Lower Altitude

While we were touring around Xiahe yesterday the lads worked on Sura. They
found a shorted wire, changed out a tie-bar, and cleared the fuel line. 

We woke with no electricity or running water. The town had shut down during the
night due to a power failure. With everything else purring and in order, we departed
this little part of Tibet late morning for our moderate drive to Lanzhou. From
12,000 ft with overcast skies and rain, we made great time as we coasted downhill.
It seems we had enjoyed the one sunny day in weeks while we were there!  Good karma
continues to precede our journey. 

At 1pm we stopped for gas and discovered we had a hitchhiker. Our mangy little
feline friend must have climbed aboard Sura and rode the last 250km on top of the
gas tank. When finally coaxed to give up his free ride he   found himself in a new
town a LONG way from home :-(. 

After our gas stop the GPS was pointing ominously at that scary mountain road we had
done a few days earlier. No other option was showing. Tao insisted that there was a
turnpike that would take us around the mountains and straight to our
destination...AND...he was amazingly right!

We drove the superhighway all the way to Lanzhou. Through the fog we passed some
exceptional Chinese architecturally inspired mosques with minarets that looked like
pagodas. We are now more than halfway across China and the Muslim influence is alive
and well. Not what any if us expected to see. 

Upon arrival in Lanzhou, the most air-polluted city in China and one of the 30 most
in the world (worse than Beijing),   we checked in to a nice hotel. The staff spoke
English and in conversation claimed that the only time they see blue skies or the
moon is after a heavy rain, and then only for a few hours. 

At dinner Tao promised that from this point on he was more than familiar with our
route and itinerary. We all thanked him for the change and had a few laughs
recalling the many wild goose chases over the past several weeks!  Heard it before.
We'll see how this plays out. 

Tomorrow we travel to a huge historical site and mountain climbing...really!  Sorry,
no photos today. The weather was lousy, foggy, and wet.  I was grumpy, foggy, and
wet. 

Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com