DAY 9
Get off at Yining Railway Station in the morning, take a bus to Yili Prefecture Bus Station, take the passenger bus departing from Yining-Bole at 10:50, and get off halfway to Sailimu Lake after about 3 hours.
Sailimu Lake is the highest alpine cold water lake with the highest altitude and the largest area in Xinjiang. It is backed by snow-capped mountains, and the shore is a vast grassland and pasture. It has the reputation of "the last tear of the Atlantic Ocean".
Get off the bus and come to the lake.
The color of sapphire blue, indeed.
In the season of October, autumn is coming to an end, ushering in the season of barren grassland. This is not the most beautiful time for Sailimu Lake. The grassland by the lake has dried up, and most of the nomadic herdsmen have moved away from the pastures, and there are not many left.
Met a warrior by the lake. On vacation, a pot, a pot, a back, a pair of sneakers, an ordinary backpack, a moisture-proof pad on the left, and a sleeping bag on the right. There is no expensive equipment, and there is not enough money. I walked across Xinjiang alone. This is the real walker in my mind, so handsome, I am in awe.
There is a large group of operators by the lake chasing and letting you ride horses, and they persevere. It seems that a group of people is divided into several groups, and there is competition among them, and they cannot be shaken off. In the end, we followed the suggestion of one of the middle-aged men who seemed to be honest and honest, and went to the Kazakh yurt area on the higher ground across the road. Stay there for one night at night, and ride up the mountain in the evening. At the same time, you can ride a horse and overlook Sailimu Lake from a high place at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.
In this yurt area are some Kazakh families who have not yet evacuated. Some are grazing, some are raising horses for tourists to ride, some are running small shops, and some are operating catering and accommodation. As the temperature drops and the number of tourists decreases, most of them have been evacuated one after another, and we still have yurts that are being demolished.
The sky meets the lake, and the vast grassland (although it has turned yellow) under the sky is dotted with white yurts.
We found a large yurt, which can sleep more than a dozen people. Looking at the spaciousness, we decided to live in it. In the evening, ride up the mountain and go to a high place to see Sailimu Lake.
On the hillside, you can see the Guozigou Bridge on the opposite side above the Guozigou.
The road leading to Sailimu Lake belongs to a section of Lianhuo Expressway. When passing Guozigou, in order to lift the road from the bottom of the valley to the mountain, this famous bridge was erected.
Guozigou is known as the first scenic spot in Ili. It goes north to Sailimu Lake and goes south to Ili River Valley. It is named for its many wild fruits. When we went, we passed the best summer and autumn, so we didn't go inside to enjoy its landscape.
Reach the top of the mountain. In summer, there must be green grass and wild flowers everywhere.
Overlooking Sailimu Lake from a height
DAY 10
The next morning, when I walked out of the yurt, the cold air hit me.
After riding up the mountain the day before, the stablekeeper asked us for an extra tip without prior agreement. This feeling made me feel once again that the folk customs of the primitive nomads are no longer so simple under the temptation of material interests.
The interior view of the big yurt where we stayed the night before.
That night, caught up with a stormy night. The one-night experience allowed me to personally experience the environment I would face if I lived on the grassland for a long time.
The wind leaking in through the chimney, the rain seeping in through the inner wall of the yurt, the charcoal fire that was extinguished in the middle of the night, the cold, the quilt, the huddle for warmth, the horses in the rain, the gale roof blown by the howling grassland at night... … These nouns, these experiences are all fresh, first-time, and extremely impressive, engraved in the box of my memory just like I just acted in a film about the natural life of the grassland or the war of nomadic peoples in the grassland.
City people have lived for a long time, longing for the freedom, original ecology and unrestrained way of living close to nature. People in grasslands and rural areas yearn for the comfort, prosperity and abundance of urban life. They all lived outside the besieged city, and if they broke in for a period of time, even if it was only for a day, they would know.
The weather is not good either, so staying longer is of no use. Depart in the rain in the morning, wave on the side of the road to catch a Khorgos-Yining bus, go to Yining, and then return to Urumqi.
Bole City (where Sailimu Lake belongs) is located between Yining and Urumqi, more than 200 kilometers away from Yining and more than 500 kilometers away from Urumqi, so it is closer to Yining. There are two ways to return to Urumqi. One is to wait on the side of the road for the bus directly going back to Urumqi. The journey by car is longer; Return to Urumqi. We chose the latter and essentially returned the same way we came.
The scenery of Guozigou passing by on the bus back to Yining.
【To be continued】Next issue: Turpan
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