Wandering Fractal

You feel tiny when you're standing on the endless steppes of Mongolia with a 180 degree view on our galaxy. People say of Mongolia that it's the Land of blue sky and it is true. But it can also be bright red at sunrise or sunset. And it can have thousands of stars. You never get bored looking at the sky. The trusty Toyota Land Cruiser that took us all around the Gobi desert. Sunset.

Khongoryn Els. A huge stretch of sand dunes. It's 100 km long. Some place in the Gobi are more arid than other. They often offer stunning geological formations. My favorite was the sand dunes of  Khongoryn Els. Climbing the tallest sand dune and then having the view over the sand, the mountains and the steppe was  breathtaking (literally and figuratively). On one side of Khongoryn Els is a small river. It makes a great contrast between the green around the river and the beige of the dunes. On this picture you can see the sand stretching to the left, but you can't see the end. The place is often called the "Singing Dunes", because of the sound the sand makes when blown by the wind. I didn't really heard them "sing", because it had rained in the morning and the sand was still a little wet. We walked to the top of the highest dune at more than 300 meters. It was exhausting. For every two step forward, you would slip one step back. The...

Buddhist temple. The Mongolian practice a version that is close to the Tibetan Buddhism. One of the highlight of our Gobi tour was to discover the lifestyle of the inhabitant of the desert. They live mainly from livestock: sheep, goat, cow, camel, horse. They eat the meat and the milk of the animals. I could even try the Airag, fermented horse milk. It was sparkling and sour. I'm glade I could try it, but I didn't ask for a refill. The skin and fur of the animals is used to make clothes and the Ger (yurt). They also sell their animals to make some money and buy what they can't get from the land. It's a harsh way of living with little water, extreme temperatures and having to work 365 days per year (no break when you take care of the livestock). But the nomad we met were always smiling and had an incredible sense of hospitality. They would always give us the best food they had, even if it was something very rare and expensive for them. One of the local family ...

Skull of a dead goat. The Gobi desert is full of animals bones. I've spent 6 days in the Gobi desert in the south of Mongolia. It's a place of all the extremes. Temperatures can have 80 degrees of difference, from -40°C to +40°C. It can be completely dry for months then heavy rain can occur, rivers forms and huge floods cover the plains. It's a desert but it's not completely dead. It's full of plants and animals, but life there is harsh. Food and water is scarce. Climate is extreme. Hiding from predators is hard on those huge flat plain. The Gobi is a fascinating place. We were lucky to spot a lot of wild life: a corsac fox, some gazelles, lizards, but the most impressive was to witness a golden eagle hunting down a young gazelle. It was a bloody fight for life. Butterfly chrysalis. It was raining during summer, so part of the desert was green and full of flowers. The pink flowers are wild onions. Goat with her newborn baby. It was beginn...

The endless Mongolian steppes. In the morning I boarded the train K23 at the Beijing train station, direction Ulaanbaatar. The trans-Mongolian railway cross Mongolia from the south to the north, from China to Russia. This time I didn't had to get out of the train in the middle of the night to pass the border. The officials of China and Mongolia will board the train and come check your passport. Another thing that happen at the border is the switching of wheels. Mongolia use the Russian standard for their rails track gauge, but the Chinese use the smaller international track gauge. Instead of having passengers change train at the border, they change the wheels of the train. The wagons are brought to a hangar, elevated and the wheel block is switched. You can stay in the wagon during the process and watch the workers. It's interesting to see it from your cabin. Be careful during the passport control and wheels change the toilets are closed. It will last during five hours...

Fish pond in the Forbidden city. We stayed a week in Beijing, capital of China. We went to see the Forbidden city. The number of entries per day is limited. You can buy the tickets on the spot, but we wanted to be sure to have a ticket, so we booked them. The issue is that the web site is only in Chinese and only accept Chinese credit cards. We had to go trough an agency for a small fee. It did save use the queue at the entrance. The palace is impressive and you could spend a whole day walking inside the massive compound. On another day we went to the National Museum of China. It's close to the Forbidden City on the Tian'anmen square. The gigantic communist style building host artifacts from all over the country and from all its periods, from the prehistoric age to today. It's one of the most impressive museum I have seen and it's completely free ! If you stay in Beijing, don't miss the Hutongs. They are traditional quarter of small brick houses. ...

The walled city of Pingyao has retained it's old architecture. Being there feels like you have traveled to ancient China. The main roads are full of touristic restaurants and shops, but you can also go away and witness locals playing majong in front of their house. If you are there, try the local vinegar. I found it had a taste akin to balsamic vinegar, even if it's made from completely different ingredients.

Xi'an is one of the end of the silk road. This position has given the city a multicultural vibe. A friend of Switzerland joined me in China for a week and a half. We stayed in the Muslim quarter. It's inhabited mainly by the Hui people. They are the descendants of the Persian and Arab merchants and still practice Islam. Since they where well integrated into the Chinese culture and marriage with the Han were frequent, it's hard to differentiate a Hui from a Han if it wasn't for their clothes. Men's wear white caps and women wear scarfs. They also have developed their own cuisine and it's delicious. The Muslim quarter is always bustling with people and I would really recommend staying there. Another attraction in Xi'an is the wall that protected the old city. You can walk on it and go around the city. But of course the main reason travelers come to Xi'an is to see the Terracotta Army. The site is located outside the city and can be reached by publ...

Giant Buddha statue carved from the cliff. The city of Leshan, south of Chengdu, host the world largest Buddha stone statue in the world. Carved in the cliffs of the Minjiang river, the Buddha sits peacefully. It's size is awe inspiring and the fact that it was constructed more than 1200 years ago makes it even more impressive. To go there, I took the first bullet train from Chengdu to Leshan (booked the day before). It was too early for the subway and I had to take a taxi to the train station. After taking a bus from the Leshan train station, I arrived at the Buddha just for the opening. It wasn't too crowded and the air was still cool. I had plenty of time to admire the statue. After that, I walked in the park, where they have tombs and temples. To go back to Chengdu, I took a bus from the terminal next to the train station. It was a perfect day trip from Chengdu. Stairs leading to an old abandoned house. A dying caterpillar dangling from its thread. Mol...

Spicy noodles. Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan province. I must confess I went there mainly for the food. Spicy, sour and the numbing effect of the Sichuan pepper. The cuisine is varied so you never get bored. Chengdu is also a good place to drink tea in one of the many parks. One day, with a fellow traveler, we went to the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. It's one of the main attraction of the city. We were expecting a natural reserve where they take care of the animals, but it was just a zoo. The Pandas lives at high altitude were the air is cooler, but in Chengdu it's crazy hot. The animals mostly stays in their caves with air conditioning. You need to queue to see them behind a glass. The worst was the 2 hours we waited to see the baby pandas. If you have time, moving to the reserves in the mountains of Sichuan looks like a better option. If you really want to go to the Research Base I would advise to go for the opening. We arrived at 10:00 in the morning a...