enjoy the sand sliding and the dune surfing :)
Signboard taking the shape of Camel reminding us not to waste even a single drop of water.
Saja saja.. Since Misti loves pict of man or woman with wrinkles :P
For those who are interested, u can buy some 'colourful' sand from the Gobi Desert back home as souvenir ;)

33 comments:

day-dreamer said...

I love that oasis! :D

Anonymous said...

Aiyah,
I didnt get to go to Don Huang. Very nice!

If hubby and you like this trip, see you in Jordan.

Turkey is very exotic too. Lots of tours avai to Turkey

I'm going to Cambodia (Siem Reap/Phnom Penh) in Aug (I will watch out for the handicap kid in the pail at the lake) and Maldives in Nov.

Anonymous said...

Aiyah,
I didnt get to go to Don Huang. Very nice!

If hubby and you like this trip, see you in Jordan.

Turkey is very exotic too. Lots of tours avai to Turkey

I'm going to Cambodia (Siem Reap/Phnom Penh) in Aug (I will watch out for the handicap kid in the pail at the lake) and Maldives in Nov.

daniel

Anonymous said...

both of the camels looked very comical. hehe

gotta love the crescent spring too. a 'refreshing' sight! :-)

yenjai.net said...

All the desert photo, reminded me of the book (and the game) DUNE

yenjai.net said...

chen jiejie
Again I come requesting for wallpaper
:p

http://bp0.blogger.com/_ew0ygfS5tl4/SIdC68asJRI/AAAAAAAACZ0/LH7B_gQ0y1c/s1600-h/IMG_0056+hubby+desert.jpg

khengsiong said...

Beautiful desert... Mingsha is 鸣沙 right?

Save water? What a joke. Hotels in China waste a lot of water.

rainbow angeles said...

the camels look like misti.. keekkeke..

Doreen said...

Those thing on the camel's nose, look so painful. Why they so cruel? So kelian the camels......

seefei said...

sand in plastic bottle? need some packaging and branding like what the arab did in UAE!

did you go dun huang caves?

Chen said...

day dreamer,
Me too.. but if compared with the camels, i love the camel more :P

daniel,
We are thinking of visiting Turkey too, some day in the future. Haven't come across our minds to visit Jordan yet :)

August is rainy season in Siem Reap. Hopefully there's no rain when u visit the angkor wat temple complexes.

butt,
Very chubee hoh both the camel :)
Psss... i bought few camel soft toys too, but not in the desert lah :P

Chen said...

yenjai,
Paiseh to tell u that i dunno there is a book and a game called DUNE, but i do know there is a song by the name a dog named BOO. I'm just ocipala-ing since they kinda rhymes :P

Can, no problem. Btw, how big is your monitor screen ah? So that i can resize it to fit your pc screen. Malas to send the ori photo is quite big (fine, 8 Megapixel) and will take long time to upload. Faster to send resized photo mah :P

khengsiong,
Yeah, the chinese name for Mt Mingsha Desert is 鸣沙山沙漠 and the Crescent Spring is 月牙泉. I will add in the chinese name in the post :)

The signboard is refering to saving water in the desert lah, not in the hotel :)

Chen said...

angeles,
Exactly, that is the first thing that comes to my mind when i look at that photo.
Misti the "Ostrich".
Hahahhahha
She must be sneezing now :P

doreen,
Yeah, the camels are very kolian indeed to be poked in the nostrils :(

seefei,
Hehehe, if the sand is packaged and packed properly, the price will be different liao. At the moment it's sold at (i think) RMB 3 per bottle (can't really remember the price) :)

Are u refering to Mogao Grottoes or 莫高窟 regarding the DunHuang caves? Yeap, i visited the place :)

Wyn said...

woh...jiejie din play dat sand sliding kah?

dat camel do looked like ostrich with a little indian look cuz it cucuk hidung lor...=P

btw, camel`s eyelashes long hor? duno got use mascara not...keke...

mistipurple said...

hahahahha. so notti this loctor and the rainbowone!
but look like me hor? *admires*
i loveeeee those wrinkles. keep them coming!!!
buay tahan, keep me giggling reading this post! hahhaha

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful trip in the Gobi desert! I often see pictures of Sahara but rarely from the Gobi.
And this halt in the oasis! I would like to be there!

http://chinese.yenjai.net said...

chen, my screen is 1440x900

Chen said...

wyn,
That's definitely a big No-No
Dowan the sand particles to enter my camera lah :)

Indian Ostrich ah? Hahahhaa
Wah, u really ocipala lah :P

misti,
cos u r Ostrich mah, and hence..
*ahem* :P
There are many more wise guys and wise ladies with wrinkles. Watch them coming :D

claudie,
Yeah, and although the weather there is extremely hot, but it's definitely worth the visit :)

yenjai,
Okie, will send u the pict later :)

Wyn said...

aiya...ask ur loukung hold for u mah...hehe...=P

see laa...dowan bring me go...i can be ur part-time maid lor...hold things for u...keke...

Chen said...

wyn,
i don't mind bringing u there, provided u pay yourself for the tour. LOL

mistipurple said...

misti ostrich versus misti camel!
hahhaha.

mistipurple said...

steve said that was misti with studs. *piaking him kaw kaw*
his internet down. cannot visit anyone these few days. he going back to kl tomorrow. u left already hor?

Chen said...

misti,
walao.. this is very sampat liao
hahahhahha

This Steve really very keng
can come up with such thinking :D
i came back to Penang for exactly one week liao :D

mistipurple said...

i posted your camel next to my ostrich liao. kekekeke. so sampat.

moz monster said...

Finally !!!!! Camels !!!!

I hope that's not all the camel photos you have.

How come all the camels I've come across smell terrible?

Chen said...

misti,
kekekke, they are like siblings hoh? :P

moz,
Yeah, after almost 2 months..
Paiseh :P

There are many more pictures, but due to space constraint, so i just choose few to post up :)

The camel does have some unique camel smell, but not that smelly lah :P

Trinity said...

wah so beautiful! and the camel can smile... :-D it's great to be able to visit the desert!

Chen said...

trinity,
Yeah, it's something different.
I would love to pay a visit to Egypt and Turkey in the future :)

Unknown said...

The desert is much better than in Middle East here.

Chen said...

kenny,
Issit? :)

Btw, is there any pyramids in the desert in Dubai? I would love to visit Egypt some day in the future :)

Kembara Musafir said...

huaaa Chen....!! so nice oneee, go jalan2 Silk Road... nice pics too...! agree with kenny, the desert looks nicer than in Dubai... but then, Dubai is no longer a desert, it's a concrete jungle... have to go Ulu area a bit to find the nice desert.... did overnite safari in Dubai, it was unforgettable.... bila nak dtg Dubai? I show you around... hehe.. Dubai, no pyramids laaa.. a hotel with a pyramid shape got la... Raffles Hotel Dubai... hehe

Chen said...

Kembara Musafir,
Thanks for dropping by :)
I have seen pictures of Dubai from internet but dunno when i will visit the place yet lah. Might be a year or two time. My next destination will be Australia :)

Talking about pyramid shaped hotel reminds me of the pyramid shaped shopping complex with the sphinx like statue in KL. LOL

c a r c a r said...

nice portrait !