Beijing to Kunming : A Commute to Work

[Pat]

Day 13: Xiahe, Gansu to Xining, Qinghai : An Ode to the S202



Xiahe is an amazing little place, and I half regretted only spending an afternoon and an evening there - but the weather had gotten dicey. It rained all night and the forecast predicted more rain that week, so waking up to overcast skies, I thought it best to make a break for it and head West towards Qinghai.

I spent most of the day on the S202 riding to Xining - the road is amazing - and it turned out to be one of the best riding days of the trip. Felix, if you have time to squeeze this road into your trip, I highly recommend it!

Before leaving, I wanted to walk the Kora Pilgrim Path with the Tibetan pilgrims who come to the city from the countryside. The path begins by following 1174 prayer wheels:




The pilgrims walked through the corridors, chanting and spinning the wheels:




The path looped around the monastery:




And past meditation cells:




The occasional animal joined in the walk:




The path circled around the monastery:




The pilgrims walked around the stupas:




And then kneel and bow down on these stone slabs:




After walking the Kora Path, I went back to the hostel, packed up and headed for Xining. The route took me back towards Linxia, the Hui city, on the road I had ridden the previous day. I noticed different things this time through, including this snow covered mountain:




Eventually, I split off on to the S202 and headed westward. Through another Hui city full of people walking through the streets:




And past another butcher shop:




Leaving the town behind, the road led towards a snow capped mountain:




And started following a small river as it entered a valley:




The road began to climb and climb and climb towards the mountain:




Finally closing in on the peak, I looked back at the road traveled:




Approaching the summit, I reached a sign that announced a Qinghai road:




I later looked the spot up in google maps, and found that the border with Qinghai was actually close to the start of the ascent into the mountain. The way down was almost as twisty as the way up:




And bottomed out into a valley. The mountains had turned red:




I rode through another Hui village until I found a place for lunch:




After lunch, I continued through the red mountains, through villages, and ran into these two friends walking and playing along the road:




The road twisted and turned, and I hit Xunhua Gorge and the Yellow River:




After riding through the gorge, the road led began another ascent, twists, and turns through the red mountains:




And came out on the other side into yet another set of snow capped mountains:




Eventually, the S202 hit my old friend the G109. Not to be outdone, the G109 quickly began another ascent across another mountain range. Reaching the peak were more signs of Tibetan culture:




As my travels through Tibetan areas progressed, it was always easy to identify when the road had reached the peak of the mountain by the prayer flags, stupas, and other religious markers. On the way back down the mountain and past another town:




After descending from this mountain, G109 flattened out as it approached Xining. I slowed down and then stopped to let this tree cross the road:




Half an hour later, I grew impatient and rode past. I entered the city, leaving the G109 behind for good. My route would take me south towards Yushu in southwestern Qinghai. I rode around the city for awhile looking for a hotel where I could safely park the bike. After a few tries, I finally found one and called it a day.