Lugu Lake, Yunnan, China

4cornwall15 5:00 PM Jan 4, 2020

9000' elevation lakeside.....
Lugu lake is quite a few hours drive from any near train or plane transport point. As such you should really plan to spend at least one night there to see anything well. Although the area has been settled for a long time, it has effectively become a national park charging admission to enter. The lake is very clear and gives wonderful views, plus the surrounding mountains enhance the backdrop. This is a high altitude lake with the shore at about 9000'. The road we came in on had to rise over a 10,000' crest before descending to the lakeshore area. There are many places to stay around the lake and a variety of comfort levels to choose from. Similarly there are many choices of places to eat. The locals have adapted to the interest in their homeland and tourism is seemingly their primary industry. You can can learn many things about how they used to live through various tourist attractions, admission required. We visited on an overnight tour so I time was pretty heavily scheduled. I can't say if there is enough to do to keep you busy here for multiple days, and we didn't have the chance to just sit and absorb the local culture. I'd say that if you are strongly drawn to high altitude lakes that you would likely want to stay here at least two nights though. If you smoke, or travel with a smoker, I advise you to use a tour bus to travel here. Do not travel the roads around it while smoking as you may lose consciousness due to the sudden oxygen reduction from breathing smoke.

4Indiajudd 5:00 PM May 12, 2022

go before its all built up
great scenery and in these covid times very few tourists. The natural beauty does not disappoint. The human impact is significant - as ever ugly construction every corner - often cheapest possible then left to ruin. Natural vegetation ruined, standard plants then used to replace them. Its sickening this is happening in 2022. There is an airport now nearby