I get up early since we mustn’t be late when Ghazi’s driver comes to pick us up.  He’s a medium-sized man, with a scar on his cheek.  We arrive in a street where buildings line a park where old men play Go, the national Chinese board game.  I go into a building that has just been cleaned, judging by the large puddle of water.  I go up the stairs and each door looks like the one at Marina’s, my “almost” aunt, who has a two-meter steel door with a thickness of 50 cm.

This morning, we wake up early to get our bags ready and drive towards Urumchi.  We take our time, since we’ll be leaving by car and not by train so we’re not rushed by a departure schedule.  We have to work on the photo captions, but we still hurry to have our things ready quickly.  This trip isn’t only about discoveries and adventure; it’s also work. We each sit in front of a computer and begin to write.

I am so tired when I wake up that I even ask Dad if it’s ok if I don’t go with him.  At first, he hesitates, but finally he asks me to get up.  I do it and quickly get ready to leave with Dad, Yang Dong and Harkin, whose name means “free” in Uygur like the “-azad” of my Persian name.  I learn that Liu Jia has to do captions for Dad and she won’t be coming with us.  There’s another problem with Dad’s phone.  Direction: the bazaar.

I wake up in the middle of this four hard-bed dormitory, housed with mattresses that hurt your back all night long.  For once, I am quite happy to wake up because we have to go by car to Zhangye.  I find myself facing Dad and Yang Dong who are taking their time when we actually have to leave quickly.  That’s group life: to find a common rhythm for everybody without arguing.

Today is our grand departure from the city of Xining by car to go to the city of Zhangye via Lake Qinghai and the Tibetan plateau.  Our driver is waiting for us at 7 a.m. to leave.  We finally leave late as usual, that is, at 7:30 p.m..  A two-hour drive awaits us and we’ll see the lake ahead.  As for me, too exhausted, I sleep the entire way until Dad wakes me up.  At the beginning I don’t understand why and then I see, like in a documentary on television––three horses, children, and goats come towards me.  I wonder who they are and where they come from.

Despite knowing that today we have to get up early, I’m still having trouble waking up.  As always, dad shakes me, but this time he really shakes me; I think that there’s an absolute necessity to do so.  Yes, today we are taking a train to Lanzhou at 10:30 a.m.  And now it’s 8:30 a.m.  Lucky that Liu Jia, our assistant, woke Dad up otherwise I’m not sure we would have made the train.  I take my morning shower while Dad puts my things away.  Now, there is no time to lose.  We bring down the most bags that don’t contain our equipment to the lobby on our way to breakfast. I have an omelet with tomatoes, onion and cheese, with a plate of watermelon and orange juice.  We head to the station by car and arrive 45 minutes early.  We look to see where our train leaves.  The place looks like an airport departure lounge with people everywhere, some sitting and others standing up.

Like every other morning I have trouble waking up.  I finally get up, but today it’s different, even after a good shower I don’t feel awake; maybe it’s because of the hard rain that’s pouring on Xi'an.  At breakfast I hardly eat anything and risk falling asleep on my plate.  Dad gives me good news: Mom has answered my text.  So then I wake up a little more and run to the Internet café because the Internet in our room doesn’t work.  Mom gives me compliments and some advice, so I’m happy, but Dad isn’t because instead of using the Internet for 10 minutes, I used 23 minutes and that cost an extra 13 Yuan.