中国之旅-西北篇（4/4/2009）

西凉驿门前空地 In front of Xi Liang Inn

一大清早，我们就起身享受刷牙的酷刑，然后步行到莫家街用早餐。这一餐吃的是当地著名美食--擀面条。接着，我们就买了一大袋水果给西凉驿的工作人员，小包甜品给富师傅和一些锅贴给自己。
We wake up early in the morning to "enjoy" the tough moment of brushing teeth under freezing weather. Then we walk to Mo Jia Street to have our delicious breakfast. We bought some fruits for the people working in Xi Liang Inn, a small bag of biscuits/cakes for Guru Fu, and some dessert for ourselves.



左：擀面条 右：羊杂汤 Left: Noodles in Xi Ning Right: Organs of lamp in soup

10点钟，富师傅准时到达，我们出发了！临走时，元外还“深情款款”的送我们离开，直到上了车才发现我们竟然忘了跟这么重要的人拍照！我们到兰州火车站把之前买的票退掉后，就开始了这趟美丽又让人期待万分的旅程。青海湖，我来了！
Fu arrived at the hostel at 10am sharply. Before leaving the hostel, Yuan Wai give all of us a warm farewell, but we forget to take picture with him! I am so regret about this. After returning the tickets to Lan Zhou to the railway office, we geared up to the next beautiful and amazing journey. Qing Hai Lake, here we come~~

我们三个都是生平第一次看到下雪，激动的猛拍照！
This is the first time we see snow in our life!

右：是不是好像什么歌手出专辑时拍的海报？Right: This looks like a poster for a singer

在中国的加气站，乘客是必须下车等候司机加气的，奇怪吗？
In China, we have to wait outside the gas station while the driver refill gas, isn't it weird?

富师傅说我们很有福气，因为昨天早上下过了雪，今天应该不会下了，路上的雪景就不美了。没想到今天凌晨还真的再下了一次雪，那待会儿一定看到非常美丽的雪景！我们听了兴奋不已，怎么长得这么大没见过雪景，一下子就让我们看个够了，呵呵。但是好事多磨，车子开了一段路就被收费站的人给截停了，说是前面下过雪，不安全。富师傅为了安全起见，到处打听前面的路段状况，判断能够通行后决定开车继续走。
Fu told us that we are very lucky. Since it is snowing yesterday morning, he expects today to have clear weather since snowing for 2 concecutive days is rarely happen in Xi Ning. If that is the case the scenery will not be that nice. However, this it snows again morning! We are expecting a magnificent view in front now. Well, there is a saying that, good thing does not come smoothly. We were stopped by the officers at a toll gate, they advised us not to take that road as it is very slippery after snowing. Fu is a cautious person, he stopped the car beside the road, and starts to chit chat with drivers coming from the opposite direction to understand the real situation. Finally, he decided to take the risk after listening to feedbacks from a few drivers.

我们被截停在收费站 We were stopped in front of the toll.

由于太阳刚出来，路面上的雪开始融化，形成了一阵阵的水气往上飘，仿佛来到了仙境一般！一路上的雪景实在太美了，让图片告诉你他的魅力吧！
The sun starts to rise, causing the snow to melt. The evaporated water make the scenery looks like a fairy land, wow! Let the photos tell you how fascinating is the scenery!
















知道右边那个人在做什么吗？Do you know what David is doing right now?










右：这就是著名的日月山 Right: This is the famous Ri Yue (Sun and Moon) Mountain

途中，我们经过了著名的日月山和倒淌河。在日月山我们没付任何门票，因为在外面就能够拍到美景了。而且路上的景色也比日月山美多了。
We passed by the famous Ri Yue Mountain and Backstream River, but we never pay for the tickets. We can actually snap a relatively good picture without buying the ticket. Yet, the scenery we have seen on the way is much better than the Ri Yue Mountain.






下午五点左右，我们到达了青海湖，马上就被壮丽的景色给迷住了。由于西宁现在还处在初春的天气，青海湖周边的冰刚刚开始融化。大风把湖中心的冰吹向湖的一面，导致青海湖出现了一边仍然结冰、一边碧波荡漾的美景。
We reach Qing Hai Lake around 5pm, and stun by the magnificent view. Xi Ning is still in the begining of Spring, so the ice at the edges of Qing Hai Lake starts to melt. When the strong wind blow the unmelted ice at the centre to the edge of the lake, we can see one side of the lake is covered by water while another side covered by ice!



青海湖边游说游客骑牦牛拍照的藏民。这当然不是免费的！
Some Tibetans are persuading tourists to ride on their wild yak and take photos. Of course, it will not be free!

富师傅把车开到了一位藏族人的家里，我们今晚就住在这里了！本来我还以为要住帐篷的，没想到现在藏民们的家都是砖头做的，看来政府的确帮助这里的藏人改善生活了。这家的主人叫丹切，为人和蔼，但感觉上有点滑头。富师傅说，中国人有句话：“天不怕地不怕，就怕藏人说汉话！”，因为藏人和汉人旅客接触多后，开始会精打细算，接下来就会像很多鬼点子赚游客的钱，变得一点都不纯朴了。
Fu took us to a Tibetan house beside Qing Hai Lake, we are going to spend our night here! At first, I thought that we need to stay in a Tibetan camp, but end up staying in a brick house! The Chinese government did a good job to improve the living standard of Tibetan here, they all afford to build a more comfortable house now.

The owner of this house is Dan Qie, a friendly and humourous guy. Fu told us that the Chinese are quite worried that more and more Tibetan understand Mandarin, because the Tibetan will start to think various of ways to get money from tourists. It is always easier to get money in this way compared to their traditional way of livestocking. In the end, they will be cunning and money minded.

左：这是丹切家新买的炉子，听说以前是用泥巴糊成的。右：烧水烧饭都是用牛羊粪
Left: Modern stove used in Dan Qie house. Before buying this, they have to build one from clay.
Right: They cook everything without charcoal, they use cow/sheep dunk!

安顿好我们后，丹切和他的夫人捧了一种叫“藏巴”的食物让我们尝尝。糌粑是用青稞草、酥油、奶酪和茶撮合搅拌后形成的食物，热量非常高。要搅拌糌粑可要一点功夫，但志鹏倒是学得很快！我吃了一口就爱上它了！
After settling down, Dan Qie and his wife bring us a type of food called "Zang Ba", which is a high energy food with mixture of barley grass, ghee, cheese and tea. It needs to be mixed evenly first, and this require skills! We are happy that David able to learn it very fast. I fall in love with this food the first time I taste it!

志鹏拌糌粑时的神情 David is enjoy mixing the ingredients of Zang Ba

吃完了糌粑，我们就全副武装到附近的青海“冰湖”游玩去了。
After eating Zang Ba, we are fully equipped, and it is time to visit the "ice lake" beside us!







这只猫很喜欢跟着我 The cat likes to follow me

晚上，丹切家又来了另一批客人，听口音该是来自江南一带的中国游客。吃饱了丹切夫人和女儿精心炮制的晚餐后，我们就围坐在客厅闲聊，听丹切的女儿唱歌。丹切的女儿不但长得好看，还有一副动人的嗓子，她的歌声把所有的人都震慑住了。我想，如果她在草原上唱的话，一定会更动听！接着，我们就各自在附近走动，欣赏青海湖夜景去了。我独自一人走在湖边，感受那让人窒息的宁静。那种孤寂的美，让我深深着迷，恨不得融入整个大自然。宇宙的原始状态该是这样的吧？
Another gang of tourists come at night, probably from the South of China. We had a brilliant dinner prepared by mistress and daughter of Dan Qie. Dan Qie's daughter is very good in singing, her voice is so charming and powerful! I bet her voice will be even charming if she sings in the open field!

I walk along the lake alone after that, trying to feel the beauty of absolute silent in Qing Hai Lake. I am mad about beauty of loneliness and quietness in Qing Hai Lake at night, I hope I can dive into it forever! Is this what we see in the dawn of Universe?


两位勤恳的藏族女子，丹切夫人（左）和女儿（右）。
Two hardworking lady, mistress (left) and daughter (right) of Dan Qie.

晚上，我们4人就躲在热得像炉子一样的房子里睡觉。外头冰天雪地，里头温热如火，这种享受实在是人间天堂！
While it is freezingly cold outside, we sleep in a very warm room with hot stove burning. What a pleasure~~

中国之旅-西北篇（3/4/2009）

一早起身，发觉地上湿湿的，就以为下雨了。我问了刚刷完牙回来的嫣，她也说该是下雨了吧，这么冷。我们刷牙的时候，简直就是碰到水手就麻痹了，漱完口连嘴巴都麻了！
The floor is wet when i step out in the morning, so I think that it must be raining not long ago. I asked Sam who just brushed her teeth, she said, should be raining yesterday night. The weather is damn cold, we can't stop shivering while washing our face. The hands are frozen by cold water, mouth is also numb after brushing teeth.

把身体裹得像粽子一样后，我勇敢的踏出第一步，下楼找老板去了。向元外了解了中午的行程后，我随口问了一句：“昨天下雨了吧？”结果换来一阵狂笑：“傻瓜，是下雪啦！什么下雨！”我顿时恍然大悟，原来地上看到的白色物体竟然是雪！没想到生平第一次见到下雪竟然是在这样不经意的情况下发生的！我赶紧抓了一堆雪，兴奋地跑上楼让鹏和嫣看，隐约还听到元外在喊：“高原地区，不要剧烈运动，小心高原反应~”
After "packing" myself with lots of clothes, I bravely walk out the warm room to find the boss for information of our trip to Tar Lamasery. When I asked him,"Is it raining yesterday night?" He laughed at me loudly,"It is snowing! Not raining!" With doubts in my mind, I turn around and found some white objects on the floor. OMG, it is snow! This is the first time I see snow, it happened so abruptly！I quickly grabbed some snow and run up the stairs to show David and Sam my great findings. Yuan Wai's voice is still echoing in the air,"Please don't run, you are in highland, don't try to exercise too much!"


马来西亚风味的自备美味早餐 Self made breakfast, Malaysian flavour~~

洗漱完毕，吃过了早餐，我们就出发到附近的莫家街了，这里可是西宁出了名的美食街。接着我们就在西宁市中心闲逛，看看这里的人、店、车，也逛了附近的一间书局。在途中，我们也乘机尝了这里著名的美食--酸奶。原来这和我们常吃的Yogurt是同一样东西，只不过这里的酸奶特别香，也特别新鲜，我爱上了它~~
We went to the famous Mo Jia Street nearby, it is full of delicious food. We walk along the streets in Xi Ning, looking at the people, shops and car. We tried one of the famous local food here as well, it is called "sour milk", which is actually yogurt. It taste much better than the normal yogurt we buy in Malaysia, I love it~~

莫家街 Mo Jia Street

中午12点，我们到了名闻遐迩的东关清真寺参观。由于是星期五，很多清真徒在准备礼拜，我们也只能在旁边观看。这里的清真寺和马来西亚的清真寺分别很大，感觉上比较古朴，也更具土耳其建筑的特色。这里清真徒的服饰也跟马来西亚的清真徒不太一样，可能是我们的清真建筑和服饰都比较新颖吧。
We arrived at the famous Dong Guan Mosque around 12, seeing many people preparing for Friday prayer. The mosque here is very different from what we can see in Malaysia, it looks more like Turkey style. The Muslim here also wear different attire compare to Malaysian, maybe Malaysian Muslim looks more modern, haha...


东关清真寺 Dong Guan Mosque　

午餐：驴子肉！ Lunch: Donkey meat

午餐时刻，我们吃了一顿难忘的驴子肉。那碗有点臭酸味的甜品，到现在都让我难以释怀。
The most memorable lunch in my live -- donkey meat and weird dessert (sweet and sour, taste like rotten food).

回到旅舍，发现到载我们到塔尔寺的司机已经在等候了，真守时！大家都称司机叫富师傅，因为在这里“师傅”是对别人的尊称（就像我们称呼“先生”一样），熟络一点的则直呼小名。富师傅40多岁，看起来像饱经人生事故历练的人，却也很厚道。我们很快就熟络起来了，他也告诉了我们很多关于中国的事情，和许多载客的经验。他说最让他印象深刻的是一位美国华侨的话。那位华侨说，美国的护照上写着，“无论你到哪里，亚美利坚帝国都是你强硬的后盾！”若有一天中国强大了，在海外的华侨也感觉到腰杆子硬了，这是多么让人兴奋的事！我听着富师傅的话，感受着这片土地上的中国人是如何期待中国的强大。
We reached hostel around 1pm and found that the driver is waiting for us there, he is very punctual on time! Everyone called the driver Guru Fu, because Guru is a respectful way the local people call others (just like we call other people Mr/Ms/Mrs). Only close friends will call each other by nick name. Fu is about 40++ years old, he looks like a tough sailor. On the way to Tar Lamasery, he told us a lot about China, and the interesting experiences he had as a taxi driver. He told us that he met a Chinese from USA few years ago. This guy told him that there is a statement in USA passport saying that the US government will be their strong support wherever they go. If one day China emerged as a superpower, Chinese from all over the world will enjoy the benefit as well, then we can say proudly,"We are Chinese!" I listen to Fu's words, trying to understand how a local Chinese feel when their country is developing rapidly.




左上一：一看到车子经过就马上蜂拥而至的导游。 其他：塔尔寺外景
Top Left: Tour guides that flooded all the car passed by. Others: Tar Lamasery

到了塔尔寺，我们马上就看到了一幅“奇景”。一大群年轻男女试图把我们的车围堵住，然后极尽殷勤的说服我们请他们当导游。我们三人很有默契的都不作声，让富师傅去招架，结果还真地把他们给一一说退了。最难缠的还是那几位用藏语跟我们掏钱的藏族老妇~~
Finally, we reached Tar Lamasery, and shocked by the crowd of youngsters trying to surround us. They tried very hard to pursuade us to hire them as tour guide, so we can understand more while visiting the Tar Lamasery. Three of us keep silent, Fu is the one that answer to all of the pursuasion. In fact, he is very good in dealing with this, and we end up never hiring any tour guides, haha. But the old Tibetan ladies that try to beg money from us, still following us throughout the journey, phew~~






接着，我们也不买门票，就沿着塔尔寺的周边建筑观看，一边注意听其它团队的导游解说。想不到这一招也真管用，就这样让我们听了不少免费解说，也省下了不少门票钱。其实买不买门票的分别不大，顶多只是多看一些寺内的建筑设计而已。
We never buy ticket to enter the temple as well, because we feel that it is not worth. We only walk along the buildings and listen to what the tour guides (hired by other people) say, it works! This save us lots of money, thanks to Fu!









离开了塔尔寺，回到旅舍时已经是下午5点多了。我刚进入梦乡，就被兴奋的志鹏吵醒了，说要到什么中心百货广场看藏族表演。我心里嘀咕着百般不愿意，但还是起身跟着他们走了，毕竟是出来旅行，不能因为懒惰而错过任何精彩的片断。结果匆匆吃了晚餐后，我们在绵绵细雨下走了近一个小时，终于到达所谓的中心百货广场了，里头什么藏族都没有，只有几个十几岁的中学生在嬉戏，几对情侣在细雨中谈情。原来舞蹈表演因为下雨而取消了。
We leave Tar Lamasery after 2 hours. When we get back to the hostel, I tried to take a short nap, but eventually wake up by David. He is excitingly pursuading us to go to watch the Tibetan dance in the City Square, situated "not far away". Though I am very relunctant to walk, I still forced myself to follow, I don't want to miss any good things because of the laziness, haha. We had a quick dinner, and start our long walking journey under light rain for nearly 1 hour. But we can only see some teenagers and lovers playing around the City Square, where are the Tibetans? Oh... the show is cancelled due to rain. Disappointing....


从我夸张的表情里可以看出我走得多累，这里可是高海拔地区叻！
From my exaggerated expression, you can know how tired I am after the long walk!


左图：来到西宁，平日少喝酒的我也开怀畅饮了。右图：超大牛肉面晚餐
Left: My first beer in China! Right: Our dinner, super big beef noodle.

晚上，我们围着元外的电脑看着他去背包旅行的照片，也听着四位刚到的中国男生诉说他们即将开始的旅程。在元外的建议下，我们终于决定让富师傅带我们去青海湖、敦煌、嘉峪关和兰州。包车主要是为了节省经费和时间。
At night, we sits together to appreciate the interesting photos Yuan Wai taken when he goes for backpacking, and listen to the travel plan of another four Chinese guys that just arrived. After short discussion with David and Sam, we decided to hire Guru Fu for the next 5 days to several places we wish to go, so we can save more time and money.

我们也在西凉驿内厅的墙壁上，写下了一句中文留言，和一句半咸不淡的马来文，呵呵~~
Before sleep, we scribble some words in Mandarin and broken Malay, on the wall of Xi Liang Inn Youth Hostel, haha....