Eclipse

At about 18:15, the eclipse began, with the known sequence already familiar from partial eclipses. In spite of that, I could feel how my excitement was growing. I guess, everybody's. The solar disk was progressively dwindling in the next hour and a gradual darkening could be appreciated in the air about us. My excitement reached its peak when the eclipse attained the maximum. What a difference!. To be able to look at the Sun with the naked eye and see the black disk of the Moon circled by the dazzling corona of the Sun. Near by, Mercury! and Venus. I took a couple of pictures, but they are not very good.


I have managed to get this one, from one of the guys in our group, which probably gives a better idea of how it was.

It wasn't completely dark, particularly because the whole horizon, which we could see very clearly, was lighted. There was a very strange light in the air, as if from below to above. Everything seemed very quiet at the same time. I can't really say if it was because of me or maybe the few birds around had really fallen silent. I remember a great feeling of quietness, while I was bursting inside. It was something that I had wanted to see for many years and I could finally gaze at it now. It may be somewhat ridiculous, but I was filled by all kinds of emotions and memories. A truly unique and spectacular experience; I think I can understand why people were so upset by it in the old ages. Even knowing what was what I was seeing and making sense of many things, I could not escape the feeling of enormity of the things happening in front of me.

Suddenly, a ray broke the edge of the black disk, and we had to put on our dark glasses again. The ocultation had finished, and the eclipse was beginning its way to the end. Two minutes that lasted so long and so little. I would say that there was a big explosion of euphoria among people at that same moment, and everybody was talking about it, taking pictures of everyone and everything, things like that. Sharing the experience. Happiness.

But, sadly, my bus had to leave an hour later to go back to Jiayuguan, so we could take the train that would return us to Lanzhou. Last pictures, many, many good-byes. Many mixed emotions and last unforgettable looks. The sunset that made us company at the beginning of the way back was a beautiful closing to a very intense day.