Datong

After Inner Mongolia and the terrible train ride we finally end in Datong, a region known for its buddhist relics. Till date, this is the 4th day of our pre-studies backpacking trip in china. The time then was about early september. When we arrived at the station it was totally desolated at 3.00am. The few cabs there gave us extremely expensive prices. In the end we took a relatively cheap offer not knowing that later there was more drama to unfold. We spent most of the time trying to find accomodation for Ah Nam our new found korean friend which was quite frightening for her as all of them looked like thief's den and our poor korean friend was crying due to insecurity. At last we settled with a relatively safe one and immediately headed to our first destination. The famed Yungang Grottoes! Our pit stop for refreshment was extremely memorable. Sitting at a homely road side store where the locals knew each other by heart, we enjoyed the simple but heartwarming doujiang youtiao.






















Putting the awful memory of the train ride behind us, Sam and I found back our cheekiness to try out Ah Nam's Glasses! Here's Sam trying his best to be Ah Diong!



Yungang Grottoes, one of the three major cave clusters in China, punctuate the north cliff of Wuzhou Mountain, Datong. The area was excavated along the mountain, extending 1 km (0.62 miles) from east to west, revealing 53 caves and over 51,000 stone statues.






















The Caves are divided into east, middle, and west parts. Pagodas dominate the eastern parts; west caves are small and mid-sized with niches. Caves in the middle are made up of front and back chambers with Buddha statues in the center. Embossing covers walls and ceilings.