Discovery Silk Road

The oasis town of Dunhuang would have been a welcome sight for the camel trains of old, a fertile outpost close to where the Silk Road split into its southern and northern routes either side of the impassable Taklamakan Desert. The town itself is pleasant and prosperous but it's the encircling riches – the magnificent carvings of Buddha at the Mogao Caves, the wind-worn traces of ancient Han Dynasty-era Great Wall, and the towering Mingsha sand dunes crested with plodding camels – that make Dunhuang an essential highlight of any Silk Road expedition.