Day 13 : On road to Korla

Day 13 started early, I left the hostel at around 8 to catch my bus to Korla an oil boom town in the middle of Xinjiang. The distance to Korla was small, but the roads through the mountains were quite bad and treacherous that it took a good 12 hours for me to reach there. The views along the road were amazing, it started in the hilly areas and grasslands near Yili, slowly climbing up to the high mountains after a famous grassland called Nalati. On to the plains/plateau over 3000 meters after crossing the mountain passes. The plains were so cold that at 3 in the afternoon it was near zero and the moment the shadow came over the plains it went sub zero. I was too lost in the scenery that I didn't take out my camera and when I did click I just pulled out my mobile to shoot a few pics.

The twisted and turning roads on our way up to the mountain passes.

Our bus stopped for a break sometime in the late evening on the plains over 3000 meters. The moment the bus stopped our driver jumped out with a mat and went to pray. I was amazed by his dedication that even at such subzero temperatures when the wind was howling away he found time to say his prayers.

After the plains when darkness swept in we descended to lower altitudes to similar twisted roads and finally reached Korla after a 12 hour trip. I found myself a taxi to take me to the holy hostel that was there in Korla, where I met a great bunch of backpackers all of them Chinese travelling through Xinjiang. It seemed like I was one of the few foreign tourists who went to great pains to find that place. They had rather comfortable dorms and beds and a great crowd all of them going out of their way to help the lonely foreigner. After long conversations trying to understand whats there in Korla I said my goodbyes  and hit the bed pretty late in the night.