Travel Notes | Maya Snow Mountain, an unexpected encounter

"Everyone has come," seems to be of no use to either Brother Jiao or me. We stayed in a B&B 500 meters away from the gate of Shapotou Scenic Area. Shapotou is so famous that we thought we could spend the whole day there the next day before going to Xining. Before going to bed, I read information and photos about Shapotou on the Internet. Maybe it was because they had walked through the hinterland of the desert. The two of them were not very interested in Shapotou. When they got up the next day, they decided to go directly to Xining.

There is an orchard where I live, and there are a lot of apples, dates, and tomatoes growing there. Breakfast is served in the orchard. The boss said to pick more and eat them on the road.

There are several roads to take from Shapotou to Xining. Looking at the map, we found a place called Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County along the way. We had never heard of Tianzhu before, but because of our love for Tibetan areas, we planned to go there first. When we arrived at Tianzhu, we drove to Xining in two days, stopping and stopping on the way.

As for what Tianzhu has to offer, there is too little information available. Scattered online information shows that there are Tibetan Buddhist temples and Maya Snow Mountain there. Although I don’t know what this destination along the way will bring me, I don’t have much expectations. , but thinking about visiting a Tibetan area on the way to Xining, I was still happy.

From Shapotou and then out of Zhongwei, there is a field of Gesang flowers, like a field in Dali.

You don't have to rush for time, don't take the highway, take the county road, take the small road, you can stop at the place you like, this kind of journey is relaxed and comfortable. The weather was very good, with blue sky and white clouds. Driving away from the typical desert loess in the northwest, the vegetation began to increase.

I saw a lot of watermelons on the road and stopped to buy one. After asking, I found out that it was not a watermelon but a seed melon. The locals do not eat meat and only take the seeds and process them into the melon seeds we usually eat. The boss not only sells melons, but at least sells them in whole bags. After Brother Jiao deeply expressed his desire for this melon, the boss agreed to sell one to us.

While eating melons and chatting, Brother Jiao gave the children a pomegranate he brought from Nanning. They had never seen pomegranates before. The children liked it very much and chatted back and forth. In the end, they refused to accept our money for this melon.

Continue on the road, with blue sky and white clouds, listening to the song of the new pants, the song of the hedgehog, the song of the face, the song of Mr. Turtle, the song of admiration, the song of Penicillin, and the song of the Queen's suitcase.

Brother Jiao was very excited when he saw the seed melons growing in the ground. He ran to take pictures and then continued to eat the seed melons packed earlier.

Different geology, different vegetation, different mountains and rivers, these are all different parts of this blue planet. Brother Jiao must touch the soil with his own hands before he will be satisfied. It would be better if he could roll on the ground, right. To her, this is part of the earth.

When we approached Tianzhu County, it was already afternoon. Maya Snow Mountain was still nearly an hour's drive from the county seat. Due to the lack of information, I didn't have much impulse to spend an hour there. After all, I really didn't know what it was like there. She thought that she would just settle down and walk around in the county town first, but she found that Brother Jiao was sleeping soundly in the car. In that case, let her sleep a little longer and go to Ma Ya Snow Mountain.

The road is not too difficult, but you have to be careful. If you take the wrong road, you may risk overturning. When you take a turn and enter the foot of the Horse Tooth Snow Mountain, you will be really surprised, especially after you are used to seeing the loess desert.

Brother Jiao struck up a conversation with a grandfather at the foot of the snow-capped mountains. I called him Uncle Yu. Uncle Yu said that Ma Ya Snow Mountain is beautiful in summer, but it doesn’t look good now. He asked us to come back in May or June next year. Then he told us the route into the mountain and told us not to go any further when we saw the white yak. ​​There would be bears, leopards and other wild animals inside and it would be unsafe.

The closer you get to Maya Snow Mountain, the more beautiful the scenery becomes. This area has not yet been developed, or is not allowed to be developed, because it belongs to the Qilian Mountain Reserve.

After seeing the white yak, we didn’t go any further and waited for the sunset.

At sunset, both of them sighed that this place was so comfortable, and the starry sky at night would be beautiful. Brother Jiao said that he couldn't live in the county seat, so he would live at the foot of the mountain. He didn't bring any camping equipment, so he planned to visit nearby villages. Is there any place to stay.

There was no accommodation nearby, it was undeveloped and there were no B&Bs. Brother Jiao really wanted to stay one night at the foot of the mountain, and I hadn’t seen the stars in a long time. When we were walking back, Uncle Yu saw us and came over to chat with us. When we mentioned that we wanted to spend the night at the foot of the mountain, Uncle Yu strongly invited us to stay at his house.

Uncle Yu's house is very simple, and I'm afraid he can't cook our dinner. Brother Jiao and I drove to Dachaigou to buy food and pack it back.

The altitude of the mountain is more than 3,000 meters, and the temperature suddenly reached sub-zero temperature at night. Uncle Yu cooked tea and heated the Kang. We brought back dinner. Uncle Yu brought home cordyceps and deer tendon wine as a treat. He said that we bought it very well. The wine doesn't taste good.

I could understand about half of what Uncle Yu said, and Brother Jiao could understand about 70% to 80%. Every time I couldn't understand what he said, Uncle Yu would turn his head to Brother Jiao, and Brother Jiao seemed to be a translator. Uncle Yu's lover was hospitalized in the county town. He had a headache. As he talked, he rolled up a cigarette and started smoking.

The sky was full of stars outside the house, and the Milky Way was clearly visible. I asked Uncle Yu if I wanted to go out and shoot stars, would it disturb his rest? He said don’t worry, and we completed this year’s starry sky shooting.

This stone hut under the starry sky is Uncle Yu's house.

Maybe he was worried that we would catch cold, as the kang was very warm, so Uncle Yu quickly took out all the quilts in the house. He also emphasized from time to time that they were clean and reassured us, and then I was woken up by the heat that night.

When I woke up in the morning, the air outside was clean and dry, and the cattle and sheep had not yet started to come out.

Uncle Yu boiled hot water for us so that we could wash our faces and brush our teeth.

Heat up the leftovers from last night, add the steamed buns made in the morning, and boil a pot of tea. This is breakfast.

Uncle Yu also made sure to boil the eggs at home for us to take away. He said these eggs were good.

After breakfast, Uncle Yu showed us the chickens and sheep he raised, as well as the beans grown behind the house.

Uncle Yu was going to sing a song "Ma Ya Snow Mountain" for us at the foot of the Maya Snow Mountain. He recorded the video and took a group photo. We are leaving here and continue to Xining, returning to the place where we met three years ago.

Take another look back here and take a picture of the stone hut we live in.

Uncle Yu prepared cooked beans and steamed buns, and said he would give them to us to eat on the way, and sent us all the way to the roadside.

Saying goodbye again, watching him walk home in the rearview mirror, wondering if he would be here again.

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Maya Snow Mountain is a place you encounter unexpectedly. If you have the opportunity, go with your expectations and go to the white yak and continue moving forward.