_ Our final itinerary was to drive up the Kriya River from Yutian, drive to 130 kilometers, stop, change camels into the desert, and cross the dandan urik in the west, and the truck would stay where we would return triumphantly. Lao Xie was responsible for calling his classmates in Yutian to arrange camels, and all the camels were sent from the township along the Big River, where the fellow Ai Shan Jiang rushed to join us 150 kilometers in advance.
When we arrived at 130 kilometers, it was time for dinner, and we waited for more than an hour before we saw Ai Shanjiang and his twin brother Yushan Jiang with two camel workers totaling four people, driving more than a dozen camels slowly toward us from the direction of the big river. The camels were carrying hay and tin buckets of drinking water that we had left in The Village of Dalyabyi last time, and this time they were used.
A total of five of us rode camels, according to each person equipped with a triedome of camels, the first peak is a mount, the second peak is used to pull drinking water and hay for people and livestock, and the third peak carries equipment, such as pots and pans, chai rice oil and salt and other things. Ai Shanjiang suddenly prepared 18 camels, he said that on the road to let the camels eat well, so that they can run strongly, and the feed is specially added to the grain that camels like to eat. Early in the morning, we unloaded the necessary equipment from the truck and tied the lockeers to the camels, which was a technical job, and we had to put the handle on the side. At this time, Lao Wang, holding a GPS, excitedly announced that Dandan Urik was only 30 kilometers away from this straight line.
Bidding farewell to the truck driver Lao Pu, who stayed in place, the camel caravan set off. Every six camels are in a group, and they are connected back and forth with reins, and the camels on the back and forth have to be told by the camel workers to lie on the ground first, and the riders have to get on the last camel, and when everyone is riding on the hunchback, Ai Shanjiang let the head hump up, and the camels behind them naturally stand up one by one. Xinjiang is basically a double-peaked camel, these guys seem to be very docile on weekdays, but the temper is terrible, they will sneeze, spit and spray white foam at you, especially in March, which is the camel's estrus period, grumpy and uncertain.
The whole camel captain reached hundreds of meters, and together they were ambushed, leisurely, and spectacularly marching in the desert... Ai Shanjiang led the camel to the front of the line on foot, and the five of us rode on the humpback to enjoy the desert scenery. Although it is still the warm and cold season, the desert at noon is still like a fire, the heat is rolling, our bodies are shaking back and forth with the rhythmic pace of the camels, and some people are confused and dozing off...
Suddenly, a bird came out of a cluster of red willow bushes not far in front of me, flew through the direction of the camel in front of me, and flew in the air in the direction of the camel's head, and the frightened camel sneezed heavily, jumped up like a madman, lifted the old solution high, and fell fiercely to the ground, and the old solution struggled to get up, and he still had palpitations in his heart, and said to me, fortunately, the left back landed on the ground first, if the head fell to the ground, then I had to be crippled.
The sun is about to set, we walked less than ten kilometers a whole day, Lao Wang said today to get here, now set up camp, recuperate, tomorrow will continue to go.
After breakfast, the camp was cleaned and buried, and it took the camel workers more than two hours to re-tie everything to the camels. Lao Wang called Ai Shan Jiang over and said that today he must turn over the sand and walk in a straight line, if you walk around the mountainside, then Dan Dan Urik is far more than 30 kilometers away from us. Ai Shan Jiang showed a reluctant expression, and I guess he was distressed about his camel.
The old tower stayed alone in the tent and did not come out, I went up to call him, the old tower said that last night there was a kind of bug that may have climbed into the tent, and has not been found so far. Ai Shanjiang interjected, we call it "Riot Chicken", when the day is particularly hot, there is a neat long line to find you, trotting all the way, very fast. Lao Wang said, is not the grass trunk, the body is flat and red, there are two long whiskers on the head, used to suck blood, it only eats and does not pull, drilling into the crotch of people's pants, once drilled into the skin, it will not come out again, and can only burn its tail with a cigarette butt. Hearing these two people say this before and after, the old tower couldn't stand it, jumped out of the tent at once, and shook the sleeping bag from the inside out...
One by one, the large sand beams on the road are more than 100 meters high, very steep, like a "pyramid" standing one after another. The red willow buns that were still everywhere just now, the dead poplar branches and the slightly green shuttles and camel thorns, but here none of them can be seen, all yellow sand. The camels climbed up with difficulty, we clung to the mane on the hump or the rope that fixed the cushion, leaned forward as much as possible when going up the mountain, leaned back when going down the mountain, and sometimes slowed down the speed of the camel down the mountain, and even subconsciously used the pedals as a "brake pedal" to pedal hard, which made me think of those two poems, "You can go up to the moon for nine days, you can catch turtles in the five oceans", we are indeed doing "the grand cause of heaven and earth".
Lao Wang's head camel began to "strike", it stretched out its long neck, its front legs knelt on the ground, its thighs stood upright, allowing Ai Shanjiang to beat, pull and shout sincerely, the stubborn camel just couldn't get up, the plush knees had blood marks and oozing blood beads, it was estimated that the sand beam was too steep to wear the knee. If the camel doesn't leave, the whole team has to stop, lao wang said to Ai Shanjiang, then let's go around the low sand bun. It seems that lao wang can't fight camels.
At this moment, the kneeling head camel began to "ring its nose", the sound was crisp and bright, and Ai Shan jiang said that it was going to be windy. His voice just fell, the sky that was still clear just now suddenly darkened, first a breeze lifted the dust on the sand, from a distance it looked like a white wave on the surface of the sea, and then there was a creeping thin yellow line on the skyline pressing against our side, wider and wider, faster and faster, and in an instant, the sky was dark, the wind roared, and the sand flew away...
We hurriedly hid beside the camel, pressed our faces tightly against its soft waist socket, and the deafening sound of the wind echoed in our ears, so fast and powerful that it was like a hand that could pick you up from the ground and throw you into the air at any time, and I secretly glanced at my "well-behaved" mount, only to see its eyes under its long furry eyelashes wide open, occasionally blinking twice, as if in contempt of everything that was happening in front of it, and I wondered why it didn't close its eyes to avoid the wind and sand.
The crazy sandstorm finally stopped, and each of us was half buried in the sand, the fine sand was really pervasive, the pockets of our clothes were filled with sand, and the whole body was full of sand, and I felt that there was sand in my mouth with teeth. Everyone got up, let the camels stand up first, and shake the sand off the equipment. Lao Wang looked at the table below and said that he had walked about fifteen kilometers today, it was not early, his stomach was hungry, and his camels were tired, so let's camp on the spot.
It was early in the morning again, and when everyone learned that 5 kilometers away was Dandan Ulikh, everyone seemed very excited, and the work in their hands was also done smoothly. Our camel team continued to move forward, but seeing the old king in front of him jumping down from the camel and walking side by side with the Aishan River, it is estimated that he wants to hike directly over the sand beams, speed up the speed to make a final sprint, and then it may be that the old king is tired of the "taste" of staying on the humpback all day, experiencing 1-2 hours can be regarded as enjoyment, sitting for a long time is really a kind of torment, no wonder the Aishan River They like to walk and bark the camel to go.
Lao Wang led everyone on foot along the ridge, the higher the sand became, and the slower the camel caravan was thrown far away. No one has ever turned over how many sand beams we have turned over, until the old king in front of us shouted violently, Look, Dan dan urik! We jumped excitedly in the direction of his fingers from the top of the high dune all the way down, actually climbing down with the rolling belt...
Could this be the Dandan Urik who made Stein obsessed and haunted? The flat sandy ground reveals poplar stakes, as if they were artificially inserted; The wall structure made of poplar stakes is lined with neatly woven bundles of red willow branches and rows of dried reeds, the inner and outer walls are smeared with wall mud with weeds, and the walls inside the house are white, scattered with vague murals, and it is estimated that the paint on it has been oxidized and blackened for too long. Like this buried in the sand only half exposed half of the grass house is too much, but also with dry adobe houses, and even some places also use fired bricks, Lao Wang said that this is a Buddhist temple, all the building materials must be more advanced. The old tower said that the frescoes buried under the sand might be more vivid, and his voice did not fall, and the maimaiti next to him hurriedly reminded him, "This is a cultural relic, look with your eyes, and don't move your hands." The old tower was silent.
Before I set off, I wanted to gather some information about Dan dan Urik, but very little. If experts do not point out that this is a dwelling and temple, a farmland and irrigation canal, as well as a royal palace and a noble cemetery, I really think that they are the poplar branches, red willow branches and dry reeds that we often encounter in the desert, although these dead plants are not beautiful, but I still imagine them as Buddhist monasteries that were once carved beams and paintings, golden splendor, smoke, and incense in the endless stream. Pick up a dead poplar branch on the ground, it is a cultural relic with a history of thousands of years!
The cultural relics unearthed by Dandan Ulik show that she was once an important Buddhist cultural center on the ancient Silk Road, that is, it was influenced by Indian Buddhist culture, and it also integrated Khotanese culture and Sheng Tang culture, which tolerated and developed harmoniously with each other, thus forming a Buddhist style with local characteristics. Stein has said that his harvest in Dandan Urik is equivalent to excavating a Buddhist cultural library, which began to be built here as early as the 4th century AD during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Buddhist scriptures unearthed at the site are hundreds of years earlier than the "True Scriptures" retrieved by Master Xuanzang from the Tianzhu Kingdom through all kinds of difficulties.
With the gradual decline of the Tang Dynasty in the early 9th century AD, the people of Dandan Urik also had to completely abandon the city outline that had interpreted the civilization for more than 500 years. War? Crazy yellow sand caused "sand to enter and retreat"? Or is the river diverted? The speculations of later generations are strange and inconsistent.
"In that vast plain, I seem to be watching the lights of a huge city under the ground, is this a terrible desert without life and without human existence? I knew that I would never see this magnificent view again. This is a passage written by Stein in his book "Exploration of the Western Regions", his important harvest in Dandan Urik has aroused the sensation and attention of the world archaeology and art circles, but its significance is far beyond art itself, the most important thing is to show future generations a vivid and vivid picture of life in the ancient Khotanese country on the southern route of the Silk Road, and confirm the wonderful legend of Xuanzang's silkworm species in the west with physical objects.
Stein took his beloved "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" into his arms again, and began to set out from Dandan Urik to find the capital of the jingguo buried deep under the desert, this book guided him to find the ruins of Nya, Karaton, Rewak, Jotegan, and he had more ambitious plans, he must go to the Thousand Buddha Caves of Baizi Creek, Milan, Loulan, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and the BlackWater City of Ejina...
We are also going to leave, the journey took two and a half days, the original way back to the truck parked in the middle of the road, I really don't know how long it will take, anyway, I like to walk now, let the camel relax.