We left Turpan at 6am for our drive to Dunhuang. Instead of driving halfway and bush camping for one night, we opted to do the whole drive in one day and add an additional hotel night in the city. Yeah!
600km of smooth sailing on a beautiful divided super highest lay before us. Mile after mile of rock and sand, black gravel coveref mountains, and sandy bluffs passed by almost endlessly. An occasional windfarm dotted the horizon here and there. Snow covered mountains rose high to the north-quite a contrast.
Today we left the Tutpan basin and crossed into the southwestern Gobi Desert. One hundred miles north was Mongolia. By noon we were heading south in the direction of the Tibetean Plateau. So far we have covered about 2800km (1750 miles)-more than half the width of the USA! And it's pretty much all been desert!
We reached Dunhuang a 6:30pm and settled into our hotel with a view of the Tibetean Plateau. We will spend three days here exploring the oasis and the famous Magao caves.
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