Day 4 - Urumqi

The bed is low and very hard, but strangely comfortable. Up at 7:00. There were soldiers marching and chanting a few blocks from our room. Breakfast at the hotel. Very good. I left my hat under the table and had to return to get it. One of the waitresses was a student from Germany. She studied hotel management. We boarded the bus for Heavenly Lake at 9:30. The drive was under three hours. We passed sunflower and corn fields, electrical coal fired plants. Saw a few camels. We detoured off the main road onto a dirt and gravel road that took us up and along parched hillsides. We traveled through the region of the Kazakhs. They are nomadic and live primarily from their goat and cattle herds. Many live in Yurts and return to them in the fall. The temperature typically falls and stays below freezing all winter. The animals are coraled and have coal heated rooms. Heavenly Lake is nestled into 5000 meter glacier covered mountains. The lake is glacial runoff that is used for irrigation. We took a boat ride around the lake. Stopping at the Damud Monastery dock. We climbed the many steps to the temple. It was well worth the climb. Munks actually live and help operate the temple. One could purchase inscents sticks and burn them. One of our members, Thou, is Buddist. She went through a religious ceremony at the main alter and the old monk rang a bell as she prayed. Returning to the main landing the bearded men in our group were asked to pose for pictures with the locals. We had our lunch a short walk from the landing. Another multiple dish affair in a room big enough for only three tables. Very good. Today we had cold water on the bus. Dulkin and Leon carried large bottles of Sprite and Coke. It was always warm. Heading back to the bus I was stopped by a young school girl who asked if I would pose for a photo with her. A big thrill for me. While waiting for some of the others in our group the young girl passed. I asked her if she would pose for a picture with my wife. She was happy too and said "She is your wife, she is very beautiful". The little girls friends gathered around mom for a second picture. We drove back to Urumqi, but before arriving at our hotel we stopped at a carpet factory. They had about 10 weaving stations with ladies making rugs. Some of the larger rugs take 2 years to make and by the same person. The weaving stations were a front for their big warehouse. Hundreds of rugs were for sale. The Olympics has kept tourists away from the area so they were eager to bargain. The rug I liked would have cost about $3500 which included shipping to the US. Mom bought a silk scarf. For dinner Dulkin took 12 of us to an authentic Uygur resturaunt. Again it was mutiple courses and very good. They had live music with a Uygur band and several dancers. One Uygur old man was the favorite. Several of our group got up and danced. David the Canadian film maker danced with the old man. David was wearing an authentic asian shirt. After a taxi ride we are back in our room.