The China Diaries: Day Three

I got some solid sleep after taking an Advil. Over the night, my throat was on fire. I woke up at 7:00AM feeling a bit better. My plan was to go somewhere for sunrise but I totally missed it. Oops!

There was a kettle in my room with cups, so the first thing I did was have a cup of hot coffee in bed. Thankfully I brought some instant packets as none were offered there.

I found my dad on FT and had a nice chat with him in my yurt. I then relaxed a bit before going to eat breakfast. I don’t usually eat in the mornings but breakfast was included in the price of the room so I thought I best take advantage of the free food.

The restaurant was serving a buffet style breakfast. I had some eggs, bacon, potatoes and watermelon. The guy I had met the day prior, a mapmaker from the US who is trying to open up the area to tourism, came over to ask me my plans for the day. Though I wasn’t feeling too well, I decided that I didn’t want to waste the day. He suggested I wasn’t well from the dryness and the elevation, as we were 1,780m above sea level. He showed me some pictures of the area and told me his fee for a trip was 120RMB, which included bike rental. I went to get ready!

My guide at the top of the ridge

We left around 10:30am and set off on a 3KM bike ride to some desert trails. He had done part of the trail before but he wanted to explore the area further. This guy, Max, had unbelievable knowledge of the area and of China. He talked a lot about geology and why he thought the rocks are the way they are and how they may have been in the past compared to today and how they may be in the future. It was pretty amazing listening to him!

We shared stories and had a lot of similar life experiences so spending 15KM and half the day exploring with him was a lot of fun. The hike was about 2,000m above sea level and while I had prepared a good hat to keep my ears and neck covered, I neglected to think about my arms, which both got quite burnt. Oops.

When we returned to our bikes, the bike I was riding had a flat tire. Max is an outdoors consultant and he was hired by Kaoshan Tents to increase tourism. He told me they’ve had continual problems with their bikes even after he taught them all about bike maintenance. Ha! He wasn’t too happy nor was I as it meant an extra 3KM walk along the road pushing our bikes back to the tents.

Stunning views and not another soul in sight

I got home around 3:00PM and was exhausted and dusty. I took a hot shower and plopped myself on the bed. I made a coffee and ate the two packets of cookies the lady had given me on the train. I was going to wait for the BBQ but by 5:15PM, I needed to eat. The BBQ didn't start until 7:30PM. I had a simple but delicious dinner and also enjoyed my first cold beer in China. I decided to do nothing for the rest of the evening.

I did schedule a tour for the following day. I needed to be out of my yurt by noon and I had an 11:30PM train in Zhangye. Booking a tour seemed like the best way to keep my things with me, see more of the sights and kill time before that late evening train. It was lights out early in anticipation of the following day’s activities.