sun sets 10pm here

新疆

29July-10Aug

Facts i learnt :-

1. The risk of milk cows with black and white patches struck by thunder is pretty high, the girl told me they'd hide in the pine trees behind the mountain when it rains.

2. That raisins are dried on the grapevine, i mean literally the grapes dries to raisins without any artificial work.

3. The sky can be so blue, and if you're at a place high enough, you can touch the clouds.

4. People there hate doors, which i can't comprehend why they'd rather leave their toilet doors unlocked even if there's a lock.

5. Grown ups can be equally childish like us.

6. From the bird's eye view in the plane, yellow patches of the land, are actually sunflowers.

7. In the middle of the desert, the stars.. cover the whole sky.

8. Never count sheep a family owns.

9. Clouds do cast shadows on hills, and that's.. interestingly breathtaking.

10. Walnuts really come in shells, just like the walnut in plants vs. zombie; however, macadamia nuts are the real hard nuts to crack. 

11. Winds do rustle, and grasshoppers hop.  

乌鲁木齐

Ürümqi

巴音布鲁克
Bayanbulak


天鹅湖

apparently no swans in the lake,
it's just a name and idk why it's named as swan lake.
wtf

lady selling 囊 

a kind of bread. 

this fruit smells really really really good!!!!

i didn't eat lamb throughout the whole trip,

except for the two little pieces on a barbecue my brother forced me to.

girls needling mushrooms into a line ;) 

祭天

strands of hopes clung onto bundles of rock

this is my favourite picture throughout the whole trip.

i do not know their language,

they are laughing giggling swinging really happily.

on a swing made of ropes,

and a frame of i don't know what.

unlike us,

often whining about things we do not have,

their happiness is achieved with minimum materials.

baby out of focus.

那拉提

Narat

went horse riding,

a 16 year old 哈萨克 girl rode with me.

i feel her anger and helplessness.

it's because of tourists like us,

their land is exploited,

their peace is interrupted, 

their horses are rode by strangers like us,

in short,

their life has been altered, into a way so commercialized.

riding on the horse's back and with the girl,

i feel really embarrassed.

it's because tourists like us,

their land and lives changed.

i was really sad that day.

伊宁

Yining

hand sewn quilts

i don't think it's fun to ride on him. 

it's not because it hurts,

but i think he hurts.

sorry mr.horse :(

interior of a native's house ;)

赛里木湖

Sayram Lake

tour guide says;

羊是草原上的繁星.

really true!!

they are all over the place.

eat shit and sleep. that's all they do :D

胡杨林

生三千年不死,

死三千年不倒,

倒三千年不朽.

that's how long this plant lives. :)

flower in the middle of the desert

五彩湾

10pm.

that's when the sun sets. 

incredible right?

禾木村

Hemu

喀纳斯

Kanas

i'm so sorry to say that,

but i slept on the boat. teehee

with brother and tour guide :D

 pretty, ain't it? 

 stairway to heaven. wtf.

可可托海

Keketuo Sea

over exposed 蒲公英

i like this place the most,

because there's no tourists.

so peaceful!!

haha, but i'm so weird because i only take weird pictures. 

天山天池

吐鲁番

Turpan

hottest place on earth.

BUT

the weather was surprisingly cooling!!

not hot.

not sure whether i should be happy or not. hehe

an old man playing music at 千佛洞

the places i've been to is really really pretty,

most of them mountain and lake and rivers and all natural things.

but the pictures i took were not related to the emphasis of the place.

i have to stress again that the place is really pretty,

despite the lousy toilets ;)