'A beautiful morning, nice and bright! The day dawned nice and bright . We Left the hotel at 9 am and we were warned by the locals that we have some heavy duty mountain roads to negotiate .
Little did we expect what we saw ! As we drove up, it was everywhere. We reached an altitude of 12500 feet. Nevertheless we stopped at many places for capturing the picturesque view of the mountains. However, driving downhill was a bit tricky, and we were worried about our brakes.
A huge sigh of relief as we finally made it off the mountains. The mountain range is called Qilian ( pronounced Chilean) Qilian Mountains, China.The Qilian Mountains also known as Richthofen Range,also known as Nan Shan literally "Southern Mountains", as it is to the south of Hexi Corridor, is a northern outlier of the Kunlun Mountains, forming the border between Qinghai and the Gansu provinces of northern China.
We have to admit that we were nervous while driving down the snow-clad mountain pathways. We stopped by a local fruit store to get some fruits as our diet has been void of any fruits or vegetables, since we got to China. We've been looking for some lemons to help with our headaches but still no trace of lemons.
The roads are now straight but we are still at an altitude of 6000 feet . We traveled along side the Qilian mountain range till we reached the city of Zhangye.
There is a Giant Buddha Temple almost 900 yrs old in Zhangye. Famed Italian traveler Marco Polo, impressed by the magnificent architecture of the Giant Buddha Temple and by the prosperity of Zhangye city, lived here for more than a year.
The existing complex consists of the Giant Buddha Hall, the Buddhist Classics Hall, and a Clay Pagoda. The two-storied Giant Buddha Hall is 33 meters high, 49 meters wide and 24 meters long, with a total area of 1770 square meters.
The gold-plated and painted Giant Buddha lies in the Nirvana situation in the middle of the hall. The whole Buddha is 34.5 meters long and 7.5 meters wide between its two shoulders, with feet of 4 meters and ears of 2 meters.Behind the Buddha are 10 disciples, and in two side halls stand 18 Saintly Warriors. The clay pagoda also houses relics of an Indian monk who first came to China.
Magnificent, mysterious, and unique, the Giant Buddha Temple should be on the itinerary of any visitor who comes to this part of China.
Finally we found a Pizza shop. At last, familiar food, forks, knives and spoons and no chopsticks!
After the lip-smacking Pizza treat, we started our drive again at 4:30 pm as we had to cover another 270 kms to reach Jiayuguan.
At 8:30 pm, we reached our destination. And, tonight our stay is at a hostel!'
Little did we expect what we saw ! As we drove up, it was everywhere. We reached an altitude of 12500 feet. Nevertheless we stopped at many places for capturing the picturesque view of the mountains. However, driving downhill was a bit tricky, and we were worried about our brakes.
A huge sigh of relief as we finally made it off the mountains. The mountain range is called Qilian ( pronounced Chilean) Qilian Mountains, China.The Qilian Mountains also known as Richthofen Range,also known as Nan Shan literally "Southern Mountains", as it is to the south of Hexi Corridor, is a northern outlier of the Kunlun Mountains, forming the border between Qinghai and the Gansu provinces of northern China.
We have to admit that we were nervous while driving down the snow-clad mountain pathways. We stopped by a local fruit store to get some fruits as our diet has been void of any fruits or vegetables, since we got to China. We've been looking for some lemons to help with our headaches but still no trace of lemons.
The roads are now straight but we are still at an altitude of 6000 feet . We traveled along side the Qilian mountain range till we reached the city of Zhangye.
There is a Giant Buddha Temple almost 900 yrs old in Zhangye. Famed Italian traveler Marco Polo, impressed by the magnificent architecture of the Giant Buddha Temple and by the prosperity of Zhangye city, lived here for more than a year.
The existing complex consists of the Giant Buddha Hall, the Buddhist Classics Hall, and a Clay Pagoda. The two-storied Giant Buddha Hall is 33 meters high, 49 meters wide and 24 meters long, with a total area of 1770 square meters.
The gold-plated and painted Giant Buddha lies in the Nirvana situation in the middle of the hall. The whole Buddha is 34.5 meters long and 7.5 meters wide between its two shoulders, with feet of 4 meters and ears of 2 meters.Behind the Buddha are 10 disciples, and in two side halls stand 18 Saintly Warriors. The clay pagoda also houses relics of an Indian monk who first came to China.
Magnificent, mysterious, and unique, the Giant Buddha Temple should be on the itinerary of any visitor who comes to this part of China.
Finally we found a Pizza shop. At last, familiar food, forks, knives and spoons and no chopsticks!
After the lip-smacking Pizza treat, we started our drive again at 4:30 pm as we had to cover another 270 kms to reach Jiayuguan.
At 8:30 pm, we reached our destination. And, tonight our stay is at a hostel!'