Travel companions were fabulous and fun
A dust storm forced us to reverse our itinerary. There is nothing sexy or glamorous about this region of China, yet the region is gorgeous and fascinating, and luscious with history.
You bring your own tissue to the 'squatty' toilet (if there is one), and some hotels didn't have heat. All the museums were great, though the thousand buddha caves were fascinating and boring due to the defacing during the cultural revolution, Muslim extremists and later 19th/early 20th century european archeologists. The Magao Grottoes were worth the night train because the imperial army didn't deface the caves while headquartered there during the Cultural Revolution.