Lugu Lake: Have You Been There?
While traveling in Lijiang, many friends said there was another beautiful place in Lijiang, that place isLugu Lake, and they said it was the legendary Kingdom of Daughters. The first time I heard it, I couldn't believe it was true, but I was also very curious. Since I was traveling in Lijiang, I definitely had to go to Lugu Lake to see it.
Going to Lugu Lake feels like independent travel is better. If it's a group tour, there's very little personal travel time, and there might be a lot of shopping points. I checked that there are direct buses from Lijiang to Lugu Lake, so I didn't need to take a carpool. But the road to Lugu Lake isn't very good, there are many winding mountain roads. The scenery along the way is good, but you need to be in a hurry. You can't stop to see it except for lunch. When we arrived at Lugu Lake Scenic Area around 5 pm, it was raining outside, and it was a bit cold. The scenic area ticket was 100 yuan per person. When we got the ticket, we saw that it said: 'Lugu Lake, return to the Kingdom of Daughters'. It seems that Lugu Lake is really famous.
The scenic area staff gave us a 'Kingdom of Daughters' notebook (as a souvenir, saying welcome to Lugu Lake). I really couldn't believe there was a legendary Kingdom of Daughters, was it really the Kingdom of Daughters recorded in 'Journey to the West'? It seems that the promotion here is done so well, it's the first time I've heard such a novel thing. I must understand this mysterious place.
At the scenic area entrance, we were all very happy for a long time, many people didn't stop to talk about 'Kingdom of Daughters'. It was still a bit away from the lakeside of Lugu Lake, so we got back on the bus and continued to Lugu Lake bus station. We really came to the legendary Lugu Lake now. Because it was dark and raining and cold, we quickly looked for accommodation. The hotels here felt a bit expensive. I asked several hotels with a fellow traveler in the car, and finally found a bed in a Mosuo traditional village for 20 yuan. I stayed in this wooden structure with this old traveler. It's August, but it feels very cold in Lugu Lake because it's raining, and we still need to cover ourselves with blankets at night. We had a tiring day driving all day and ate dinner, so we rested early.
The next day at noon, we arrived at the lakeside of Lugu Lake. At that time, it was daytime and felt like there weren't many tourists, and few tourists took boats to cruise Lugu Lake. The streets were also very quiet. It feels like this is the best way to travel in Lugu Lake, so we walked along the lake for a long time. The calm lake water is like a mirror, and when we see the flowers blooming in the lake, the flowers will sway in the breeze, which is really beautiful. Locals told us that these flowers are called 'water hyacinth', which sounds a bit unpleasant. Actually, they are called 'sea grapes', which can be eaten.
Lugu Lake has bonfire parties in the evening, we heard about it from the hotel boss. The boss said that since we are coming to Lugu Lake for the first time, we can go to see the lively atmosphere. The boss is a Mosuo old grandma, she is in charge of running the house and our room rental, so it's said that the 'Kingdom of Daughters' legend is because women are in charge here. Now this place has been promoted as a famous tourist area. We are here for tourism, so we didn't ask much about local customs and living habits. We also saw the bonfire party, where the performers kept circling the bonfire without any performances, it would be better if there were more local performances.
I stayed in Lugu Lake for one day and one night, it's good. Lugu Lake is beautiful. If you've traveled to Lijiang, have you been to Lugu Lake?
