Sand Dunes and Eleanor

Today I first enjoyed a long sleep-in and then received all the necessary sightseeing tips from a hotel employee about what there is to discover here. One of the main attractions is the impressive sand dunes, so I set off to visit them. During the short walk there, I ate my lunch.

The sand dunes were truly impressive. However, I made the mistake of wearing only sandals without socks. While the air temperature remained quite pleasant thanks to the dry wind, the sand itself was scorching hot, and because I kept sinking into it, I had to be careful not to burn my feet. After climbing the first dune, I could not resist the temptation of taking a buggy ride, even though it was somewhat expensive—but you have to treat yourself once in a while ;-). That allowed me to reach the highest dune without burning my feet—and it was definitely a lot of fun!

When I had almost finished my visit to the sand dunes but was still at Crescent Lake and the pagoda there, I received a message from an English cyclist. We arranged to meet up. Since she had not yet booked a hotel, I recommended mine to her. In the end, Eleanor—or simply El—was actually back at the hotel before I was.

The original plan was to explore the old town together, but the hotel employee recommended a nearby attraction even more strongly, so we took a taxi there instead. I was somewhat surprised by how long the taxi ride lasted. In fact, we left the city and drove out into the desert to a tourist attraction that I had not expected at all. It turned out to be well worth the visit.

However, we were no longer able to visit the nearby old town because by the time we left the attraction, it had already closed as well. In any case, the old town was not what I had expected. Rather than being a place where people still lived and restaurants were still operating, it was a former settlement that now existed purely as a tourist attraction. “I probably didn’t miss much,” I thought. We then returned to the city and headed to the night market—the place I had actually wanted to visit from the very beginning. We first had something to eat and then spent some time exploring the market.

Back at the hotel, we sat outside on the chairs in front of the building and continued our deep and personal conversations. Chinese people offered us drinks and snacks and expressed their admiration for our cycling adventures, which made the already relaxed and pleasant atmosphere even sweeter.