Day 44

I had a change of mind about replacing the air flow meter this morning, and instead connected my ECU (the  control unit for the engine)monitor which showed the coolant temperature sender was reading very low.  The engine started OK and I let it warm up.  The coolant sender was then reading what it would normally read when the engine was cold, which means the ECU would be running the engine very rich.  This would mean poor running at speed and difficulty starting when hot.

I pulled the conector off the sender intending to change the sender, but even before it had disconnected I heard the engine revs drop slightly.  One of the symptoms of the problem is an idle speed about 150rpm above normal, so it looked like it had been caused by a poor contact on the sender.  No problem the rest of the day so hopefully.....

A short drive out of Xining brought us to the Taer Monastery which is a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery.  I was disappointed as it was very commercial and there is a limit to how many Buddhas can interest me in the space of two or three days.

We then headed up into the hills towards Qinghai Hu Lake, which is the largest salt water lake in China.  We found a spot to camp at the water's edge and after a visit from the land owner, and agreeing to his request for about £5 for all of us to camp we set about cooking, chating, taking pictures, etc.

I took the opportunity to change the oil and filter and put some new spark plugs in.

After eating we sat and watched a storm further around the lake which was slowly heading in our direction.  About 8 o'clock we started to clear up in anticipation of the rain, but within 5 minutes were hit by very strong winds which were literally pulling the tent pegs out of the ground. 4 of us bundled up Tracy's tent, including contents and put it in our van, and we then moved our van so the wind was blowing against the back which minimizes the amount of flapping of the canvas sides in the lift up roof.

Unfortubately moving the van   exposed Tom and Rachael's tent to the full force of the wind, and they then performed a similar bundling operation to put their tent into the front seats of the Land Rover.  A rearrangement of the rear then allowed 4 people to be accommodated.

Meanwhile we'd made enough space in the van to be able to fold out the downstairs bed, no mean feat as those who saw the van when we left will know.  Early to bed seemed the best plan so most were in bed soon after 9pm.

Lat 36 33.86 N
Long 100 44.13 E
Position Qinghai Hu Lake

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