Kanbula Park

Yesterday we went to Kanbula (Khamra in Tibetan) National Park, about 2+ hours away from Xining. Like yesterday, the drive was gorgeous! We drove through Hua Long county, which is largely Muslim. Dolma came with us and was such a lifesaver! No one at the park spoke English, and our broken Chinese would not have sufficed. :)

Our day at Kanbula consisted of a boat ride to a Buddhist nunnery located atop a mountain, a bus ride to several vista points, encounters with goats, cows, mules, and sheep, amazing views, and drive around a majority of the park. We met about 6 of the 44 nuns that currently reside at the nunnery. One showed us around two of the main halls, and we admired the beautiful paintings, statues, alters, and ornate decorations.

After the visit to the nunnery, we sliced a watermelon that one of our group members had so kindly carried in his pack. It was such a hot day, and watermelon was the perfect snack! We then took a bumpy bus ride up one of the mountains to a vista point. The bus was packed and everyone was literally flying everywhere since the driver was going so fast and the road was not only not paved, but also had rocks all along its path!

Finally at the top of one of the mountains we looked around, took some pictures and got in another bus that drive around the perimeter of the park. It was on this drive that we stopped for some of the most amazing views of the day. Our favorite was when we stopped and could look out at the lake below where we had been boating a few hours earlier. The mountains surrounding the lake and throughout the park reminded us of the Grand Canyon. They're made mostly of sandstone and a type of clay that gives them a red, striated appearance.


We concluded our tour and headed back home, utterly exhausted. Everyone fell asleep on the way back, excluding the driver, thankfully. :) What a wonderful day! It was such a joy visiting this park and seeing one of China's lesser known treasures!