The Travelers
Tina Beeck and her sons Beeck (13), Miller (11), and James (8); and their friends: Nicky Ebel, her husband David, and their sons Bryce (12), Joshua (12), Michael (10), and Callum (7).
The Plan
The families booked their tickets from Beijing to Yinchuan and from Xining to Beijing. They used Ningxia Desert Travel Service in Zhongwei for the camel trip and sheepskin raft ride down the Yellow River, and for booking private bus transport from Yinchuan to Zhongwei to Lanzhou via the Tengger Desert. Beeck and Ebel’s tour guide, Losang, from OT Travels & Tours, helped book rooms for them in Xiahe and Tongren, transportation via private bus from Lanzhou to Binglingsi Grottoes to Xiahe to Tongren to Taktser and to Xining. Losang also deserves credit for mailing a Nano ipod (that one of the kids left on the bus) to Beijing.
The Plan
The families booked their tickets from Beijing to Yinchuan and from Xining to Beijing. They used Ningxia Desert Travel Service in Zhongwei for the camel trip and sheepskin raft ride down the Yellow River, and for booking private bus transport from Yinchuan to Zhongwei to Lanzhou via the Tengger Desert. Beeck and Ebel’s tour guide, Losang, from OT Travels & Tours, helped book rooms for them in Xiahe and Tongren, transportation via private bus from Lanzhou to Binglingsi Grottoes to Xiahe to Tongren to Taktser and to Xining. Losang also deserves credit for mailing a Nano ipod (that one of the kids left on the bus) to Beijing.
The Best Part
Firstly, Tina was delighted to be traveling with the Ebel family, who were up for a remote adventure in China. She also loved Xiahe for its laid-back atmoshere and had a great time at the Nomad Restaurant. From the resturant’s second floor seating area, one could overlook the prayer wheels along the east side of Mt. Kailash: the Inner Kora. Walking the Inner Kora at dawn and the Outer Kora at dusk were highlights of the trip. Of particular
interest were the elderly women walking with canes and rhythmically spinning the prayer wheels around the Inner Kora as dawn broke. She also enjoyed Labrang Monastery – which included a tour of yak butter sculptures.
For the kids, the best part was the camel trek through the Tengger desert. They had a great time playing in the sand, sleeping in the desert, and riding the camels. Everyone laughed their heads off as they discussed what the real silk roaders did for entertainment. They found out that camel riding loses its intrigue after the first hour. The best answer: gambling over which camel turd ball would reach the bottom of the dune first.
The Worst Part
The big downer was not being able to enter Taktser, the birth place of the Dalai Lama. An official of the Chinese government was visiting the same day and westerners weren’t allowed inside. They knew ahead of time that the birthplace is occasionally closed to foreigners, and although the landscape was amazing on the way, it was still disappointing to be turned away.
This article is excerpted from beijingkids October 2011 issue. View it in PDF form here or contact distribution@beijing-kids.com to find out where you can pick up your free copy.
