Yesterday 2 other volunteers and I traveled to Qinghai Lake for the day. Located on the Tibetan Plateau, at an altitude of about 10,500 feet, Qinghai Lake is the largest salt water lake in China. I had heard good things about the lake and it did not disappoint.
Qinghai Lake was absolutely beautiful- clear skies, blue water, green mountains, lots of goats and yak. You really felt the vastness and expansiveness of the Tibetan Plateau.
You also felt the altitude. Our driver dropped us off near the bottom of a mountain and then we hiked up to get a bird's-eye view of the lake. The hike up was short, it took us about 30 minutes to get to the top, but at 10,000 feet and with very little acclimatization, the hike felt much harder than it should.
We are in our final week of training- teacher training has ended, and we are now in the language training portion, which means Chinese class all day. This Friday morning, Shobana (my future roommate and fellow Hunan volunteer) and I will take a 30 hour train ride to Hunan, where we can finally settle in for the year. I will be sad to leave the Xining community we have formed, but am feeling ready to begin my new career and lifestyle as an English teacher living in rural China.
Qinghai Lake was absolutely beautiful- clear skies, blue water, green mountains, lots of goats and yak. You really felt the vastness and expansiveness of the Tibetan Plateau.
You also felt the altitude. Our driver dropped us off near the bottom of a mountain and then we hiked up to get a bird's-eye view of the lake. The hike up was short, it took us about 30 minutes to get to the top, but at 10,000 feet and with very little acclimatization, the hike felt much harder than it should.
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| We made it! |
The drive to the lake was also excellent. At one point, our car got caught in the middle of a sheep crossing, we also had to wait for some yak to cross the road. It was refreshing to get out of the city and into this more remote area.
We are in our final week of training- teacher training has ended, and we are now in the language training portion, which means Chinese class all day. This Friday morning, Shobana (my future roommate and fellow Hunan volunteer) and I will take a 30 hour train ride to Hunan, where we can finally settle in for the year. I will be sad to leave the Xining community we have formed, but am feeling ready to begin my new career and lifestyle as an English teacher living in rural China.
Beautiful! Thanks for remembering to send me the link, Signe. I'm looking forward to seeing what you're up to. Safe travels these next few days.
ReplyDeleteHey beautiful looks like u r having amazing adventurEs!!! Love you soooooo much!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!! I'll have to make it out there sometime soon.
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