Today we traveled to Xiahe for two days as close to Tibet as we can get without a visa. This quaint village, high up on the Tibetan plateau, sits in the far southwestern edge of Gansu province outside of the autonomous border. The population is predominately Tibetan. Kinda like sneaking up to a neighbors fence and peeking over and through the cracks.
To get here we had to cross the Yellow River once again, we were told this time by ferry. Departing Liujiaxia we followed the river and its stunning orange and yellow cliffs. We crossed a bridge in serious need of repair-yikes, there were several one foot separations in the pavement looking straight down to the water!
Crossing over another bridge and the river again we found ourselves on the opposite shore of the reservoir and headed in sorta the right direction. Every time we passed a work crew Tao would stop and ask for directions.
The road followed a huge ridge some 8500 ft up, twisting and winding our way still sorta in the right direction. The two lane road was in good repair which eased my anxiety over the steep drops on each side. It was however foggy and cool. Threading our way across the top of the world had its moments. Yikes!
Terraced pastures stepped their way up the steep slopes and the hills were alive with thousands of alpine orchids. Thanks to Amelia I now know how to spot them! We passed through many small Uyghur villages with simple mosques and houses.
Four hours later we were out of the mountains, down to a river and in a good sized town where we stopped for lunch. The meal was vegetarian and excellent. We were more than well fed for $4 each.
We continued past big and small towns following the river through a hugely agricultural valley. Eventually we began to climb again. The houses started looking different, each with the same colorfully painted borders and ornate carved portals. There were lots of prayer flags and totems.
Eventually we were in the middle of a massive mountain highway project and it was so going. Sura was acting up and losing power so there was some concern.
The sun came out, the road signs began being in Tibetan script and then we lost power. We pulled into a truck lot, popped the cab, and attracted a bit of attention. Dave changed the fuel filter and checked the hoses.
Back on the road we limped along a bit more until Sura conked out just 3 km from our destination. The lads jiggled this and that, she turned over a few times, and we made it into town. Looks like a fuel pump.
PS: Never did see that ferry!
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
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