It was two years to the date since my mother died and I was feeling miserable. We were both in need of a good long walk and Abdulraham's suggestion of a leisurely hike in the Lake Kanas Geopark from Sleeping Dragon Bay to Moon Lake sounded perfect.

After another disappointing breakfast, we set off from our hotel in a tourist bus for the park. This time there were far fewer people around and our trip was thankfully quite peaceful. 

On a brilliantly sunny, morning the park was at its best. Instead of the moody, grey-green hues of the previous day, the lake was a vivid emerald green, fringed with black-green species of spruce, fir, larch and birch. Isolated ger camps gleamed dazzling white; curls of soft, spiraling smoke rising lazily from the their chimneys. Lonely shepherds wandered slowly alongside flocks of grazing sheep, their cream woolly coats illuminated against flourishing spring pastures. Kanas Lake was just wakening.

I just love the grandiloquent names used by the poetic Chinese. There must be literally thousands of Sleeping or Leaping Dragon attractions throughout China - and our first stop of Sleeping Dragon Bay was of course no exception. It was reminiscent of our crazily named Double Happiness Hotel in Beijing and a reminder of our death defying hike in 2007 up to the base camp of the 5,600 meter of the romantically named Jade Snow Dragon Mountain in Yunan Province. 

Apparently, the small island (ait) in the middle of the bay resembles a reclining dragon, but for the life of me I could not see any resemblance. Even my borrowed aerial photo above didn't help. According to China Bravo website, legend says "A long, long time ago, a giant dragon once played with water by mounting the clouds and riding the mist. All of a sudden, the weather changed drastically, the ice sealed and snow froze in a moment for which the dragon was frozen stiff here, thus being named Sleeping Dragon Bay". 



Our journey through the park took us along the rapidly flowing, foaming white Kanas River. As we flanked Kanas Lake and neared the wider and deeper Sleeping Dragon Bay, the river slowed to a gentle ripple. 

From Sleeping Dragon Bay, Abdulrahman, Sabir, Alan and I began the very pleasant hike back to Moon Lake which I had visited in the torrential rain the evening before. An elevated board walk and wide wooden steps made for very easy going - which was just as well as both Alan and Abdulrahman were suffering from feet problems and were having great difficulty just walking. 

Nestled in a wide forest clearing lay an isolated nomads' ger camp. A truly picturesque setting, the little camp by the lake was surrounded by pretty flowering pastures, bordered by spruce and noble, silver stemmed birch forests. Opposite was a peaceful cemetery housing just a few lonely looking tombstones.

Abdulrahman with sudden strength strode off down toward the camp apparently to see if he could buy some fresh cheese. If only we had known - after the last few horrible meals at our hotel, cheese was just what we were hanging out for and we would have gladly asked Abdurahman to buy some for us. Sabir however, did not speak any English and we had no idea why Abdulrahman had left us. After some forty minutes, we shrugged our shoulders and left Sabir, heading off along the board walk toward Moon Lake. 

Our walk was quite delightful. The silver birch were some of the oldest we had ever seen, some with trunks as wide as telegraph poles. Tall vertical spruce interspersed the forest, in some of the moister places adorned with ghostly grey hanging lichens. An understory of pink, white and yellow flowering herbaceous plants created a wild and beautiful cottage garden. It was a true cold climate rain forest.

 
   
Once again we were amused by the flowery romantic legend associated with the crescent shaped Moon Lake. A tourist website describes: "At sight of this scene, one can feel the magical creation of great nature featured by an evening crescent (one can compare with remote) and quiet dreamland. In the crescent like section sits a foot shaped isle, which is said to be the footprint left by the goddess of the moon, having secretly eaten a glossy dragon while flying back to the moon in a hurry....". 

A lot of tourists were gathered at Moon Lake, most carrying the ubiquitous selfie sticks and quite amusingly taking photos of themselves rather than the gorgeous scenery. But at least it wasn't jam packed as it was the evening before, allowing us to absorb some of the natural beauty of the lake, surrounding dense forests and mountainous peaks. 

Again, we were surprised by the park's impressive tourist infrastructure and amenities. Signage at each destination station was in both Chinese and English, and substantial high wooden platforms were put in place to allow for good photo shots. Across the road stood a very attractive cathedral looking building, with a peaked turret and very attractive pillars. We were later to find that it actually housed the toilet blocks! Similarly, very flash looking garbage bins labelled for recycling and non-recycling were placed strategically along the board walks. We had to admit, that with mass tourism of more than one million visitors each year, it was very sensible planning - and the park was pristine with absolutely no litter. Contrived or not, there was no doubt that the Chinese authorities were extraordinarily conscious of the environmental reputation of the park.



Abdulrahman and Sabir needed to use the internet facilities back at our Four Seasons Hotel and suggested that before our trip to Hemu, that we stop off there for ten minutes or so. That was absolutely fine with us. We were more than happy to sit in the grounds of the hotel and munch on some of our biscuit supply. An hour went by. We could see the kitchen staff of the hotel looking anxiously out of their window at us foreigners, and thought perhaps we shouldn't be sitting where we were. Not long after, two shy staff members walked awkwardly toward us, carrying a tray with a huge pot of of tea and a plate of sweet cakes. Although we could not exchange a conversation, we knew that they were concerned for us and their offer of tea and cakes was generous and more than welcome.

Well, it just goes to show you can't always be sure about your judgment. It certainly was a kind gesture from a place where we thought we were unwelcome.

Abdulrahman and Sabir arrived some time later. There was no explanation about the time we had waited. We just headed off to our next destination Hemu.