Silk road tour, day 3, Chaka salt lake

I woke up early to get in a 5k run at Qinghai Lake and hopefully get some sunrise pictures. It was very cloudy so it was not spectacular.

This poor yak was up on the ridge but ran down to the water to be with his buddy. That yak was being used for pictures.

Then came the long bus ride to the salt lake. There were a few places along the way but we did not stop because of poor visibility.

We then arrived at the Chaka salt lake. This natural crystallized saline lake is part of the Qaidam Basin, which is the largest salt mine in the world. It is at an altitude of 3,059 meters (10,036 feet) and is oval shape covering an area of 105 square kilometers (40 square miles). It could supply all of China enough salt for 85 years. It looked like a frosty wonderland and a nice day for walking around a bit.

There water was cold but only for a minute. The air temperature was definitely colder than I am used to.
Salt ice cream. It is pretty hard to describe the taste but not overly salty.
The salt mounds are naturally formed.
This mound had been sculpted.
Buddhist prayer flags
Think rice noodles with chili sauce and tofu for lunch.

Afterwards we piled back on the bus for a really long drive to the hotel. Unfortunately there was an accident with two buses that shut down the road for some time. But eventually we made it to Xining.