The Yellow River and Bingling Si caves

Leaving the delights of Xiahe behind, a 6 hour journey and a bogged truck arrived at the aromatic place called Yongling, although I prefer to call it the 'sewer town' maybe due to its close proximity to a water and waste treatment plant!  A beer at a local cafe reminds me of  'The Ship, Hart Lane' due to the smells emanating from the manhole beneath the table.

However the journey on route was stunning, with sheer drops down the mountains aand changing scenery from barren arid mountains on one side and lush green hills on the other, autumn is clearly starting to set in.

 

However on a more positive note, this put us much closer to the launch pad on the 'Yellow River' for our 45 minute journey by speedboat to Bingling sea caves, a group of Buddhist caves carved in a canyon which are only accessible by boat.  A stunning journey even on a drab and misty dull morning although the sun shone on our return.  The caves are about 1 mile long and walking through the lower temples it was a shame some were closed off for renovation, a shuttle bus took us up to the upper temple to see more Tibetan statues.

 

 










First bush camp followed, my tent is called 'peninsular' after the hotel in Hong Kong,  not nearly as luxurious though!  Not much of a camp to write about but was certainly a cold night that's for sure.