Day7:

Today’s Route Map:

This was absolutely a Chinese hotel and as expected we had a terrible breakfast and that was expected after our yesterdays lavish one. We left the hotel as early as 9.30 and the road then passed into a long, steep sided valley known as fruit valley in Ili Kazakh Prefecture. Rugged and beautiful with forests of dragon spruce blanketing the mountain slopes and wild fruit trees further down, this region famous for sweetest apples produced in China, named as Ili apples and high quality of honey collected from bee hives. After 30km of such a beautiful driving, the road diverts, straight road goes towards the Horgas Port in Kazakh border which is barely another 30 km and we turned left to East towards Yining. Yining is the capital of Ili Kazakh prefecture most of which borders with Kazakhstan. Border is as close as 80km from here it’s located 700km west of Urumqi where as 450 km east of Almaty which was until 1991 was Soviet Union. So you would feel like reaching an erstwhile Soviet town when you would be in Yining. From Yining the highway towards East is known as Highway 218. At first the road goes through tall poplar trees but soon emerges to reveal the Ili Valley in full glory. This is a vast valley with tilled fields and further away the sloping expanses of pastureland makes it soothing for your eyes. The road follows Kunes river as the valley is narrowed down and finally starts to ascend to Tineshan range again before entering Narat Valley. Even in Autumn the vastness of green grassland with Kazakh Horsemen roaming around with flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and horses will make you amazed. The grass started turning yellow but still good for grazing of thousands of animals. Narat (Nalati) Grassland is particularly lush and picturesque and this is a favorite place for domestic tourists. Foreigners until 2012 required special permit to enter this region but this year it was said to be relaxed and we were not asked for any permit anywhere but if you plan to visit this place, check it twice, in China anything can happen anytime. We enjoyed the grassland through out the day and stayed in a nearby hotel for the night.

China is quick to write off the winding roads and making bridge or tunnel to make things quicker:

G30 crosses the fruit valley before descending to Ili Valley:

Kazakh Man with his pet:

Narat Grassland:

You can stay inside the scenic area:

Or can stay even in the Kazakh Yurt:

Amazing Grassland:

Previous: Day 6

Next: Day 8/Part 1