Undated photo shows the scenery of Golumd in the early morning [Photo/China Tibet Online]

We took a plane from Beijing to Xining then on to Golmud to begin our journey. Golmud is a town of about 100,000 people in Qinghai Province in western part of China.

Flying into such a small airport and almost having a man walk away with my luggage was the beginning of a journey with obstacles to overcome. Lucky for me the man soon noticed the suitcase was wrong and brought it back. His was small and brown while mine was big and blue. Go figure.

Driving to the hotel was peaceful as our surroundings were natural and open. Ladies worked along the side of the road with their heads and faces covered by silk scarves to protect their skin. I had never seen woman do this kind of hard road labor in China before, but they seemed to be holding their own in the situation.

The town felt small as the streets were not crowded but rather dotted with people walking casually by, a nice change from the hustle of Beijing. I sighed.

Upon arriving to our hotel we were invited to the usual Chinese banquet dinner to meet the officials and the people who would be helping us for the week. Mr Fu would be the man to organize it all for us. A thin man with a big toothed smile and a genuine heart cheered and welcomed us to the experience.

The dinner was short and filling. We were grateful to go to the hotel to sleep soundly in the silence of the small streets.

(To be continued)