Day 31: Xining (西寧) and back to Lanzhou (蘭州)

The one thing near Xining (西寧) we didn't get to see yet was the largest salt water lake in China called Quinhai Lake (青海湖), which is what the province is named after, so Charlotte negotiated with a cab driver to spend the day and take us there.  It was about an hour and half drive away in which we passed a lot of good scenery, then spent some time at the lake before starting back.  On the way back Charlotte got on a horse for some pictures, then she saw a bee farm and we stopped so she could buy some fresh honey.  Later we went to a mountain called the Sun-Moon Mountain (日月山) and took pictures of a Tibetan town on the other side and Charlotte rode a yak there.

From 77 Days in China

Some people just chilling on the side of the road

From 77 Days in China

I just like this picture of a guy on his motorcycle with trailer

From 77 Days in China

Grasslands of oil flowers (油菜花)

From 77 Days in China

Lazy afternoon in the grasslands

From 77 Days in China

Grasslands by Qinhai lake (青海湖)

From 77 Days in China

Charlotte in the grasslands

From 77 Days in China

From 77 Days in China

The lake, unfortunately the Chinese have not heard of "Leave only footprints" yet

From 77 Days in China

From 77 Days in China

There were a lot of critters around so took some pictures

From 77 Days in China

From 77 Days in China

Charlotte found honey!

From 77 Days in China

From 77 Days in China

Measuring it out

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Charlotte on a horse

From 77 Days in China

From 77 Days in China

Tibetan Village

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Charlotte on a yak

From 77 Days in China

From 77 Days in China

Charlotte with a lamb

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Yak chilling on a hill

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Cows on a hill

Once back in town we went to a KFC to wait for our train back to Lanzhou (蘭州). It was funny watching people staring at me like I was insane when I bussed my own table.  In China you just leave it and workers clean it. Then we headed to the train station that had no A/C, but it was fine for a while until they announced the train was arriving. This is when everyone "lines up" which means everyone crowds as close as they can to the 2 locked doors leading to the platform. Then it took another 10 minutes before they opened the doors, this is when it started getting very hot as everyone was cramming in as close as they could to each other. Charlotte and I were not too worried because we had assigned seats, but were a little concerned about finding places for our luggage, so we battled for position with everyone else. Once the doors opened, everyone rushed onto the platform, just to be greeted by employees with microphones yelling to wait until the passengers got off the train. This worked for about 3 minutes until the mob pushed past them to the train and waited at the car doors for people to get off. Once the passengers got off, everyone rushed on. Only to find totally empty cars. Once everyone was on, the train was about 1/4 full and everyone had assigned seats. I guess it just such the normal thing that people always need to be the first on!

It was a nice ride back without any crowd, I got a beer and sat back, I could have easily been on a Metro North or Long Island Railroad train. Got to Lanzhou and we had booked a "4 star" hotel, the lobby was really nice and the room was huge, but it was very outdated and as with most hotels in China the bathroom still left a lot to be desired, but it was a huge room and had cheap room service so we got some instant noodles.