Qinghai Gansu Travel Notes 11丨Ulan County to Datong County Drinking milk tea by Qinghai Lake

 

9.28 Life should be extremely brave

 

Yesterday 2507km–3309km.

 

When I woke up in Ulan County in the morning, everyone seemed to be in a good mood. We headed out for breakfast before lunch. I came across Ulan’s steamed buns. It is a steamed bun shop run by mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. It is clean and tidy, and every type of steamed bun makes people want to buy some and try it. We were not sure at first and bought a lot of steamed buns. Later it was used as a photo prop.

 

 

We did not choose the expressway to Qinghai Lake. We took the national highway. The mountain road was winding all the way, and we enjoyed many beautiful scenery along the way.

 

 

We circled Qinghai Road for half a circle. I drank milk tea in the Tibetan aunt’s tent.

 

 

Later, we found a suitable place by the lake to have afternoon tea. It’s also considered a break. We planned on the map to go to Menyuan. Then return to Xining from Menyuan to Kumbum Monastery, and then go home. Drink tea and eat steamed buns. The kiwi fruit I brought with me when we set out was finally finished today.

 

When we passed by Gangcha, we had the largest plate of chicken we had ever seen. When it was served, the three of us exclaimed that the plate was too big. This is a restaurant run by Hui compatriots. When we went in, we were told that the large plate of chicken had less chicken and more side dishes. When it was served later, there were a lot of chicken and surrounding dishes.

 

When we set off again, it was already a gentle sunset, listening to Hisaishi Joe. Passing by Cangyang Gyatso Square, colorful prayer flags were hung horizontally, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds, fluttering in the wind. Buddhist scriptures record that the wind blowing through prayer flags will bring compassion.

 

We all have a special characteristic along the way. We travel around during the day and mend our crotches at night. It took the three of us to find such an accurate description while driving this evening.

 

We listened to gentle songs while admiring the cows and sheep grazing peacefully under the sunset. We started on a mountain road that was like sheep intestines. Navigation is taking us into an unknown world. A road and a dark unknown that we now look back on with horror.

 

There are more and more twists and turns on the navigation route, and the night is getting deeper and deeper. It felt like I was climbing over a mountain, and the mountain was shrouded in night. You can only see the road illuminated by the car lights, which is so narrow that only one car can pass. Boss Bu later described it to us: "The big cars passed by my ears. At first, my legs were sleepy when I stepped on the accelerator, and then my legs were shaking when I stepped on the brakes."

 

While admiring the sunset, Boss Bu wanted to go to the toilet, but he never found the ideal place, so he kept driving. Unexpectedly, it got so dark that no one could be seen, but we didn't dare to get out of the car. It wasn't until we couldn't see clearly on the navigation system which turn we were going to turn that we made the wrong turn and then bravely stopped the car. They got out of the car and went to the restroom and changed drivers.

 

There was an episode. After walking into an unknown mountain road, we all started to be a little scared. I first played the "Heart Sutra" sung by Faye Wong to calm us down. Later, a fast-paced sutra chanting sound was randomly played on my phone. Faster and more urgent. Afterwards, they said that the more they listened, the more nervous they became, and their breath was raised in their throats.

 

 

The navigation was full of twists and turns. When Boss Bu was in extreme emergency, he took a screenshot and saved this scene.

 

Later, we arrived at a small town. The streets were full of large trucks, and we saw that this was where the truck drivers spent the night. We walked around twice and found that they were all small hotels. We decided not to stay any longer and continued walking forward.

 

We searched for nearby accommodation on Ctrip, and the ones we found were all in Xining City, which is more than 40 kilometers away from us. But we were still confused and didn’t know where we were. We only knew that this place was called Chase on the map.

 

We saw a relatively tall hotel on Ctrip and we navigated there. Walked 12 kilometers. Passing through villages and woods all the way, we entered a metropolis with tall buildings and bright lights.

 

I chose an old hotel to stay. At the front desk is a young Hui girl wearing a veil.

 

The terror of this night turned into memories the moment I fell asleep on the bed. Life should be extremely brave. It seemed like I had anticipated the bravery of this journey before setting off. The name of this group in the morning is extremely appropriate. Stay in Datong County tonight.