Ürümqi -> Heavenly Lake -> Kashgar

After a morning tour of the Xinjiang Museum, we drove to Heavenly Lake a picturesque Alpine lake, 2000m up in the Tianshan mountain range (a UNESCO heritage sight), before catching a flight to Kashgar.

The following are quotes from our tour brochure:

“Xīnjiāng’s Museum is a must for Silk Road aficionados. The highlight is the locally famous ‘Loulan Beauty’, the first of half a dozen 3800-year-old desert-mummified bodies of Xīnjiāng's erstwhile Indo-European inhabitants. Other exhibits include some amazing silks, decorative arts, pottery and sculpture, a collection of white jade and an introduction to the traditions of each of the province’s minorities.” Definitely one of the better museums we visited on this Silk Road trip.

 “Heavenly Lake Two thousand metres up in the Tiān Shān mountain range is Tiān Chí, a small, long, steely-blue lake nestled below the view-grabbing 5445m Peak of God. Scattered across the alpine pine and spruce-covered slopes are Kazakh yurts and lots of sheep. It was a paradise described in Vikram Seth’s wonderful travelogue From Heaven Lake; and still is for some.” It was estimated by one of the local officials that over 60,000 visitors visited the Lake that day. The clear, warm sunny autumn afternoon Sunday was the draw. By the end of October the lake is closed to tourist until time spring.