Silk Road - Qilian Mountains 祁连山, Qinghai Lake 青海湖, and Chaka Salt Lake 茶卡盐湖 by Gordon

Qilian Mountains, Qinghai Lake, and Chaka Salt Lake

-Gordon

The Silk Road

Silk Road Day 5:

Zhuoer Mountain, Qinghai Lake, Chaka Salt Lake

Zhuoer Mountain

Zhuoer Mountain

    Zhuoer Mountain was where we stayed for the night. Our driver drove us to the mountain top in the early morning. The view was beautiful. I think the pictures looked like postcards or even the pictures on Bing.

Zhuoer Mountain

Zhuoer Mountain

A forest on the way drove across Qilian Mountains

     Here comes our next big stop. We need to drive across Qilian Mountains to arrive at our destination Qinghai Lake. 

Drove gradually up to the Qilian Mountain top

Qilian Mountain top, 4120 miters above sea level

Qilian Mountain top

Qilian Mountain top

     When we saw a fancy sign of the altitude, we knew the highest point of this Qilian Mountain was 4120 meters. That was where my mom had the High Altitude sickness. The rest of us were ok. The mountain covers with snow all year round. The snow was thick even in the summer. It just snowed last night! We walked around on the mountain top and played with the snow. It was a definitely a fun day.

Qilian Mountain top

On the way to Qinghai Lake

Entering

Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake and its city around

     We continued our journey to Qinghai Lake, the largest salt water lake in China. There are 6 major fresh water rivers run into Qinghai Lake. On the way to Qinghai Lake, we saw a lot of fish. Those fish are called Naked Carp. They usually live in the Qinghai Lake. Every summer they swim to the fresh water river for the spawning season. People on purposely built a few white stairs to help them swim into the river.  In the meanwhile, tourists can see them better. White stairs and a black fish, even a colorblind man can see it! Can you see how strong those little black fish are?

Naked Carp

Qinghai Lake, view from our hotel

     We finally arrived at Qinghai Lake around noon time. The water is crystal clear. We checked in our hotel. It was right beside Qinghai Lake. Open our window curtain, we can see the beautiful lake anytime. We are ready for tomorrow morning's sunrise. I cannot waiting for...

Chaka Salt Lake

Chaka Salt Lake

Chaka Salt Lake

Crystalized salt

     It rained hard when we arrived at our hotel. We thought we may stay at our hotel till the next day. Luckily the rain suddenly stopped. We can continue to visit the Chaka Salt Lake in the afternoon as we planned. Chaka Salt Lake was 1.5 hour driving by car. Look, amazing salt castles! You could still pick the salt up and now for the best thing, You can finally go in the water. Standing in the water, feeling how warm the water was, is an luxury thing. Do not plan on going on a swim of float. It's way to shallow. Don't step on the white things on the bottom. You would fall into a hole. You can't scuba dive because it's way to salty. We took a lot of pretty pictures. The salty lake water stick to our legs became salt crystal. It took us a long time to take them off. Tell you a trick, a shower will work this time.

Chaka Salt Lake

Enjoyed warm Chaka Salt Lake water

Chaka Salt Lake

     Today, we drove along the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau. I feel the sky is closer, the air is fresher. I saw the grass, the mountains, the water, the Tibetan sheep and Tibetan Yak. The life here is so relax. I want to stay here forever.

Tibetan Sheep

Tibetan Yak