Travel Letters

Qinghai Lake

Posted September 12, 2016 by Jan
China: Silk Road

Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Province

China

September 12, 2016

 

Qinghai Lake is the largest lake in the People's Republic of China.

Located in Qinghai Province on an endorheic* basin, Qinghai Lake is classified as a saline and alkaline lake.

Qinghai Lake has a surface area of 4,317 square kilometers (1,667 sq. mi.); an average depth of 21 meters (69 ft.), and a maximum depth of 25.5 m (84 ft.).

The current Chinese name "Qinghai," the older Mongolian name "Kokonor", and the Tibetan name translate to "Green Sea,” "Blue Lake" and "Teal Sea" respectively.

Zhangye: Grand Buddha and Flaming Cliffs

Posted September 14, 2016 by Jan
China: Silk Road

Zhangye

Gansu Province

China

September 14, 2016

 

Two old sites are prominent in Zhangye.   One site is measured in hundreds of years. The other is measured in tens of thousands

The Dafo Temple, or Great Buddha Temple, is an ancient Buddhist temple in Zhangye, Gansu, China, notable for its gigantic reclining Buddha statue of around 1100, which is thirty-five meters long (115 ft).

Rainbow Mountains

Posted September 15, 2016 by Jan
China: Silk Road

Rainbow Mountains

Zhangye

Gansu Province

China

September 14, 2016

 

The Rainbow Mountains is one of the most dramatic geologic formations in China.

For good reason, they are also known as the Painted Mountains.

If you travel to central or western China, be sure to visit this site.

It’s easy to reach here by bus or tour group from Zhangye City in Gansu Province.  

Ranakpur, Dilwara, Palitana and the Dohli: "The Jains"

Posted March 10, 2007 by Jan
India

Palitana

Bhavnagar

Gujarat, India

March 10, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Kem cho,

The green and yellow aluminum beach chair is lashed to a bamboo platform. The platform is then lashed to two long bamboo poles. Here in Palitana this litter, this contraption, is called a dholi.

I sit. Charged camera is at my side, binoculars strung from my neck, cap atop my head, my day-bag loaded with water and sunscreen. I give the signal. In the late morning sun, one on each end of a pole, the four young dholi bearers deftly hoist yours truly aloft for the two hour, four kilometer (2.5 mi) scenic ascent of 3572 steps. Three thousand. Five hundred. Seventy two. Steps. Six hundred meters. Up.

Jodhpur: "The Blue City"

Posted February 28, 2007 by Jan
India: Rajasthan

Jodhpur, Rajasthan

India
February 28, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Jodhpur is blue. Yes, blue.

I am sitting astride the barrel of the cannon, ten feet long, perched on the muscular ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort. From here, 125m (410 ft) above the desert, the roofs of Brahmapuri village are a "washed blue." [*]

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