Qinghai West Journey Day 2

📍Attraction Address: Xiaochaidan Lake, Water Yadan, Dongtaijinoer Lake, 315 U-shaped Highway. Departing from Chaka Town at 8 am on the 20th, due to the rainy weather, the guide adjusted our itinerary for the sake of our scenic shooting effect, changing the original plan to visit Chaka Salt Lake to Water Yadan instead. The rain was quite heavy today. After leaving Chaka, the two hours of rain made us a bit worried about today's itinerary, but fortunately, it stopped raining around 11 am, and we seemed to have driven out of the rainy area. Xiaochaidan Lake: Xiaochaidan Lake is on the highway we were traveling on, and we also stopped to sightsee. Since this attraction hasn't been developed much, or maybe I didn't go to the viewing area, the overall feeling was average. After leaving Xiaochaidan, the next part of the journey was quite long. Starting from Xiaochaidan Lake, we slowly entered the Gobi area, from the loess mixed with a few clumps of sparse grass to the reflective and whitening desert, truly feeling the change in the landscape. Stepping on the yellow sand, the piercing northwest wind carried the sand and howled past, the scorching sun overhead burning the exposed skin, and the endless yellow sand brought a sense of despair. Water Yadan: Around 3 pm, we arrived at the Water Yadan scenic area, a super large lake with bizarre rocks emerging from the water, named by the scenic area as the West Sea Fleet, Turtle Bay, etc., with white sand on the other side. Dongtaijinoer Lake: Arrived around 5 pm. I heard it was only opened in June this year, and there is no admission fee, and the parking is also free. The lake is a salt lake, similar to the previous Chaka Salt Lake, but it hasn't been developed like Chaka Salt Lake, it's purely undeveloped, so it's closer to nature, which I prefer more. 315 U-shaped Highway: Arrived at the U-shaped highway at 7 pm, passed by at noon, there were more people, and more off-road vehicles, and for the convenience of the itinerary, we got off to take photos on the way back. At this time, there were fewer people on the highway, and the U-shaped highway under the setting sun also added a kind of beauty. Note: If you go to the salt lake, remember to bring shoe covers; if you go off-roading on the 315 highway, ordinary city off-road vehicles should avoid going down. We saw three cars stuck in the sand pits and slipping on the road. The guide also said that the cost of towing them out is quite high. Photos 1-5 are of the U-shaped highway and its surroundings. Photos 6-9 are of Water Yadan. Photos 10-13 are of Dongtaijinoer Lake.