Day Three - Xining to Jyekundo

Monday, 13 May 2007

5.45am - I woke up to the sound of my alarm but needed a little more rest so laid in till 6.10am when I got up, freshened up and packed up. Downstairs, Pema and Mr Shi were already waiting and we wasted no time in loading up. We drove round to pick up tents from Ponsok, the owner of Windhorse Adventures, my travel co-ordinating agency in Tibet. After fuelling up, we were on the road. The sky was getting brighter but overcast.

First stop - Huang Yuan. The little village straddles the main road towards Jyekundo. Here, we stopped for breakfast.

Mr Shi's four wheeler parked just outside our brekkie joint.

Little family-run restaurant. Monopoly - the only one opened!

Straight from mama chef's hands

Through steamy stoves...

And onto the table. Beef noodles Szechuan style with giant dumplings stuffed with meat. The meal for 3 came up to only RMB26 (SGD5).


Back on the road


Introducing my view for the next 14 hours. Mr Shi wipes away falling snow smacking onto the windscreen.


My first encounter with Yaks - road block


Sky clears up as we headed down the high pass. Elevation still above 3,500m.

Driving up towards another high pass

Amazing clouds formation above 4,000m

Towards blue skies

From whence we came

And where we are headed next

Driving along the turqoise blue river

Open grassland. Spot the wild gazettes

Arrival at Mato Town. Pit stop for lunch. We had travelled some 494km from Xining and still 331km to go.

Mr Shi introduced the "Huang He Luo Li (Yellow River fish)" hot pot. This fresh water fish is apparently only found in this area and takes about a year to grow an inch. Yum!

The first bridge across one of the tributaries of the yellow river

Blue skies over Mato County

Prayer flags mark the Bayankala Pass at 4824m

"Mani" stones carved with powerful prayers pile about the flags

Crossing the marshlands towards Domda town

A stupa by the roadside

Passing through cowboy Domda town

Finally arriving at Jyekundo.

We've travelled some 819km from 8.00am to 8.00pm (should usually take about 14 hours, but thanks to Mr Shi's skillful driving, we saved 2 hours en route)