新疆 2011 Excerpts - Taklamakan Desert

I couldn't remember much from this day --a mindless climb through fiery sand, the sun beating down relentlessly, air too hot for breathing and the uncomfortable burning sensation on my skin that refused to go away. There was sand everywhere; in my bag, in my eyes, in my hair, in my mouth, in my socks...under my nails...


Information here, because all I knew was that it was so hot that patches of sweat forming on my clothes would invariably dry themselves within five minutes, which was the only very nice thing about the weather. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taklamakan_Desert

 They had these ATVs you could rent for 150RMB and drive to the top of the hill you see in this picture and come back. We didn't do it.

 We opted to go by foot, aiming for the top of this hill (it's a different hill), somewhere I guess near the top right corner of this photo. The structures are man-made and just put there to help you get the right atmosphere ;)

The hill didn't look that tall right? Well it was. Ridiculously tall. Can you make out the structures now? Only half our group made it to the top. About halfway up I was ready to stop, but I figured since I'm not going to get many chances to go to a desert I should probably tough it out. As you can imagine, climbing a mountain of sand involves a lot of slipping and sliding and stopping to dump sand out of shoes because they are getting so full your feet hurt. The sand on the surface felt hot enough to cook on even at the early hour of the morning we were there, and although I tried to cover up most of my skin my ankles would always brush the burning surface and so it was pretty painful afterwards. I have to admit, getting to the top felt like a monumental accomplishment.

Pretending to be the happiest kid in the world.