We were on our way by 9 am on Monday morning – the first part was a little scary. We decided to walk out to the road, and Ian our driver chased us.with the Truck! That was good for a rush of adrenaline! We rolled speedily along the highway through the vast sandy plains about 2500 – 3000 meters above sea level passing through the few dirty grimy communities which seemed to be more like truck shops than anything else.
Our original itinerary was to visit a town called Xiahe which was supposed to be very beautiful, typically Tibetan, but a politically controversial area. Despite it all being a go a month ago, the Chinese Government has now decided not to allow us to visit that area – no reason given! So, we are headed to Lake Qinghai, a saline lake situated in the Province of Qinghai. It’s about 3205 m in a depression in the Tibetan Plateau. It is the largest lake in China. Our travel in China is fairly restricted. Our guide has to get permits for each area and the government is at liberty to prevent us going anywhere it chooses. We haven’t “felt” any restrictions personally, but in one of the little towns Ray was hunting behind the main street for a loo and a policeman came up to him and wanted to know what he was doing.
As we started to climb into the mountains, the road startaed to deteriorate and in one section there were large patches of diret road probably where frost has heaved the road and it is now waiting to be fixed. The mountains are pretty desolate and bleak; lots of loose rock and stone covered with a mossy layer of grass. As we approached the lake, the countryside smoothed out into large grasslands littered with sheep, yaks, herders, a team building a pipe line, and tents, probably for nomadic Tibetans.
We drove into Heimahe which a melting pot of different cultures: Mongol, Tibetan Muslim (Hui) and Han. It seemed like just another tiny little grimy town, however while cook group was shopping for lunch Maeve and I wandered down one side of the main street and back on the other. It was one of the priceless moments. The people were fabulous, and each of them had a different “traditional” dress, all so colourful. We stood looking at them in admiration, and they stood looking at us in admiration. They took pictures of us, and we took pictures of them! There were tons of “hellos’, handshakes, smiles, and words spoken that the other didn’t understand. We found a fabulous shop with jackets, police coats, and hats and so 3 of the group (including Maeve) went back and bought a coat, and one person bought a hat. There wasn’t much in the way of food, but the town was rich in culture. The police checked on us a couple of times probably due to the gathering crowd around the Truck.
The shores of the aquamarine lake were uninterrupted grasslands and we had to be careful not to hit a yak, or a sheep as we droe along. Sooon we arrived at Puhahe another community but it lacked the colour and charm of Heimahe. We made a Truck lunch stop just outside the town. It wasn’t the most pleasant stop as there was a nasty smell that I couldn’t place. Anyway, it didn’t stop me and some of the other girls from washing our hair in the river. Felt sooo good after a few nights camping and no showers.
Around 3 p.m we set off for the Bird Sanctuary on Qinghai Lake. It cost 115 yuen each and was really rather disappointing. We were whizzed through the flat wetlands in a little green open air bus to a viewing centre where you could look out at brown striped face geese. I ask you, I couldn’t believe I was paying to see geese when all spring we curse and swear at them in our own garden!! They were very similar to our Canada Geese in size and look, just a different colour. The babies were the same little yellow chicks that bring us so much angst…..and geese poo…. at home. Then we were whisked along a road in another green mini bus to a little harbour area where we climbed up x number of steep steps to see a rock covered with black cormarants. Anyway, we took the requisite number of pictures, but with all the beautiful birds we see in our own garden, and have seen on our other travels, this was a little tame and poor value. Added to that, the paths were breaking up, the signs were deteriorating to the point you could hardly read them, and the toilets were absolutely disgusting! Hardly world class!! We went back to pick up those who remained at the lunch stop and set off on the 70km journey to a spot where we could camp. It was a “merry” Truck as we drove along the road as vast quantities of beer were being consumed by most. Relief probably at getting back to normal altitudes!
We camped in another field just off the road. It was threatening rain when we were pitching the tents but it came to nothing until later on when we were either in bed or going to bed. Fortunately the wind was so strong it blew everything dry as soon as the rain stopped. Ray and I didn’t do too much except sit on the Truck and try to pick out some photos for the blog using Caroline’s lap top that she so kindly lent us. After dinner, it was quickly to bed as we were all so cold.
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