To read the start of the trip, read the first, second, or third post. Otherwise, I’ll continue the story the next day where I play in the desert a little more and go to a new city.
Today, I got up before the sun! I could get some lovely pictures of the sunrise. Except, it was cloudy! I didn’t see the sun at all today! At least this morning is much warmer than yesterday’s morning. No freezing to death trying for a photo.
I’m a bit surprised that no one else is up with me. Yesterday, half the yurts emptied out onto the grassland to see the sun. Today, me. I guess most people are here to drive around on the sand and wake up after the sun is up.
Playing in the Sand, Day 2
After going back inside for a quick breakfast, it was right back out onto the dunes to finish off my ticket. I still need to ride the weird sand car, zoo line, and go sandboarding.
But, my guide and I were the only ones there!
My guide said that they were supposed to be out there at 8, but, at 8:20, she left to go find them when they still hadn’t shown up. She managed to find and convince them it was time to go to work. And they brought all their sand toys out with them.
I got my ride on the big sand bus. It smelled like diesel the whole way. We went deeper into the desert to get to where they had set up the zip line and the sandboarding.
The zip line was up first. We just had to get to the top. It was up a large dune with no easy way up, like stairs or an elevator. Just walk up the big pile of sand and hope you and it stays in place and you don’t go sliding down.
But all things must end and we made it to the top. After donning my lovely safety harness, it was time to go back down. It took much less time going down than it did going up.
And it was way more fun, even if I couldn’t really see anything as the worker said I needed to take off my glasses. I’ve ridden rollercoasters with these glasses and they’ve never even hinted at falling off, but it’s hard to argue when you can’t talk to each other.
The landing was a little rough, but I didn’t hit anything. Once I was free of the harness, it was back in the sand truck to go around to the other side of the big dune for the sandboarding. The other couple I was going with stopped to look at the hill, but I was pointed towards the path up the dune.
I climbed and climbed. It was a very tall dune. I tried taking a break but go told to go faster. It wasn’t fun climbing up. I also went up a bit that slid down and tried to take me with it. By some miracle, I overpowered the sand and made it to the top.
Once I made it over to the worker and my guide, it was out onto a corner to get on a sled made of little bits of wood and plastic. I sat down and looked down the dune.
That was not a good idea.
It’s very steep and very tall. And very steep. My fear of heights kicks in. The worker is trying to get me on properly so I don’t kill myself, my guide is trying to help and send me down the slope, but I’m freaking out and trying to get them to slow down so they can tell me how to go down slowly.
I do get told where to put my hands to go slow but it is still a very steep hill. The other people aren’t coming up. I’d have to go down first. All the people trying to hurry me don’t help. Neither does looking down the slope. All I can think about is how steep it is.
I chicken out. I don’t go down the hill. The one thing I really wanted to do and I don’t. I was fine with my decision for about 5 minutes into the drive back. Then, I started regretting it, but I know that even if I did go back I probably still wouldn’t go down. I really need to work on this fear of heights, if I want to actually do the activities I want to do.
On to Ordos
Once the sand adventures are over, we drove to Ordos, the last city on the itinerary and where I’ll be flying home from tomorrow.
Thankfully, today’s drive is not that long and we get there just in time for lunch. It is still cold and gloomy out. I definitely did not pack correctly for this trip. I’m freezing!
There’s not much to do in the city, especially not in the section with my hotel. There is a little park next door that I want to explore, but it’s really too cold to stay out for long.
And I accidentally take a nap in the afternoon. I must be getting old. But, I do get some entertainment – a couple people thought it would be a good idea to shoot off some fireworks from the middle of the street, right in front of my hotel room.
Food : 22
My TEFL Adventure 
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