08 May: Tengger Desert to Zhongwei

Oh my word. On our one night in the desert when we're sleeping in tents, we have thunder and lightning and rain! It was pretty cool tho and had stopped raining by the time we had to get up in the morning.

The desert dunes look quite different in the grey sky, all damp.

We had a little breakfast and packed up our camp before heading off again on the camels. The night was nowhere near as cold as we'd been warned about but, the chilly wet day made me glad for the warm clothes I'd taken along!

And, of course, it started to rain as we rode on our camels to meet the bus again. The little waterproof I'd specifically bought for this trip came in quite handy. But we still got pretty soaked as we rode our camels thru the rain up to and along the road.

Thankfully, we had a day room booked back at our Zhongwei hotel where we all go to have a hot (if supremely low-pressure) shower.

After everyone had showered, we popped out for some lunch and into the local supermarket again to get some supplies for our evening train ride.

We also went for a bit of a wander thru a different part of town. The place seems to be full of hairdressers, underwear shops and photography studios. It is a very weird town, from what I've seen.

And then we hung out in our hotel room. It was a very lazy day. The weather was overcast and drizzly and there simply is just not that much to do in Zhongwei.

On of the UK girls did get out her newly acquired Mahjong set and we learnt the basics of how to play. Not that different to Rummy, actually. And I did win 2 of the 3 games - haha!

After much faffing and relaxing, we ate our Instant Noodle dinner in the hotel room (our train only left after 8pm) and then set off for the station.

I was on a middle bunk this time and fell asleep quite quickly after we left the station.

A condom packet from our Zhongwei hotel room. "Let you are in intense emotion the safety slips" "The man controls" "Sexual interest entertainment, apex pleasure"	Blueberry flavoured Lays. Yes, I tried these. Weren't terrible but were definitely surreal. There were also Lemon Tea flavour. Haha
Did NOT buy these! "Marmite gruel" "Fish was broken porridge". Sounds delish :P	Hot & Sour Fish Soup flavoured Lays. Yes, I tried these. Not too bad, really :)