China｜Beijing | Turpan

Ran out of green tea so I had to pop down to Beijing to buy some more. Ms R and I had dinner at our favorite Uighur restaurant. The owner and waitresses in this place are all from the city of Turpan in Xinjiang, located in the Turpan Depression several hundred feet below sea level and famous for its grapes and hospitality.


Ms R

The grape trellis-covered main thoroughfare of Turpan, where I visited several years ago.


The Mosque in Turpan

Monument on the lake bed of Iding Lake near Turpan, indicating the second lowest place on earth, after the Dead Sea - 505 feet below sea level. Contrary to expectations I did not get reverse altitude sickness here. The temperature, however, was a blistering 118 degree F.

Mongolia | Khentii Aimag | Yestiyn Rashaan #2

Unfortunately, the roof of the main bathhouse at Yestiyn Rashaan has fallen in - probably from snow overload - rendering three of the baths within unusable. Given the remoteness of these hotsprings it is no telling if or when the bathhouses will be repaired.


One of a dozen or more mineral springs which were studied by Zanabazar. Each is by tradition supposed to affect a different part of the body. The sign at each springs tells what is is supposed to be used for.