Ningxia

Trey and I crossed Huang He (Yellow River) into Ningxia province, to the capital city, Yinchuan. We ate at Disco's, a McDonald's knock-off and jumped on another bus 3 hours south to Zhongwei We followed the Lonely Planet's recommendation to a place that does Camel treks into the Tengger Desert. I think we ended up at a different travel agency than the book recommended because it took us a few hours of charades and dictionarying to figure out what we were in for, but we got it settled and the trip was awesome. We left the next morning to drive to the fringe of the desert. There our camels and guide awaited. I have seen a camel quite a few times, but never really up close. They are quite awkward looking creatures; big bellies and skinny legs. When they sit, they fold their legs underneath themselves. The back legs fold two different directions, it's hard to visualize even when you see it first hand.
So, we loaded our gear and food and headed for the sand! Just the standing-up process is exciting. We were tied in a caravan, three in a row. The process was slow and a bit uncomfortable, luckily I was sufficiently recovered from horse riding in Inner Mongolia.
The weather was pleasant, but it started to get hotter as the day progressed. I have no idea how far we went, but the views were great, and the idea of riding a camel through the desert just made me laugh. We stopped around noon and ate lunch and took a nap. The camels grazed on the sparse desert vegetation. Off in the distance were dark clouds and thunder. Eventually a few drops began to fall and I saw a few lightning bolts. The rain seemed to be all around us, but never more than a sprinkle right on us. We kept heading into the desert after our nap. In the distance we could see wave-like peaks on the sand dunes. The wind sweeping sand over the peaks and showering over the other side. It was a first hand experience into how sand dunes are formed, and it was heading closer to us. Soon we were getting sand in every crevice, but being high up on the backs of the camels, definitely kept us above the brunt of the storm. As we trudged through the "desert storm", the weather started to calm. We soon found a resting place for the evening. The weather started to clear and after a few more light showers, the sky turned mostly blue. We ate dinner and watched a beautiful sunset atop the highest dune we could find. Its amazing how blessed I am to be able to travel around the world and see such wonderful things. The next day we headed back to town. We got to ride the camels by ourselves the whole way back. In general they tend to follow each other, but it was still fun to get to steer them. Sometimes my camel (Gigantor) would run down the dunes which was fun, but bumpy. It is really amazing to see the kind of slopes they can safely travel over in the sand. Camels, although cumbersome in appearance are quite sure-footed.
When we got back to the car, we headed to see "Chang Cheng" (the long wall or Great Wall). The wall in this area is just compacted earth and not very spectacular, except for its historicity. We came back after a swim at the local public pool, to watch the sunset.
Tonight we are heading on a night train to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province. We are flying on the 16th from Lanzhou to Urumqi in Xinjiang.