... first stay in a traditional tent ... hitchin' rides with some real characters...
This is where our trip starts getting really interesting, where we start meeting the locals who gave us so much help and were so interesting, and where we started getting to experience Tibetan culture first hand (my first time, but not Val's since she'd been all over Tibetan territory for a while).
After a couple of nights in our cozy hostel and running around Xining buying supplies and sampling the food and beer we wake up one rainy morning, throw on the packs (yep they were heavy) and grab a bus to the edge of town.
It didn't take me long to get a little depressed, walking down a wet gray highway with trucks blowing past us, spraying us with water and it seeming like we might never get a ride. But I had to remind myself that you always will get a ride and then next thing you know you're halfway across a country to a new landscape and better weather. And that's what happened.
First a short ride from a nice lady, a little more walking in the rain and mud and then a hellava nice guy who was going a good chunk down the road. He was so friendly that he kept pulling over at scenic areas so we could take pictures.
I had seen some stunning scenes from the plane a few days earlier (dunes that looked like a desert and oddly colored mountains -
Danxia landform) but didn't know I'd be driving through them. The sad part was that we couldn't stop at all of them. The whole time we were like "wish we could camp here!".. but we had to keep on moving.. Here's a sampling of the scenery:
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| We heard lots of wolf warnings.. Val saw one on the highway before I arrived but sadly.. no wolves to report. It's said they used to be very common.. |
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| The Tibetans are fiercely proud of their fierce mastiffs. And I would not want to encounter one that was not chained up. |
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| The region has a bit of an American wild west vibe and Tibetans do like cowboy hats, cattle driving by horse with lassos, and other cowboy acoutraments |
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| Don't see a heck of a lot of Red China paraphernalia in the area but it does pop up sometimes. |
Pretty sure we ended up driving through some of the areas I flew over.... (a few shots from the plane for reference) :
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| Canyons and more canyons |
Perils of the Tibetan highway...
After our first long ride dropped us off at a bridge over the Yellow River, I didn't even have time to take a good picture of the scenic spot before another Chinese driver stopped and offered a ride. It was one of those rides you dream of.... he was going all way to our destination which was still hours away and the end of our ride included hot Tibetan tea with a Tibetan couple, a belly full of meat and a place to stay - a tent traditionally used by the Tibetan nomads.
First we passed through this amazing, red little monastery town (Lajia) which we didn't have time to explore.. (but we did camp on a hill overlooking the town on our way back - more on that later). The light over the town seemed to always be perfect when we passed through.. and it reminded me a lot of a little town you might see driving through Colorado or the American southwest..
We showed up in the little town of Dawu after dark, with no idea where we would stay or what we would eat. The driver told us he had a place we could stay but since you never know how these things will work out - especially considering the language barrier, we were a little skeptical and had a quick chat over whether to take our chances with him or go it alone..
Luckily we went with him because a few minutes later we were in a tent eating on a big bowl of meat (I think he said it was goat) and a pile of homemade bread (momo) and drinking hot tea with yak milk and being warmly entertained by a jovial Tibetan couple, friends of our driver. A short while later that were putting us to sleep in our own private tent, the type we'd see hundreds of over the trip, that the nomads use as homes and city dwelling Tibetans use as summer or farm homes.
To top it off, we woke up in the morning within view of our ultimate destination - the snow-covered and very sacred Amne Machin.
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| our sweet Chinese driver |
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| Valerie breaking out the Chinese skills.. |
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| sleeping on traditional cushions. This appeared to be the hosts' tent for entertaining guests and having gatherings |
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| raggamuffin got comfy with us pretty fast but we didn't dare go near.. |
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| a peek at Amne Machin |
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| drying the dew off our gear |
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| Our usual breakfast |
This somewhat odd fellow below stood across the field making video of us for about 10 minutes. I was a little worried he thought we were squatting since the owners of our tent had left early and we were drying some dew covered gear in the sun. Finally he approached to show us some mushrooms he'd collected and giggled for ten minutes while taking selfies. Had no idea what he was saying but it appreared we had made his day...
After our morning taking in the scenery around our tent, it was time to hit the small town of Dawu for a few more supplies and then start hitching rides to Amne Machin. One small problem: I started getting really sick with a massive headache and nausea. Walking through the cool little town full of Muslim and Tibetan shopkeepers and nomads in town to pick up supplies or sell yak meat, yogurt, milk or whatever, I was hardly able to enjoy any of the exotic sites and sounds.
I threw down all the meds I'd bought to stave off the altitude sickness but they weren't working. Ended up in a pharmacy sucking on an oxygen tube and looking for other remedies. Didn't take long to realize I was not going anywhere that day and knew it was dangerous to keep going to higher altitudes until I'd acclimatized. We grabbed a hotel room and I climbed in bed for the next almost 24 hours.
Weird scenes inside Dawu.... (well not that weird.. the town was full of exotic looking Tibetans with amazing faces in all kinds of costumes but I was too sick to care about taking photos..)
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| a little girl walks through some sheep hides |
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| found a tail-party from my alma mater |
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| Valerie tells a shopkeeper where to look for a selfie... |
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| Love is like oxygen... |
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| yep, they even recommend Viagra for altitude sickness... don't think it helped... |
After a day and night of wondering if I could even continue on or if I could handle the higher elevations (pretty sure I understated my worries to Val) I was surprised to feel great the next day we hit the road as soon as we could (after checking around for more oxygen cans)... Next up... dirt roads into the mountains, Tibetan Elvis and the sherrif who gave us a lift...
