Today was to be a shorter drive to get to the reserve. I was able to go for a run and enjoy milder temperatures without humidity. Not too far away, I ran along a Russian street.
Another checkpoint and a few bathroom breaks. This woman sold a variety of yummy grapes and cashews which made a nice snack.
Outside of the reserve we stopped for lunch. From there we would need to go to the main entrance and then have several bus transfers to get into the reserve. But the day would just get really weird from the start. I’m the end we were pretty disturbed.
For an idea of where we are, we are close to the border of Khazakstan and Russia. One of the people on our tour bus noticed that the same car followed us no matter where we were or what buses we had changed to. It sounded unbelievable at the time but we noted the license plate.
We first went to a viewing platform that is 1068 steps to climb. The steps are all numbered. What a beautiful view and it really felt like you were in a European alpine village as the climate and vegetation were the same.
The weirdness really started here. The same car followed us and when we took 2 more buses to Kanas Lake, two men left the car to follow us down. We were not aware of it at that time. Most of us went on a boat cruise of the lake while another went back to a little village in search of coffee. He was the one who noticed one of the men staying at the pier while the other followed him.
On the boat cruise, it was a little sunny. I think it’s great that Chinese women take care of their skin and use umbrellas.
You can rent a scooter to go down to the lake.
The village was pretty cute and many of the houses can be rented.
Back at the hotel, we were pretty riled up. The car followed us to the gate and as there were no other restaurants or places to go, it seemed obvious we were in for the night. The staff were withholding the passports until the police came. We were told that you could not get a breakfast voucher unless you bought dinner at the hotel, and that breakfast was not until 8 am. It was already past 8:30 pm and for the second night I was not happy to be eating so late. I was going to skip dinner having snacked already on cashews.
I did go down while others ate and joined them for a beer. The guide and the driver joined us with baiju. The stuff is nasty and is grain alcohol. We did meet a local Khazak chef from the hotel.
One of our group had a French diplomate visa. They are usually not allowed to be in one of china’s autonomous regions (that includes Tibet). Another is ex-military for the UK. Both kept receiving phone calls throughout. But, maybe tomorrow is another day…..