This morning felt like autumn; crisp air, blue skies and a
very chilly 45 degrees. The high
altitude means we put on our heated gear and zip up all the vent openings. Dave and I are very glad we brought the electric gloves and jackets.
Leaving Dulan, we leapfrogged trucks and cars with
ease. However, as we got into the
countryside, we were alarmed by the long line of trucks ahead.
Fortunately, we did squeeze by, in between giant heavy trucks!
Broken down vehicles have nowhere to pull off on these
roads. A steep drop off means that they
are still at least half way into the traveling lane. Then it’s a matter of which side can manage
to grab the remaining road. The
motorcycles can usually squeeze by.
The morning scenery was much the same as yesterday. Today we climbed up over 3,500 meters (11,500
feet). It didn’t have much of an effect
on us while we were on the motorcycles.
Although this line of trucks was a mile long, it
didn’t cause much of a delay for us. We just motored past them.
The trucks were undergoing a mandatory brake check before descending
the other side of the pass.
Prayer flags over the pass offered "protection" on the long downward journey from the Tibetan highlands and desert.
Our first gas stop was next to this statue. Dave and I spent a few minutes trying to
decide if the rings represent orbiting planets, atoms or what? There seems to be very little public art work
that isn’t modern.
The Buddhist shrines are a different story. They follow a traditional template. These shrines are not temples and do not even
have an interior. Buddhist monks and
practitioners circle them in a clockwise direction, while praying.
We saw many small huts,
some with shrines nearby,
and many prayer flag circles during the morning ride.
We continued to leapfrog trucks as we took sweepers up to
the next pass.
The views near the top were fabulous.
The prayer flags are the thickest at the top.
As we motored down the other side, we encountered some
bicyclists coming up. They
have their work cut out for them - many miles of climbing.
The roadway circled back on itself as it negotiated the mountainside.
We came upon yaks and sheep in abundance.
The little yak babies are cute fur balls!
By mid-morning we came to the south shore of Qinghai Lane in
the Qinghai province.
The lake is
classified as a saline and alkaline lake.
It has a surface area of 4,317 square km.
It is a fairly shallow lake with an average
depth of only 21 meters (69 feet).
The
Chinese name, Qinghai, means “Teal Lake”.
Twentythree rivers and streams, mostly seasonal, empty into the lake.
The reason for the yurts son became obvious, as this lake is a major pilgrimage for Buddhists.
We saw lots of pilgrims and other pedestrians as we rode along the lake.
There are many tent cities to accommodate pilgrims
and visitors.
Of course there are lots and lots of prayer flags,
And quite a few shrines, big and small. The structure on the left is a prayer wheel shrine, with copper drums that pilgrims spin while praying.
Judging by the number of prayer flags, this particular shrine must have a lot of supplicants.
And we again had more than enough animal herds crossing our path.
Check out the sheep jumping by the car. I didn't get a good picture, but we saw one sheep jump clear over a car.
This particular yak did not want to go where he was being
led. This is another pilgrim camp. Apparently they are like communal motels, advertising their features, and providing prayer shrines along the way.
These yaks are going to market – yak-ity-yak – don’t come
back.
We passed these guys yesterday too.
They must have ridden late into the afternoon
and gotten up early this morning to get a head of us!
The land once again seems fertile, and we began to see some terraced farming.
After passing through three short tunnels, we came to the
city of Huangyuan. The first thing we
noticed was the number of three wheeled cars – most of them taxis - wonder why they use English in a place with no tourism?
The next thing was the meat hanging outside the butcher’s
shop. Not sure I will have steak tonight.
Our hotel came into view, and we wondered if we would be parking our motorcycles in the lobby as John and Janis had done last year. Apparently theft can be a problem around here, with the thieves taking motorcycles to Tibet never to be seen again. We had no problem.
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