White pagoda mountain

The last few days have been spent showing the new arrivals around Lanzhou and helping them settle in. Today has been a really good day. Jeff (USA), Marcia (New Zealand), Tatsuji (Japan) and I got the bus to white pagoda mountain. It was our first time on the bus and it was easy to see why it is so popular. We got the cable car to the top and then we found a temple that we didn’t see last time. It looked rather new so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was less than 10 years old and built for tourists.Myself, Tatsuji, Jeff & Marcia

Temple at the top of White Pagoda mountain

We then came across a outside swimming pool that had inflatable balls that people go inside and run around on top of the water. At first I was a little skeptical about getting into a plastic ball with a limited air supply and no means of escape but then I thought ‘when in Lanzhou’. Marcia and I got into one each and tried to run around on the water, ‘tried’ being the key word. It was impossible to keep your balance on the water, although the Chinese kids managed it easy enough!

The ball of terror (I am on the right - 'resting')

After risking suffocation in the plastic ball the danger of the fly fox across the valley didn’t seem too great. It’s only when I was strapped in and the guy was about to push me off the ledge that I thought to myself ‘just how save is this?’, by the time I came up with the answer ‘not very, I should get off’ it was too late and I was pushed off the edge.

A terrible blind date

After cheating death twice in the space of half an hour I thought I would treat myself – time for KFC! KFC is the only ‘Western’ fast food place in Lanzhou and I suppose the fact that there is no McDonalds gives you an indication of what it’s like here. In fact after spending a week here it’s very clear that there are very few ‘Westerners’ here. We tend to draw a lot of attention when we are out and about with Valancina the tall girl with blonde hair from Belarus causing a particular stir.