D8 - Tuesday 16-5-06 Kanas Lake

From Buergin to Kanas, the trevlling time is around 4 hours. At 11.30am, our bus arrived at the Kanas Lake Natural Reserve entrance and all of us had to get down and switched to a Kanas tourist bus (Rmb80) to the central Kanas Lake area for our overnight stay. The entire Kanas Reserve area is under strict environment protection by the Cinese government and no private vehicles are allowed into the natural reserve area. Smoking is strictly prohibited inside the reserve area.

From the entrance to our hostel, our bus had to travel up some winding roads and the scenery along the way was stunning and beautiful !

After about 30 mins of bus ride, we arrived at the Kanas Lake and checked into our hostel.

In the afternoon, we spent our time exploring the Kanas Lake and admiring this natural wonder of the world.

1) The scenery was stunning as our bus drew closer to the Kanas Natural Reserve area. Blue sky, green grassland, scattered snow on mountain top, blue roof top mobile toilets , wooden fencing - I was very impressed with the fresh, green and clean environment surrounding the area.




























2) At 2.00pm, we were at the Kanas Lake . Some part of the lake had frozen. Our tour group spent sometime in the lake area to admire it's natural beauty.



















3) At 8.00pm, we revisited the Kanas Lake and at this time, we could stand on the frozen lake and took a few pictures. It was freezing and we had to add on our borrowed winter wear to keep our body warm !































3) At 3.oopm, we signed up a 3 hour Bao Ha river tour (Rmb150 per person) to 1) a Mongolian home 2) Bao Ha River near the China & Kazakhstan border 3) Bao Ha village

Mongolian tent - We were greeted with great hospitality by the Mongolian family. We were allowed to see the inside of their tent, their cooking utensils ( very basic ) and for a small fee, tourists were taken for a pony ride and invited to purchase edible nuts & Mongolian herbs. The owner also entertained the visitors with a local folk song.



















Pictures taken at the China and Kazakhstan border. Kanas Lake is also located close to the Russian border. Friendship Peak is 4,374 above seal level. The Aktay Mountain is sandwiched between the Russian and Northen Xinjiang border.

The Bao Ha Village

Bao Ha river










4) Some pictures taken at our hostel and the surrounding area

" Kanas Lake - A natural wonder of the world ! The Swiss Alps of Asia ! So far from Xian yet so near to Russia, Kazakstan & Mongolia. I had come a long way to see this wonderland of China "