Lake Kanas, in China’s Xinjiang province, is about as far from the east coast megacities as it’s possible to get without leaving the country. Sapphire waters flow through pine forests under mountains still capped with snow in June – it’s reminiscent of British Columbia. But now, in lands traditionally home to yurt-dwelling nomads, log cabins are being erected to house busloads of tourists. And where British Columbia has its Bigfoot sightings, Kanas is also home to mythical monsters: lake dwellers a bit like Chinese Nessies.

In the local language, Tuvan, these monsters are called hobzhk, which means “changing” or “strange”. Tuvan lore says they plug the bottom of the 189-metre-deep lake, preventing it from emptying out, a job so important that, 800 years ago, Genghis Khan assigned 126 soldiers to protect them. Grainy video footage aired on Xinjiang TV a few years ago showed huge black creatures breaking the lake’s surface.

Xiao Yue, a 20-year-old tour guide, says: “Technically, the hobzhk are huge fish that love to eat meat. Their scientific name is hucho taimen.”

On hot summer days, Yue begs visitors not to swim in the tempting lake, adamant that the creatures have a taste for human flesh. “Farmers take their cows and sheep to the edge of the lake, and they vanish,” she says. “Later they find their bones on the shore.”

Swimming is prohibited in the lake, but that has more to do with concealed rocks and a swift current. The more immediate anxiety is civil unrest. In 2014, tourism in Kanas plummeted after blasts in Luntai, 600km to the south, killed 50 people, as tension mounted between the ethnic Han majority and the Uighur Muslims.

To assuage anxieties stoked by the state press, metal detectors are ubiquitous, as are helmeted security guards. Kanas itself hasn’t experienced significant violence, though, and Yue is adamant the area is safe. The heightened security comes courtesy of Chen Quanguo, the new party chief of Xinjiang, who has set up a network of prefab police stations all over Xinjiang.

By 2015, however, tourism had recovered. Visits to the Kanas Scenic Area rose by 6% to more than 400,000. And in June this year, still low season in Kanas, hotels were already full, a promising sign for several more still under construction in villages such as Hom. Events are being developed, too, with a 100km ultra-marathon trail race and an X-games style snowboard competition now catering to more intrepid tourists, willing to explore one of the most beautiful, least touched parts of China.

Locals have found jobs as rafting guides, dancers, throat-singers and “model families” – who serve lamb kebabs, air-dried cheese and “hand-grabbed-rice” (with vegetables and lamb fat) to visitors in their homes.

The security measures must seem strange to nomadic people who never had much use even for fences; they simply tie three hooves loosely together to stop their horses from straying. With the monsters confined to the lake and the Chinese tourists fenced into their log cabin complexes, much of Kanas remains wild and free, with plenty of landscape left to explore.

China's Xianren Bridge, the World's Longest Natural Arch, Wasn't Discovered Until 2009

In this week's Maphead, Ken Jennings explores how a Google Earth discovery lead to a real-life one.

Natural arches are some of the most eye-popping geological formations on earth. Their architectural perfection appears to defy nature; often, they appear to even defy gravity. The national parks of southern Utah get millions of visitors every year to gawk at thousands of natural arches. But until 2009, the most amazing bridge of them all was entirely unknown in the West.

Landscape Arch is the Western Hemisphere champion.

Natural arches typically form where a layer of hard caprock lies on top of a softer stone, like limestone. Wind or water then beats alcoves and cracks in the lower layers of the outcropping, eventually forming a hole below the sturdy caprock—a process that can take millions of years. The arches of Utah are so iconic that the state even put one, Delicate Arch, on its license plate. For decades, locals assumed that the majestic 290-foot Landscape Arch, in Arches National Park's Devil's Garden, was the world's longest arch. Not even close!

Americans spotted Xianren Bridge on Google Earth before real Earth.

In 1988, an aerospace engineer named Jay Wilbur founded NABS, the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, for like-minded enthusiasts. While browsing Google Earth in 2009, Wilbur was shocked at what he found: a rock span over China's Buliu River that no travel guide and no one at NABS had ever heard of, but which appeared to dwarf any of Utah's arches. Locals call it Xian Ren Qiao—"Fairy Bridge"—due to its dramatic and unearthly look.
You almost need wings to visit the fairy bridge.

Xianren Bridge proved difficult for NABS to reach and measure. It's in the rugged karst landscape of southern China about twenty-five miles north of the nearest town, Fengshan. From upstream, it's a three-hour rubber-raft trip to the bridge, with many rapids along the way. From downstream, it's possible to hop aboard bamboo rafts, on which locals will pole you upstream to the bridge. When NABS surveyors finally reached Xianren Bridge in 2010, they measured its span at 400 feet, making it by far the longest arch or bridge on the planet.

London Bridge is falling down.

If you're planning a trip to Fairy Bridge—or any other natural arch—sooner is better than later. All natural arches and bridges are works in progress. Once a hole opens up under caprock, erosion speeds up, and the arch will keep narrowing until it inevitably collapses. London Bridge, a famous double-arch sea stack in Australia, had one if its arches collapse in 1990, stranding two tourists who had to be rescued by police helicopter. Now that it no longer resembles London Bridge, it's just called London Arch. Someday visitors might hike into the Utah desert or southern China and get nothing for their trouble but fallen arches.

How to Conquer the Challenge of Long-Term Travel

One summer a friend showed me her itinerary for a week in Maui. It was three pages long, laid out on Excel. Every hour was choked with food stops, beaches, “leisure” time and noteworthy sights. It was a small wonder she didn’t also pencil in bathroom breaks.

Good luck pulling that off for trips that are weeks, perhaps months, long.

“Long-term travel is an exercise in letting go of exact to-do lists, planning moment to moment and controlling the entire process,” said Jodi Ettenberg, who has been traveling and writing at her site, Legal Nomads, since 2008.

You potentially face a lot of what-ifs: What if the weather changes, you run low on cash or you need insurance? And there are the challenges that pop up if you’ve been on the road long enough, such as consistently finding Wi-Fi, dealing with language barriers and getting consistent quality sleep when you traverse multiple time zones.

Here, then, are some tips to help the traveler who sets out for a long stretch, whether it is country-hopping or spending extended time in a specific spot overseas.

Begin With a Budget and Set Priorities

If you’re like most people, budget is your trip’s primary driver. Sites like NomadList or the Earth Awaits can help you paint a clearer picture of your budget based on your destination and preferences, including filters for living style, internet speed, safety, air pollution and attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travelers.

Susan Shain, a freelance travel writer who has been doing long-term stints abroad since 2008, recommends Budget Your Trip to help calculate your daily travel costs — but advises adding a 15 percent to 20 percent buffer to the total to keep from running out of money. An app like TrailWallet or Wave can track your spending.

Find Reliable Wi-Fi

You often need internet to look up your next stop or to navigate yourself out of unfamiliar places. There is good news: You have many Wi-Fi options.

If you are hopping from one airport to another, check the interactive map at the FoxNomad blog, which lists Wi-Fi passwords in airports and airport lounges around the world and is regularly updated. Some hotel chains like Best Western and Hyatt give their guests free basic Wi-Fi but may charge extra for premium speeds.

If you prefer coffee shops or cafes, WorkFrom is a crowdsourced site that lets you search for work-friendly spaces based on Wi-Fi speeds, pet friendliness and hours of operation in more than 1,250 cities around the world. You can usually count on the Starbucks and McDonald’s in different countries to have free Wi-Fi for customers, too. Additionally, a few cities like Tokyo and Singapore provide free Wi-Fi to tourists for a period of time if you sign up beforehand.

The paid alternative is to get international data on your phone. My monthly Sprint plan, for example, includes an international bundle that provides unlimited 3G data (hey, it’s better than nothing) in many countries around the world. T-Mobile offers a similar plan. This option, though, can get expensive for multiple-month trips abroad. Before you leave, inquire about your mobile carrier’s international options.

Many travelers go the SIM card route, but you need an “unlocked” phone that isn’t restricted by certain carriers. Another option: You can rent pocket Wi-Fi devices, like this one in Japan, but those can get expensive.

Don’t Forget Travel Visas

Before you depart, particularly for trips that involve multiple countries, always look into visa requirements. While you can check with the State Department or the destination’s own website, you’re better off consulting International Air Transport Association’s website — plug in various information and it crunches the visa requirements and other pertinent information for you.

Assess Your Insurance Needs

Check first with your medical insurance provider to see the extent of your coverage in other countries. Some plans cover a simple doctor’s visit in another country, while others are limited to more extreme circumstances. One tip: Make sure your plan covers high hospital bills — your well-being is worth the cost. The site BootsnAll breaks down some options for travelers. Many long-term travelers use World Nomads, which covers emergency medical expenses up to $100,000. To find out what you need, Ms. Ettenberg of Legal Nomads suggested asking these questions:

Can I keep my insurance at home and get short-term travel insurance?
Can I get a global medical policy that will cover me as my primary while I travel?
What are my options if I only have travel medical insurance and a big accident happens? How will I pay for treatment if I am sent back to my country of residence?

Learn to Sleep Anywhere

Going from one time zone to another is guaranteed to disrupt your delicate sleep pattern. Because your sleep environment constantly changes as you travel, keep what you can control consistent. For instance, I always bring with me simple pajamas, a soft sleep mask, earplugs and a podcast that intentionally tells boring bedtime stories to lull myself to sleep. Regular exercise can also help.

“I have a pretty consistent nighttime routine,” Ms. Shain said. “Before bed, I take a hot shower, then journal and read for about an hour. I find that having a routine helps me feel like I’m ‘home,’ no matter where I am.”

Educate Yourself on the Food Environment

When you travel, it’s easy to overindulge on greasy foods and skimp on getting enough vegetables, fiber, protein and even water. Over time, that can take a toll on your digestive health. Familiarize yourself with the local foods by going to markets and buying fresh produce. You generally want to avoid consuming any fruit that has been precut, and thoroughly wash your fruits and veggies (an antibacterial food wipe or wash can do the trick).

If you’re traveling with a health-related dietary restriction like celiac disease, as Ms. Ettenberg does, keep a series of handy translation cards that accurately convey your dietary needs. If you’re gluten-free, Ms. Ettenberg’s own cards account for cross-contamination and many local dish names. Cards from SelectWisely can help with many other conditions.

Avoid Foreign Transaction Fees

Overseas A.T.M.s charge a pesky $3 to $5 fee every time (on top of fees from your bank), which can add up quickly. Charles Schwab’s High-Yield Investor checking account reimburses those fees every month, making it the perfect checking account for travelers. You need to have or open a Schwab One Brokerage account to open the checking account — but both accounts are free.. The Points Guy lists other options that waive, reimburse or reduce transaction fees — you generally will need a premium account.

Plan Not to Have an Airtight Plan

“Many of the places I loved the most were ones not on my initial itinerary,” Ms. Ettenberg said, “but came about through meeting people, hearing about their experiences and giving it a shot.”