Leaving at 6am it was dark for another two hours. Dawn found us traveling along a huge ridge line of the Tian Shan mountains to the north and vast open desert to the south. It seemed almost endless with amazing earthen colors of red, yellow, tan and gray. Alkaline deposits glistened in the morning sun.
China is a building country and just as in Kashgar with skyscrapers and industrial sites under construction, so it was in the desert. We followed a massive highway project for well over 400 miles. Why a four lane super highway is needed to connect a city of 400,000 with the northern unpopulated Chinese desert was a mystery to our guide and intriguing to us.
After 450 km we reached the city of Aksu and its 150,000 people and huge industrial complexes of factories, cement and brick mills, and nuclear power plants. We had lunch on the outskirts of town at a local cafe and then hit the road for another 300 km. the desert turned from scrub to sand and alkaline flats-the Tian Shan ridge ever present to our right. An oasis would appear occassionally surrounded by acres of irrigated farmland. The temp reached 95^ by 6pm with the sun straight up on the sky. Can't imagine July and August!
The saving factor was a beautifully finished super highway that allowed for fast sailing and a smooth ride! The rest stops were huge and modern but mostly empty and the shops unoccupied. Obviously something huge is planned for this region.
The further east we went the bigger the factories and surrounding housing got. Where's the water for all if this? There are no rivers on the map! And poplar forests sprung from the sand and rock, along with small mud brick towns-no doubt full of laborers. And then there was still the desert. The heat. Wow!
We drove off the road a few hunted meters to a gravel flat and set up camp. A quick dinner and bed by 10pm ended our day.
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
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