新疆 Day 2 - The Climb

The bus finally brought us to the very highest point, where we would be able to look back down at the river and the valley. The way was steep, narrow and winding, so the people in the aisle seats were told to put on their seatbelts. The bus rumbled and bumped its way up at an alarmingly high speed, coming to a few very close encounters with opposing traffic. It always seemed impossible that both buses could pass each other, but somehow the drivers would honk and manoeuvre their way, squeezing rather treacherously side by side on the narrow road.

At the top, we had to make our way up 1050 or so steps set into the mountain to get to the viewing tower. The way up was sunny, windy, and quite exhausting at times, but the view all along the valley and mountains beyond was amazing. We stopped to take pictures of course, and finally reached the peak and its glorious scenery. I was dying a little bit by then, since my feet were tired, but otherwise I felt really fresh right there.

On the side road down the mountain, my feet trembled and my eyes threatened to close. The fatigue rolled in and bore down on me in waves, and so I stumbled my way back to the buses as we returned the way we’d come. As I dozed off in the bus, I started leaning against the window beside me despite the bumping of the bus, occasionally waking up when my head smashed into the window particularly hard. Once, I opened my eyes to find passengers of another bus staring at me from their windows, only a few inches away from my face. My sleepy mind couldn’t comprehend how it was possible, but I realized it was just another bus we were passing, and that was how close they cut it. O_o
Panorama from the top from my dad's camera