Breakfasted upon dumplings, indifferent ones however, but sufficient to sustain ourselves on the very long walk we undertook. This time our sketch map let us down horribly, because its N-S scale was so out of kilter with its E-W one. It was just a stroll tho’, so was of no import. Not that the city was especially fascinating, but it made a change to wander aimlessly rather than be making for some monument or other. We were, it’s true, looking vaguely for the Tourist hotel, to see what they had to offer, but it didn’t really matter whether we did or we didn’t. We reached it eventually, + the CITS office there was able to give us a little necessary information about buses to Taersi, the monastery an hr away. We found our first yogurt in China, sweetened but delicious, + were able to help an English girl, in a rush + rather confused, by giving her directions. Then we visited the market, relaxed in comparison with so many we’ve been to, with lots of food stalls offering a variety of cooked goodies.
I caught the bus, while Val elected to walk, back to the hotel, where we took it easy. The Swiss couple from Lanzhou had been assigned once again to fill up our room, + we arranged to meet them for dinner at the other hotel. We nearly made a complete mess of that appointment by cutting it a bit fine, + then not being able to find first a bus stop, then a bus. So we met them a few mins late + in a bit of a flap. We were joined for dinner by Jude, the English girl we’d met earlier. She turned out to be slightly scatty, but interesting nonetheless, not really a member of the travelling fraternity, but an English teacher from Shanghai. Quite good to get a different perspective on China.
Interesting to be seeing the way the culture changes the further west we go. Otherwise, a normal sort of day: some wandering, some eating, some socialising.
