2006- Urumqi, Xin Jiang, China

Hopped on another airplane (C$200. return) in Chongqing and enjoyed a
plus-3 hour flight to north-west China, to the city of Urumqi in the
province of Xin Jiang. On our left (south) was the edge of the
Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas, on our right (north-east) we spied
the "endless" Gobi Desert. What a feast for our eyes! Magnificent
scenery, endless ooohs and aaaahs!

Of course we headed for an ex-pats Irish bar that Robert had
discovered last month....great chats with Jonathon ( N.Z.), Magnus (the
Irishman?), Hiro (from Japan and NYC's Bronx) and our great discovery
Kevin, from China, who became our guide for our drive the next day up
into the mountains.


This is a key feature in China which , at this point, has few car
rental companies and where one needs a Chinese driving license, almost
an impossibility! Find a guide who speaks relatively good English,
drives with some knowledge of the area and is eager to make friends
with a Canuck! This is not difficult to do at all....everywhere we
went guides, usually of the 20-something generation, came forward and
helped us immensely. These young people are literally the future of
China, innocent but worldly, smart, patient and kind. If you are ever
in doubt in China, strike up a chat with a young person and you will
be astonished at their with-it attitude, high education, and their
willingness to support you any way they can.


Off we went in Kevin's Land Rover, towards the Tianshan Mountain
Range, driving through a stretch of desert dunes and irrigated
farmlands, before heading into the mountains, dodging around several
herds of sheep. Kevin let us off at the base of the Boghda Peak
which overlooks Heavenly Lake and we headed up a great walking path
for almost 2 hours....steep but always paved (this is NOT the A.T.!).
We passed waterfalls and streams, yurts, scree slopes, dammed lakes
that were now dry and well into the pine forests. Many Chinese
families were heading up...this is a FAVORITE holiday resort for them!
Heavenly Lake was incredible! A glacier lake, fed by far-off
mountains, it had the green-blue colour so familiar out west in
Canada's glacier lakes. Somewhat commercial, with pagoda and power
boats and traditional costumes for hire, we headed quickly away and
along the lake side to the far-end of the lake, 3.5 kms. away.


After a few hours of relatively leisurely walking, admiring
pristine views, we rounded a corner and spotted Mr Rashit's sign
which stopped us cold .... advertising at its worst! Oh well, if we
looked into the ravine which was his family home or looked towards the
lake, the views were magnificent!
On our way up, we had met a Brit, Derek, who was staying for the
night as well...we 3 sat down under the pines, took in the view and
enjoyed the first of 3 meals prepared by Mrs Rashit....seen with Sue
in her camp kitchen. After lunch, we trekked an hour or so to the
extreme end of the lake, where the glacier rivers come into the lake.
Except for the gong sounding from the monastery at the other end of
the lake, all we heard were birds and the lapping of water. This is
Heaven!!


Robert checked out the horse and cows being led to pasture by Mr rashit's father (good thing for the 300 sheep that they were safely way up in the mountains!), climbed a scree
slope that threatened to give way when he was half-way up, tried a dip in the plus 2 water
(yes, I have a picture but am not allowed to show THIS one!) while I
happily clicked pictures and hiked the lakeside. Back for a late
dinner and were immensely entertained by a young man who wanted to show us how he could ride his pet sheep. Over cha (tea) we watched the sun go down lighting up the distant ridges
(reminded me of the sunset at Mt Cook in New Zealand,. but this time
there wasn't a moon-rise) , had a candle lit in our yurt, then
enjoyed the best snuggly sleep for us in ages! I woke up only once to the sound of cows munching and pulling on the grass outside our yurt, then drifted off again.
Robert shook me awake at 6:00, we climbed up to the ridge to watch
the sun rise and hit the peaks, then I headed down for a noodle
breakfast while Robert climbed higher until he was able to see ALL of
Heavenly Lake ......wonderful!


We hiked out with Mr Rashit and his daughter, grabbed a taxi and
headed back to Urumqi....hopped on the plane, had a now-familiar rough
ride over the mountains surrounding Choongqing and got home safely,
full of great memories and new-found friends