Xinjiang adventures. Deserts, grasslands and glaciers.

[woodyren]

Very late on this TR as we have just returned to Australia again after an extensive year of travel. We have probably spent around 7 months on the road and sea this year.

This particular TR covers 14 days in the middle of a much longer trip that included a cruise from Brisbane to Vancouver, flights and stays in Taiwan, Korea and China, a train trip from China to Laos, cruises and travel to other provinces while in China over a period of five months.

Rather than do a very lengthy TR covering the whole trip I have decided to break it into a few specific ones. The first report and probably the highlight was this 14 day New Orient Express rail and bus tour through Xinjiang.

We had not planned this trip prior to leaving Australia but when some of my wife's local friends who had booked suggested we join them we jumped at the opportunity to visit and see (a sheltered view for sure) first hand what the situation is in a province that is often in the news for various reasons.

So I will do my best to recall specific dates and places from my multitude of photos of what turned out to be a fascinating and stunningly beautiful part of the world.

Two days before we left we were invited a meet up with our touring friends in Shenyang Nth China. We have travelled before with this group of my wife's lady friends and they are a certainly a fun loving adventurous bunch. As usual the choice of restaurant and selection of F&B was superb.

 

[woodyren]

The 14 night trip was virtually all inclusive and covered 5 night sleeping on the train, hotels, admission to all the sites and most meals.

Day 1 consisted of an afternoon flight 5 hour flight from Shenyang to Urumqi and a night in an Urumqi hotel.


Taoxian airport Shenyang.


Arriving in Urumqi.





Hotel accommodation was generally very good.


Breakfast buffet day 2.

 

[VPS]

Oooh - I always like your TR - waiting patiently

 

[woodyren]

After a very early breakfast on day 2 we were picked at hotel and transferred to Urumqi station for the 5 hour train journey to our first scenic destination. Dushanzi Grand Canyon.



Urumqi station.


The infrastructure in all the large cities in Xinjiang has been rapidly expanding.


Inside Urumqi station.





Our train awaits us. Our carriage steward was at the boarding door every time we boarded or alighted.


Lounge car on board. I spent most of my time there as I was sharing a small 4 berth room with my wife and two other ladies. Conditions were cramped but we managed quite well.





Dining area on board. Breakfast was the only meal we had on the train.



My usual relaxation place.

 

[woodyren]

From Urumqi to Karamay was our first journey on the train. The terrain was mostly semi arid or desert but there were numerous areas that had been vegetated under irrigation along the way.
There were many areas of solar farms and large amounts of power line construction in most areas we visited.

 

[woodyren]

Karamay station and onto the bus for our first scenic stop. Dushanzi Grand Canyon. I had no preconceived idea of what we would see on this trip as the itinerary was all in Mandarin and my wife did all of the organising. I just sat back and waited to be surprised by the amazing natural beauty of the region.

















I certainly didn't even think of doing any parabolism.


There were so many roads that just cried out for a road trip.









After the first stop I was already very impressed.

 

[woodyren]

After the canyon and dinner we were back on the train for an overnight trip to Atlay prefecture. Although we often boarded the train later in the evenings after dinner with China only having one time zone there was still plenty of daylight to experience the view for the first few hours of each journey.




Breakfasts on board were traditional Chinese congee and condiments.


I was the only Westerner on board although there was a young Taiwanese with his father who was studying in Chicago and spoke very good English.

 

[woodyren]

A few google maps locations of the areas we visited. They are in no particular order but they just came up together on my screen shots as I was posting.

 

[kamchatsky]

I'd love to go to Xinjiang one day. Did you have any restrictions to go into Xinjiang? I heard that there are additional Visa restrictions when visiting there due to the political sensitivity there.

The "Prohibition of Parabolism" is so funny .... Obviously it should be "Litter prohibited" but looking at Google Translate I can see how they picked the word "Parabolism"

 

[woodyren]

I'd love to go to Xinjiang one day. Did you have any restrictions to go into Xinjiang? I heard that there are additional Visa restrictions when visiting there due to the political sensitivity there.

The "Prohibition of Parabolism" is so funny .... Obviously it should be "Litter prohibited" but looking at Google Translate I can see how they picked the word "Parabolism"

There were a few areas where my wife and I were prohibited for visiting as only Chinese passport holder were allowed. We were taken to different locations in a small group with a few others who held other passports.

There were other check points where we had to alight from our bus to be checked by local authorities. There is certainly a lot of security, camera surveillance and some of the checkpoints were almost like a border into another country. I would hazard a guess to say that as foreigners were wouldn't be able to travel independently to many of the areas we visited but there were certainly a lot of locals in motor homes who appeared to be just traveling and camping in roadside areas.

 

[woodyren]

Breakfast early on the train and then transferred onto a bus at Beitunshi Station. A few hours driving toward the next scenic spot. Again mostly semi arid with regular agricultural areas around water sources and under irrigation. Interestingly that although Xinjiang has a number of rivers fed predominately by snow melt only one of them eventually reaches the Ocean becoming a tributary to a Russian river. The rest end in huge marshes or salt pans.




The full compliment of passengers are split into smaller groups at each station and do varying tours.








Many small and larger roadside businesses set up for tourist rest stops. The bathroom facilities were very basic in many.


Large rivers surrounded by fertile land flowing through the middle of deserts.




Along with solar farms there were a multitude of wind generators wherever we went.

 

[woodyren]

Rainbow Beach or Seven Colours Beach was our next viewing point. As with many Chinese scenic areas there is an entrance fee to visit. The areas are usually quite large and offer opportunities to walk large distances and we had plenty of time to explore at our own pace. We visited in the middle of summer and when we weren't at high altitude the weather was very hot.

 

[woodyren]

A long but wonderful scenic drive from Rainbow Beach to our overnight hotel in Burquin County. The changing scenery along the way was always spectacular often changing from desert, to meadows, mountain passes and back to desert within a few hours dependent on which side of the mountains you were on. Todays trip was mostly through meadows and mountains to a small tourist village in a quiet mountain valley.












Our hotel for the night.

 

[woodyren]

We had a fantastic evening with plenty of time to wander around the area. Still many local herdsmen going about their daily routines with sheep, cattle and horses driven through the streets. An excellent local dinner in a yurt. The valley was filled with wildflowers and very picturesque.

 

[woodyren]

A few more photos from my phone that I don't have on my laptop.














Mask wearing for sun protection. Very common with women in China these days.

 

[woodyren]

After a very relaxing night in the mountain village and another breakfast in a yurt we were back on the bus for a drive through the mountains to the Kanas Geopark. At this time we are right in the Northwest corner of China and reasonably close to Russia, Mongolia and Kazakstan.

The park entrance where we are transferred onto a fleet of small buses that deliver you to the many locations within the vast geopark.








There are still many people living and grazing their herds within the park

 

[woodyren]

More photos from the Kanas Geopark area. The first days of the tour have been amazing. Not even really knowing where we were going and only researching the region once we arrived using Google maps and then getting an idea of where we were was a completely new and wonderful experience from someone who is a bit of a travel planner at heart.



The rest of the group went for a boat ride on the lake. I headed off for a few hours walking the trails in the area. Well set out and sign posted.