We packed up our car and were all set to go to the Heaven Lake, about a 2 hour drive from Urumqi. Heaven Lake, or Tian Chi, is a small, long, steely-blue lake nestled below the view-grabbing 5445m Peak of God.
Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating – rain – but in good spirits we set off on our journey. After about 2 hours we arrived at a checkpoint and a place to park our car, to buy a ticket and continue the journey by tourist bus. It seemed very well catered for but we were really hoping to set-up our tent somewhere close to the lake and to be able to individually explore the region… Due to the proximity of a city of 3 million people and the management over this great natural treasure we understand that this was not possible.
We decided to change plans and head back into the city and postpone the camping to later this week, either in the western part of Xinjiang or just across the border in Kazakhstan.
To make good use of the evening we opted for a necessary haircut, always an experience in China!
