Heavenly Lake

Heavenly Lake is a two hour drive outside of Urumqi and is said to be one of the most beautiful lakes in China. After seeing it today, I would have to say that this statement may very well be true. It was gorgeous!

The lake is surrounded by mountains which are dotted with pagodas and sheep (and satellite dishes). The drive from Urumqi was through a countryside that reminded me a lot of the American South-West, with camels added. As we began to climb the mountains, the road ran along side a beautiful fast flowing stream. The stream was doted with Urts, the round homes of the native Uygur (pronounced "wigger") people, the largest of the 42 minority groups in Xinjiang.

One of the touristy things to do was to get your picture taken with a traditional Uygur outfit one. Kayla, of course, was eager to have this done, although she is not very happy with the resulting pictures. They also had a stage where they were doing traditional Uygur folk dancing.

After enjoying the lake, we went to a small restaurant and had wonderful flat bread, mutton on a stick and Kzakistan tea. The tea had a generous amount of milk with a pinch of salt and subtle spices. It was very good. By the open fire where the meat was being cooked, the carcass of the sheep was hanging, waiting for more meat to be cut.

The mountain weather was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of Beijing. Overall the weather in Urumqi is drier and slightly cooler, but in the mountains it was very pleasant. The breeze was cool and the mountain air was clean.

Note: Several pics are in super-high quality, click on them to load.