Memories of Journey to the West (9) Luobu Villages in Xinjiang

We drove from the Kucha Expressway at the end of Duku Highway to Korla City in southern Xinjiang for more than 300 kilometers. This time, a local friend had already arranged accommodation for us. After the dinner, we rested in the hotel. One night. The next morning, led by our friends, we drove to the Luobu village in Yuli County, 90 kilometers away.

The Luobu Village is located about 30 kilometers southwest of Yuli County, Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture. The Luobu people are considered to be a branch of the Uyghur people. Because they live in the Lop Nur area, they are called Luobu people. They make a living by fishing and growing crops in desert lakes and seas. There is the original Rob tribe here, and the last few Rob people live here. There are deserts, camels, ancient Populus euphratica forests, lakes, and the intersection of the Tarim River. It has primitive natural scenery and is a national four-A scenic spot.

In the primitive desert, there is actually such a lake called Goddess Lake. The name comes from a beautiful love legend. This lake intersects with the famous Tarim River. Not far away, we can see the wooden bridge of the Tarim River, which can be crossed. Next to the Goddess Lake, there are many poplar trees.

The desert was still very hot at noon, no less hot than the hot summer in the mainland. We came to a pergola where we could rest, and bought some drinks, watermelon, and other food nearby for a short break. Rest. There is a drink called Kavas that I am very interested in. It is fermented with local honey. When taken out of the freezer, it tastes like ice beer, but it does not contain alcohol (you don’t have to worry about being investigated for drunk driving after drinking it), especially tasty. I remember that I brought two packs with me in the car. When I took them out to drink on the road, they had already expanded due to the hot weather. When I unscrewed the threaded cap on the pack, the drink inside spurted out like beer. It was all over my face. I didn’t drink much, but it was all spilled.

Here, we approached the real desert at the closest distance, with camels and poplar trees, and also felt the scenery of the original lake. The lake and the desert together formed a strong visual contrast. Of course, the desert here is relatively safe. During a break, I once climbed to the top of a desert on the sand and looked down at the camel caravan at the foot of the mountain and the seemingly endless stretch of yellow sand.

Leaving the camels, we crossed the Tarim River along the wooden bridge. The Tarim River seemed not as wide as before. You can see from both sides of the wooden bridge that the water surface seemed much narrower than before. Come to the other side of the river and experience the primitive tribe of the Luobu people's village.

You can see a lot of various souvenirs sold by local people along the way. We don’t know much about these, so we bought some when we saw what we liked. We spent more time lingering in the surrounding natural scenery. Just ahead is the Rob tribe.

The Luobu Village has original scenery along the way. Although there are no particularly magnificent buildings, everything is natural scenery. It is an unforgettable journey. Local friends said that if there is still time in the afternoon, we can drive back to the outskirts of Korla City, and then turn around to have a whole fish feast at the mouth of Bosten Lake (West China Sea), which is more than 80 kilometers away (actually, it is about 160 kilometers from the Rob village). ). Speaking of Bosten Lake, I thought of Daolang's "Love Song of the West Sea" and suddenly became interested, so we drove together into the distance.