One Ring Circus

Welcome to the Circus!Ta da! Check out the awesome local costumes.This is like no circus you have ever seen.It is done buy a local minority group and has a lot of ethnic flair.This girl is standing on this thin board between these guys shoulders.She jumps through a hula hoop while regaining her balancing on the beam. Pretty good.There were lots of different dancing routines.One lone bear to represent the animal population. I felt sorry for the little guy.Some contortionists which was pretty crazy.They were surrounded by other girls doing some kind of tea cup dance.Their dresses were really pretty and they had good balance.None of the girls looked very old.Ah yes, clowns- usually not my favorite. Okay they make me nervous but these were different.These have a very cultural flair. One of them is a guy dressed as a Muslim women with his head covered. Another is a guy in overalls who is pregnant. (overalls are the Asian maternity clothing of choice)Next we have unicycles.This looked hard. These girls would pedal around stage...... and then flip the bowls on to their heads!They would dance atop their wheel.Ride around.Sometimes throw the bowls on to other girl's heads.It looked tricky.Twirling plates was featured.Quite the little comedy routine.They did have a lot of plates spinning.Can't leave out the magician. Every circus has to have one of those right?(actually this was the first circus I had ever been to so what do I know!)That girl was inside the box the swords were stuck through.This was my favorite. They would just wrap themselves up in two pieces of cloth and then fly around the stage.Sometimes it was the legs wrapped up, other times the arms.She would wrap the cloth around her and then carry him around.Or he would get wrapped up and carry her.Pretty crazy how trusting they were of that cloth.These little guys would run and jump and fly through the hoops.Two at a time even, with flips.It was cool.Now this girl did some impressive hula hooping. She started off slow with one and then added two,then we got up to five.Head, arms, waist- they were everywhere.Then she got the big slinky!That was cool, I would like to see her take that down a set of stairs!Last but not least we have tight rope walking!Check out how high up it was, and only three mattress pads to cushion the fall.This guy almost fell.This dude hoped over that dude.Same here, pretty impressive, especially in those bright blue tights. We had blindfolded with plates on his feet go across.Rode a unicycle across.
Even jumped rope. (this guy did slip and have to pull himself back up)
All in all, it was a good show.

Caves and Minarets

Another excursion out of town. We pass the largest windmill station in Asia.
Then head to the sand dunes and red cliffs south of the city.
Back to the desert.
We traveled all this way to check out some caves.

Along this cliff side are a bunch of really old caves that Buddhists once used.

The caves themselves weren't very cool. Just eroding wall paintings of Buddha.This is a raisin drying house.

The place was really deserted.
Some beautiful desert landscape though.

Fun doorways...
stairs,
... and door pictures.
Outside the caves is where it got exciting.

These guys were doing their best to get us all on a camel.It worked, some... I was out there with a friend's parents and her dad got to go for a ride.A ride that was more than he bargained for! They took him all the way up and behind that huge dune! We were afraid he might never come back, he did.
Even in the middle of no where out here you have your mosques and other middle eastern looking buildings.

This is a famous mosque in the area we were in. They let us go inside and have a look around.
It was a slow day so some of the vendors were napping. No pillow? Grab a stuffed camel!

This mosque only has one minaret which the call to prayer is given from.
This is the rest of the mosque where people gather.
Inside there is just a huge open space where they would hear the Imam speak.
Everyone sits on the floor where they kneel on the rugs doing their prayers.

So this is me in a mosque.
There were some small rooms to the side and court yards.
The architecture was very unique for Asia.

So we took some pictures,
played around.

It made me think a little of the adobe buildings in New Mexico.
We climbed up to the roof and took some pictures looking down.
No matter where you go in this dry place if there are people, there are grape vines.
These are mausoleums in a cemetery.

They were just behind the mosque.
I'm not sure but I believe this is to burn things for the dead, it seems to small to cremate.
Next door to the mosque was an old palace.
These are tiny baby grapes growing. I had never seen any so small.

This is a boy I met on the street as we walked around.
He and his dad went out for a stroll.
A woman walking home from work.