MUD DAY!

We woke up around 8am, and it was sunny with blue skies! It was our first clear look at anything in China. We had a breakfast of porridge, dough balls, tofu in a red sauce, hardboiled eggs and pickled cucumbers.

ATVs were waiting for us outside. I’d never driven one before, and was nervous, but I don’t think I was nervous enough! We took the road for a ways to a muddy trail, while figuring out how to drive them and change gears. We had to turn around and go to another trail. Turns out I suck at four-wheeling! I drove it off the muddy but straight road not once, but twice! We had to change the plan, so I got on the back of the guide’s and the boys all drove their own. I actually enjoyed riding on the back because I was able to enjoy the scenery and really take in the surroundings (all while getting muddy!) We went through lots of mud puddles, rocks, and uneven ground. By the end, we were completely covered in mud.

We stopped to take pictures with a bunch of Chinese tourists, who again wanted their picture with us. We went a different way back, through several little villages where everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the foreigners go by on ATVs.

The villages had no more than 20 buildings and were made mostly of rock and mud. Each village had a wall around it. We saw pigs, horses, donkeys, chickens, and cows. People were out tending to their fields, and some were wearing the traditional Chinese hats.

Upon return we took the main road back and were passed by big tourist buses with REALLY loud honking horns. We took a picture with our hosts and driver and his family. They all seemed in awe of our cameras.

We climbed back into the van and went down the mountains, with more crazy driving. The views were beautiful, especially since it was a gorgeous day. Mrs. Yeh took over the driving for awhile, and it was almost scarier to ride with her. She tried to do some of the same passing moves as her husband, but she was less aggressive and slower.

We got dropped off a little ways away from the train station, because of the police presence there. Apparently if Mr. Yeh got caught driving us, he would be fined 10,000 Yuan, I think because he is not an authorized driver. We left a NY postcard with the family as a thank you.

We went to a restaurant that specialized in Northern and Mongolian food. Then we headed straight to the train station. It seemed huge, and would have been difficult to find our way without Peter’s assistance! We got on the night train at 9:30. We had a semi-private 3^rd tier ‘hard’ sleeper. This simply means that we had beds, but not our own private room. We slept pretty comfortably, though it was tough to climb all the way up there.