Xinjiang Travel Notes 06 – Kuokesu Grand Canyon

On the 26th, we will go to Kalajun and spend the whole day playing on the Kalajun grassland. In the evening we will stay at a herdsman’s house on the grassland. Xiaoxia said that his main task on this day is to look after our luggage.
When I woke up in the morning, it was still dark. I took out my phone and saw that it was 6 o'clock and the sunrise time was 7 o'clock. It was still early. Should I get up if I squinted for a while? There doesn't seem to be much sleepiness, so let's get up. It was a bit cold outside, but even though I had added a coat and a thin woolen sweater, the road was very quiet, with no one or a car. I walked along the road for a distance outside the city because I saw an open space there yesterday, but found that there was no angle for taking pictures. After looking around the surroundings, I realized that it was only possible to take photos of the sunrise from the rooftops where I lived outside, but was it possible to go up there? For safety reasons, remember that all roofs in Xinjiang are closed.
Yi Zhaojun Hot Spring Hotel is not high, with only 4 floors. Even if you can't get up to the roof, you can still get down in time. Let’s try your luck. You might have the same luck as Urumqi. Find the stairs not far from the room. The stairs do not lead to the roof. There is only a ladder. There is a hole at the top of the ladder. The hole is open. There is something like He was surrounded by something and could not see clearly for a moment. Naturally, this was not a problem for me. When I was taking pictures of the sunset on a rooftop in Xi’an, this was how I got onto the roof of the elevator room and the water tank room. It was a piece of cake, as long as I didn’t get caught as a bad guy.
Climb up the ladder, which is only 5-6 meters high, and you will soon arrive. At the entrance of the cave, there is a small room with a colored tile roof built with aerated blocks. It is only big enough to turn around. There is a door opening to the west. The top of the cave requires You have to lower your head to get out. The threshold is very high and it seems to be used to keep out the water. When I came to the roof, I saw that many rooms had been added to house water pumps, power distribution, etc. They were a bit messy and of poor quality. The roof is not designed according to the roof design. No wonder the stairs do not go up to the roof. The parapet is very high, 1.34 meters, which is very safe.
The clouds in the east are very heavy, and the sunrise point is somewhat blocked by the mountains. The sunrise can only be seen a few minutes later than the forecast time. A group of black birds are flying over the ground, chirping loudly. They seem to be a group of eagles, but are there a group of eagles? Then there was a crow flying by, a hoarse quacking sound, completely different. I wanted to take a time-lapse photo of the sunrise. I looked around and there was no place to put my mobile phone. I was wondering what to do when I found a thick galvanized steel pipe on the roof with a diameter of 110mm. When it was erected, it was just above the parapet. , I found a cement block that was just right to put the mobile phone on. The slight wind blew from the east, and the mobile phone fell on the roof. Everything went smoothly.
The sunrise was not as gorgeous as imagined, mainly because the clouds were too thick, and the snowy peaks of the Nantian Mountains did not have the sunshine to shine on the Jinshan Mountains, so it could not be said to be a full harvest.

After breakfast, we headed to Kalajun and passed through Tekes County. It is said that there are no traffic lights in Tekes, and there is a lot of hype on the Internet. All traffic lights in Tekes were canceled in 1996. At that time, there were few people and few vehicles in the city, there were no traffic problems, and the city layout was very special. The traffic lights were of little use. Following the advice of experts and others, and for the sake of publicity, the traffic lights were cancelled. Now there are more people and more vehicles. Anyway, when I encountered a traffic light in Turks, I could only laugh.
Last time I went hiking in Kalajun, I got help from two old people. I know the location, opposite the Tekesqiaotou gas station. I accidentally took a picture of the house number. I plan to go and see these two people this time. Old man, give them my travel notes at the same time. Xiaoxia said he knew that place and we had to pass there. We agreed that when we arrived in Turks, the two ladies went to visit the Turks Museum and I went to visit the old man. Xiaoxia was waiting for us in the parking lot.
As soon as the sun comes out, it turns into blue sky and white clouds. The scenery along the way from Zhaosu to Kalajun is very beautiful. At the north entrance (main entrance) of the museum, two ladies got out of the car, and I told them that they must go to the roof to see where there is an echo wall. Then Xiaoxia went to refuel at the gas station at Qiaotou. On the way to the gas station, I saw the house where the old man lived. Many of the houses in that row had undergone tremendous changes, and many had been turned into hotels or something. The old man's house was still the same. Xiaoxia said, drop me off and go around for a while to refuel. I said it was not necessary. I only walked a few dozen meters and it was very easy. There was no need to go around for a while.
The door is open and the yard is very quiet. The yard is obviously not as tidy as before. I knocked on the door, but no one answered. When I walked in, there was no one. The doors to the kitchen and room were open. When I walked over, I saw a middle-aged woman busy in the kitchen. Judging from her age, she must be the old man's daughter or daughter-in-law. I After knocking on the kitchen door, she realized someone had come in. She quickly put down what she was doing and came over to ask me what happened. I told her about my encounter two years ago and turned the book to the page with the old man. She happily said that it was her dad who was over eighty years old. He had surgery last year and his health was much worse. She called out the old man excitedly. Her body was indeed far less strong than it was two years ago. She was so happy when she received the book. She will definitely show it to her brother and others, and then take it back to Lanzhou. She works in Lanzhou. This time she is coming back to see the old man. She will leave tomorrow and will send another copy to another In the hands of an old man.
At the gate, I took another photo with the old man. After asking on the phone, Xiaoxia just refueled, picked me up, and parked the car in the parking lot south of the museum. The two ladies said they would come out soon, and I said I would just go around the museum. The museum is located in the center of the eight main streets of Bagua City and doubles as a large carousel. The eight streets are named Qian, Zhen, Kan, Gen, Kun, Xun, Li, and Dui Streets according to the directions of the Bagua. Of course, there are also The popular name and orientation are not exactly aligned with due south and due north. South Street (Kun Street) is a bit to the west and a bit large. The official street name is also Kuo Bu Street. The street we are cheering for is called Li Street. Officially The name is Bostan Street, and its orientation is more consistent with the south. I don’t understand it at all. There seem to be two versions of the direction . They are quite different. They even say they are basically reversed. I am confused as to which one is which.
The two ladies spent much more time inside than we expected, saying they met the team for explanation.

Kalajun Ecological Tourism Zone is not far from Turks City. It is about 15 or 6 kilometers drive to the tourist service center. Go south along Bostan Street and cross the Turks River. The river surface is quite wide. This year’s river water It is much smaller than 2 years ago. Turn left at the end. The road is very good. Go forward for about 2-3 kilometers. Turn right along the main road and pass a town (78th Regiment of the 4th Agricultural Division). Then go forward for about 4 kilometers. , there is an inverted Y-shaped intersection. The road on the right is in better condition and wider. It goes uphill and leads all the way to Qiongkush Terrace. To go to Kalajun Visitor Center, take the worse road on the left and go forward. River (Kokosu River, a tributary of the Tekes River), walk along the river for about 4 kilometers to reach the visitor center (east gate), a few hundred meters before arriving at the visitor center parking lot, there is a The branch road leads to the north gate at 13-4 kilometers. Tourists generally do not go there directly. There are scenic buses between the two gates to pick up and drop off tourists.

Along the way, I often saw place names with "Kala", as well as "Kara", "Kayan" and other place names with similar pronunciations. Because these place names are all transliterations of ethnic minority place names, I feel that there may be some connection between them. There is some kind of connection, and this time I come to Kalajun again, I feel even more like this. Only the explanation of "Kalajun" is Kazakh, which means "wilderness on the ridge", which seems to be far from clear. Later, I saw it in another place: "Kala" means dark, rich and vast, and "Jun" describes the dense appearance. Literally understood, "Kala Jun Prairie" can be translated as vast grassland. . I'm eighty-nine points satisfied, but there's still a little bit to be desired. When writing this post, I searched again on the Internet and found a scanned copy of an article "Analysis of the word Kara in Xinjiang place names". The author is Niu Ruchen. The latest information quoted in the article is from 1982, because the information is unknown. , it is not clear which year and issue of which journal the article was published. The key content is excerpted as follows: Kara is a cognate word of the Altaic language family, and its original meaning is "black." For example, the Uighur name for Moyu County is Karakash, Karamay, Kara means black, and Mayi means oil. It can also be extended to: 1. It means great, tall, and sacred; 2. It means broad and vast; 3. It means the coolness and clarity of the liquid; 4. It means there are many trees, meaning clumps, forests, etc.; 5. It means strong intensity.
There are not many cars in the parking lot, because we will stay at the herdsman spot in the scenic spot tonight. Xiaoxia will accompany us to visit the scenic spot all day long and show us our bags at the viewing point. Because the altitude of the accommodation is relatively high, it will be cold at night. Xiaoxia asked us to bring thick clothes. I brought a thin wool sweater, a thin down, a jacket, long johns, etc., and stuffed them into my bag before leaving. A few bottles of water. The gate is very distinctive. There is an abrupt pointed roof on the south side and a wide flat roof on the north side. Perhaps it is to express that there are towering snow peaks of Tianshan Mountain in the south and endless grassland in the north. The visitor center has very good service, and there are many colorful promotional origami papers with tourist routes to the scenic spots. When opened, they are as big as a newspaper, which is very good.
The tour route is to go to the Kuokesu Canyon Scenic Area first, and then to the Grassland Scenic Area. The scenic area is very large. If Xiaoxia is not accompanying us, even though there is a guide map, we will still feel a little dizzy.

To go to the canyon scenic spot, you must first take a boat across Kalajun Lake. Kalajun Lake is an artificial lake with a dam built on the Kuokesu River (east/right in the direction of the boat ride). It is about 4 kilometers downstream of the intersection of the Kurdai River (west) and the Kurdai River (west). This is also the length of our cruise today. The lake is quite wide, with a width of 5 or 6 hundred meters at its widest point. It is still very powerful.
The sun was strong and there were almost no clouds overhead, so the sun was very intense. There are about 5 to 60 people on the pier (Kushtayi Pier), and the cruise ship can seat about 30 people. Unfortunately, there is only one cruise ship at the pier, and the next return cruise ship will have to wait for about 20 minutes. There is a sailboat you can ride on. The sailboat is solar-powered and slower. It takes 20 minutes longer than the cruise ship. You can board the ship now. We didn't even think about it and just said we would go sailing. Sailing is fun. If you go slower, you can explore for a while and it's smooth. Besides, the waiting time is about the same as long. Why wait here stupidly? So we left Went to the front to board the boat. As we boarded the boat, a large number of people boarded the sailboat, and it was full in no time. Those who were hesitant could only wait for the next boat.
We sat near the bow of the boat, and the two ladies hid in the shade of the shed. I, a thick-skinned person, sat on the side of the boat, and Xiaoxia put three bags under her feet. On the platform at the bow of the ship, there was a pile of white canvas and a thick rope curled up. I wondered what it was for, and it affected the tourists' view. The mountains around the lake are very distinctive, undulating like waves and covered with not very dense grass, which is very eye-catching. There are white clouds all around the sky with different postures, allowing you to use your imagination.
I got on the platform at the bow of the ship and enjoyed the beautiful scenery ahead without any obstruction. The staff also got on the bow. I thought I was not allowed to stay here, so I was about to get off. The staff bent down and moved the pile of things. I understood that it was a sail that had fallen down when docked and was now going up.
A sailboat with three-color sails came towards us from a distance. It was much prettier than our pure white sail. There were also speedboats passing by, some returning and some surpassing us. There were more people at the bow of the boat, so I moved to the stern again. The clouds here were different, but equally beautiful.

Half an hour later, we got off the boat at the Kurtai Pier. To get to the boarding point from the disembarkation point, you need to climb a very high staircase, divided into four or five levels, nearly a hundred steps. The boarding point is not very big, it seems that it can stop seven or eight scenic spots for delivery. Judging from the carrying capacity of the boat, it can fully meet the requirements. There is a dirt road leading to the hill on the right, where you should be able to see the panoramic view of the lake better, but the sun is too strong now, and no one wants to go.
The car climbed to the top of the mountain along the winding slope. From the car window, we could see the panoramic view of the lake and the direction of the dam. There was a cloud in the sky like a pair of flying wings. I thought, clouds are always changing their shapes. By the time we reach the parking point, the shape of the clouds should not have changed.
At the top of the hill, the road becomes flat. . The first attraction is Crocodile Bay. The parking spot is quite open and there is a row of white Sunshade The cable membrane must have taken some thought. On the right side is a plank road that twists and turns to the top of the canyon cliff. There is also a plank road along the curve. The cliff top extends upstream, with a viewing platform at each end. From the parking viewing platform to the canyon viewing platform, the vertical height is more than 100 meters. The angle of the plank road is comparable to the stairs of a residential building, or even a little larger. The grass on the hillside is not very well grown. From a distance, it looks like a green carpet. When you get closer, you can see that the exposed sand and the covered sand are almost the same. The shape of the cloud is still the same, but it is slightly obscured.
Xiao Xia said, put down your bags and go to the sightseeing. The three of us had different focuses, so we went out to play on our own. There were not many people at the scenic spot, so we could basically see each other no matter how we walked, so we were not afraid of having to look for people everywhere. The Kuokesu River made a 180-degree turn here, and the rocks on the opposite bank were inserted straight to the opposite bank. The river seemed to be folded in half. The cliff suddenly crawled down to the riverbed, with slight ups and downs, much like a half-submerged crocodile head. From the top of the cliff to the river surface, it was almost straight, and it was estimated to be more than 100 meters high.
River water Milky white river water, Because the river water comes from the snow-capped peaks on the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, cutting through the Tianshan Mountains to the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, the snow water carries a large amount of calcium carbonate rock powder down, so it is milky white. When it enters the Koksu Grand Canyon, it is affected by the turbulence between the valleys and the backwater of Karajun Lake (water is affected by obstacles, reverse flows or tides and flows upstream or back), the flow rate decreases, the calcium carbonate rock powder precipitates, the water becomes clearer, and the mineral-rich water refracts against the sky and mountain colors to produce color changes. Therefore, the water in the Koksu Grand Canyon is milky white, emerald green, and emerald green. The viewing platform just below the parking spot does not allow for a good view of the crocodile's shape, so I walked to the viewing platform in the distance. There were only five or six tourists on that viewing platform and the road connecting it. Since there was a viewing platform, it should also be a good viewing point. The road on the top of the cliff has several twists and turns due to collapse and river bank trends. After walking around, I found that the best spot to take a photo of the crocodile's head is not at these two viewing platforms, but at a collapse facing the crocodile's mouth. At the viewing platform at the far end, I asked the cleaning staff if I could take a car directly up the slope. Although the slope here is higher, the top of the slope retreats more, and the slope is much slower. A thin dirt road in the grass must be very pleasant to walk on. The staff told me that there was no car up there, so I could only return. Later I found out that it was Crocodile Bay Station B, and the car did not stop.

When I returned to the bus stop, the two ladies came back ahead of me. Ms. C loves taking pictures (of scenery, not of herself), so she arrived slightly ahead of me. The next point is the Kuokesu Grand Canyon. It only takes five or six minutes by car. The distance is so close that I even doubted that I could walk directly along the slope from the far end observation deck.
There is a large platform at the parking point. The platform extends into the canyon, forming a cone-shaped headland. The road goes straight forward. The tourist route is along the side of the headland to appreciate the steep beauty of the canyon. .
The tour road is quite far away from the canyon, with a gentle grassy slope going down in between. Tourists on foot basically move along the flat dirt road. There are also some tourists on horseback who ride a horse with the knight. Walking slowly or speeding away from the top of the slope, the grassland, blue sky, white clouds and galloping horses are indeed a beautiful picture. I deliberately walked to the cliff of the canyon, and my companions shouted to me to pay attention to my safety. I gradually approached the cliff mouth. When I reached the cliff mouth, I found that there was a sloping grass slope below the cliff edge, with an angle of 30 or 40 degrees. Below it was a straight cliff. From here you can see the whole of Crocodile Bay. The canyon here is higher, narrower, and more curved than at Crocodile Bay. The whole canyon can no longer be seen from the ground. It feels like you can climb directly up the grass slope from the viewing platform at the far end of Crocodile Bay. Of course, the slope is very steep. After looking at it for a while, I found no trace of the road that came directly, including the trace of the road where the animals came out.
The Kuokesu River is the largest tributary of the Tekes River, the largest tributary of the Ili River. The total length is about 206 kilometers. It originates from the west side of Muztage Peak. The river first From east to west, it goes to the entrance of Cancal Valley and then turns north, then flows from south to north to the Tekes River, and flows north at the Grand Canyon. The Kuokesu Grand Canyon was formed by the interaction of rock formations deposited over hundreds of millions of years with geological movements and snowmelt water from the Tianshan Mountains. The two banks are severely cut, with steep slopes, deep twists and turns, and a vertical height difference of more than 360 meters. Cliffs on both sides The shore is steep and precipitous, with rocks standing like book pages and folds of clothing. The strange rocks are jagged and uncanny. The stone walls are like ferocious eagles swooping down. They are like giant splash-ink landscapes standing between heaven and earth. Cliff shore, rocks, grass and trees , the sky is reflected in it, and there is a sudden feeling of spatial inversion.

The surface of the mountains on both sides of the canyon is brown, which should be formed by weathering and residual vegetation on the surface. Bright colors can be seen in many places where the topsoil has been stripped away. The canyon is twists and turns, and you can't see a complete view of the canyon no matter where you stand.

After passing the headland, the tour road turns to the grassland platform, gradually away from the canyon, and the Kuokesu River gradually disappears. The grass slope is much gentler, the ground is not undulating much, and the grass is only one or two inches high. It is green and flat, which is very eye-catching. The sun at noon was fierce and the temperature had already risen. When I turned the corner, Xiaoxia was standing on the grass on the top of the slope, Ms. C was walking down the slope, and the other one was sitting on the grass on the top of the slope, holding an umbrella.
On a small hill not far down the slope, two maroon horses were taking pictures. Ms. C was walking towards the horses. No need to ask, she must have gone to take pictures of the horses. I was going to be lazy and just take a few photos with the telephoto, but the effect was not ideal. The person who went down to take pictures was still walking forward and had no intention of looking back. When I was about 70 to 80 meters away from the horse, I didn't get any closer. The angle here was just right, and I could take various compositions of long and short focus without interfering with the horse's leisure.
A short, fat woman in her fifties and a male companion of the same age who were carrying a camera walked across the top of the slope. They also saw this scene and took out a few gauze scarves from the backpack they had just placed on the ground. , danced and hurriedly walked towards the horse - broken, the gauze photographer came, the horse would definitely run away immediately. They walked to a place twenty or thirty meters away from the horses and took a picture. The horses looked at them warily and seemed to have no hindrance to them. They just grazed in the distance. However, my composition was greatly affected. Influence. They seemed not to be satisfied yet, and continued to approach while dancing with their scarves. This time, Ma Shun hillside trotted far away to the other side of the hillside and disappeared from our sight.
The horse had gone far away and there was nothing left to take pictures of. I didn’t want to go further, so I slowly walked towards the top of the slope. There were tourists taking pictures on the top of the slope. It looked very beautiful from where I was, so I secretly took a few photos with my telephoto. The two ladies had already returned to the top of the slope and were "asking" them. What do you mean by just taking pictures of beautiful women and not taking pictures of them? I said, I will step back now and take pictures for you right away...
Green grass , white clouds , blue sky, are so beautiful.

The next attraction is the Nine Winds and Eighteen Bends. The sun was so hot that I didn’t even want to read the introduction. There is still such a long distance from Station B of Kuokesu Canyon to the Jiuqushibaben Viewing Point. The sky is still so blue, the clouds are still so white, and the upper and lower eyelids are still close to each other for a while as they sway slightly.
There are two wooden pavilions at the parking spot at Nine Turns and Eighteen Turns. Ms. W said she didn’t want to go see them anymore. Xiaoxia persuaded her for a while, but it still had no effect. It's not far from the parking point to the viewing area. The road cuts across a not-so-steep hillside. There is a barbed wire fence not far above the road, which should be the dividing line between the scenic area and the pastoral area. Ms. C told me that this is the famous "Human Body Grassland" and I should take a good look at it.
Nine twists and turns. Before entering the narrow canyon, the Kuokesu River twists and turns at the bottom of the wide valley, like a dragon passing through, twisting and turning forward, forming a 5600-meter-long north-south river. It is about 2,000 meters wide from east to west and has nine twists and turns. Surrounded by mountains, overlapping mountains, gentle rivers in the valleys, rippling waves, lush vegetation on the riverbanks, smoke from cooking and light mist in the forest, mainly Kazakh, Kazakh, Han, Hui, Uyghur, Ke and other 5 ethnic groups The yurts of the herdsmen living in Kizilkuola Village are looming and dotted there. The soft lines of the mountains are looming in the morning sun and setting clouds. The artistic conception is very beautiful. It is a beautiful scenery set against the majestic Tianshan Mountains.
When we reached the small promontory at the far end, the hillside became a lot steeper, until it became gentle at the bottom and was covered with grass. The top and bottom of the slope are like gentle waves, but no matter how you look at it, you can't see the charming curves of the girl's body.
There was a tent made of felt cloth at the headland. There were ice-cold drinks. I went to buy a few bottles. The water I brought with me was almost finished. That little water was definitely not enough for me to drink today. The shop owner was very fond of young people. Husband and wife are more like Han people. When I was checking out, I asked if this was the Human Grassland, and the answer was a resounding yes. I asked again why I couldn’t see the scenery in the photos online. The shop owner told me that the sun is too high now, and that it depends on light and shadow, and the sun. You can only see it from a horizontal shot. In this season, it must be at least after 7:30 pm. And I know that the scenic area cars close at 7:30. When I returned, I looked again and saw that there was no such light at 7:30. It might be after 9 o'clock, so we couldn't wait.

The tractor that was parked outside the barbed wire fence earlier will plow the fields outside the barbed wire fence. I don’t know what the purpose is, but I just think the red tractor looks beautiful here.
Back at the bus stop, Xiaoxia said that she had finished visiting the canyon scenic spot and now she was going to the grassland scenic spot.
To go from the canyon scenic area to the grassland scenic area, you need to go back to the cableway not far from the cruise ship dock (Kurtai Pier). While taking the boat, I saw the big cage. A lonely cage, shuttling back and forth from the left bank of the Kurdai River to the right bank hundreds of meters higher, I wondered for a long time. The cableway station is a steel frame structure with a total length of 680 meters and a height difference of 380 meters. It provides fast transportation for tourists in the canyon scenic area and the grassland scenic area.

The ropeway station has a relatively complete tourist service setup. It is the only place in the scenic area that can provide meals. The meals are not too expensive, and a hand-made meal costs more than thirty dollars. The tour guides, including Xiaoxia, as long as they have a tour guide certificate, can One serving is provided free of charge, and the tour guide’s meal is provided for. Xiao Xia's meal came out earlier than ours, and it was also rice bowl. He used to be a tour guide who always had rice noodles, but today it was rare that he had rice bowl.