lovers rock foot around

The train ride to Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, was quite informative as we met these 2 local people who both gave their tips so willingly. But as a matter of fact, the general rule regarding the best advice you should take for any sort of trip you are about to undertake applies, which is to experience it yourself and form your own judgment. Their opinions, like those posted online by many others coming back from the lake, differed so much and even contradicted, well at least in some cases.

But still, there are facts that could never be misleading. The first night at the youth hostel in Xining was amazingly COOL, though the snoring made by Mum was HOT; high latitude of the area ensures a sharp temperature difference between the daytime and night, which is something of a luxury for people like us from the southwest where the air in summer can be unbearable even indoor; local yoghurt tastes a little bit sweeter than almost most brands available here in my city but it seems okay to me; the ultraviolet radiation left souvenirs on our forearms as well as on our faces…

Then came the magnificent lake in a breath-taking setting of open air. I’ve seen countless pictures and read various articles online about how people are overwhelmed by its serenity and vastness and told myself not to act as the common kind but remain self-possessed with well-measured admiration. Then all of these premeditations gave way to exclamation as the coach took us closer and closer towards an expanse of turquoise blue. We got off the coach and found ourselves standing along National Highway 109, with pastures extending on our left and the Lake on our right. Mr. Zhou, owner of one of the many youth hostels along our route, welcomed us into his guesthouse and there we had a rest of about 30 minutes, selecting bicycles for the whole day’s riding journey along the lake. Then off we went, with backpacks and a devout mind.

It’s nothing like cycling to work or getting about the city in low lands. We had been going for only about 2 hours and half now and were already soaked up. When we actually got to the part where we could crash the gate and went all the way to the lakeside, I was all sleeves up, which later I found out was a big mistake. But the lake and sky in a whole picture was something to remember. Some indigenous people were roping up their horses and trying to almost stuff the ropes into the hands of tourists, for a charge of RMB20/hour horseback riding along the lake. Antonio and I were really into it and in a minute we were screaming and waving and Mum voluntarily assumed the post of photographer. The pictures came out really funny as if we had been medically examined and even the horse…only parts of the human and animal body were framed, my chest, Antonio’s forearms, the horse’s butt, and in one or two pictures we only had several faces we didn’t recognize.