We lodged at the Bing Tuan Grand Hotel in Urumqi, near the grand international bazaar. We had a fascinating (and difficult) time trying to buy a cold beer in the lobby bar. Turns out, they had no cold beer, just room temp beer. And the staff spoke no English (as we spoke no Turkic or Chinese). Sign language wasn't quite enough.
The Bazaar was overwhelming to me (and I acknowledge that I am not much of a shopper). Hundreds of booths, and tables, on multiple floors, of multiple buildings, and I didn't begin to see the total bazar. And at every turn, vendors wanted your attention and wanted to negotiate. I needed some free space to just browse, and ask my own questions. And how would I carry this stuff home anyway?
Heavenly Lake is at about 6,500 feet elevation, and was a 2.5 hour bus ride from Urumqi (on 3 buses - our tour bus, bus #1 inside the park, then bus #2 making the final winding approach to the lake.)
Most of our group (including myself) were dealing with some degree of intestinal distress by this point in the trip. I ate no food this day. I gave serious thought to whether I was wise to embark on a long bus ride. I made it! Once I got back to the hotel, about 4:30pm, I went to bed, and slept through dinner time. Wise move.
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| The impressive entry gate to the bus terminal, enroute to Heavenly Lake. |
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| A bit of the winding road to the lake. |
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| We rode the tour boat around the lake. About a 30 minute ride. |
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| An example of one of several temples located on the hillsides around the lake. |
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