Tim Boelter

Before leaving Hami we stopped at an old Islamic burial site. Next to this field of tombs was a rebuilt Ming fortress. Although the architecture was a replication from the era of the Ming Dynasty, it was just recently built as a museum to house artifacts and Urgur clothing. Perhaps in two thousand years from now it will become a work of antiquity.

We continued our westward journey toward our next stop, the town of Turpan. This drive was incredible. We went from a desertscape that stretched from horizon to horizon to a rugged mountainous region where the rock changed colors by the mile. And just as we thought we had enough sensory overload we started to descend into the Turpan Basin where we passed the Flaming Mountains and were overtaken by yet another sandstorm. April and May are usually the worst time for sand storms in the Taklimakan Desert.

My altimeter started showing negative numbers for the first time in a long career of reading altitudes more reminiscent of the high Himalayas. In fact we were descending into the second lowest depression in the world (behind the Dead Sea.)

From here our drive took us through a sand storm that blinded us and buffeted the car to and fro on the highway. In fact, we passed a few large high profile transport trucks that had been literally blown off the road.

Soon the yellow sand dunes started to become populated with vast fields of oil pumps and oil wells. China is a country on the go and oil is in high demand, especially when a billion people want to start driving their own vehicles.

Once again the scenery changed, and this time it was an amazing transformation that took us from the yellow desert to a lush green oasis. As we closed in on Turpan it was the sight of grape vines and mulberry trees that covered the valleys.

Turpan is a true desert oasis and one of the great examples of an irrigation-engineering feat. This lush oasis town is fed water from the Bogda Mountains by a system of irrigation canals located underground. These remarkable underground canals are fed from a "head well" called a Karez. What is truly amazing is that the Turpan irrigation system was dug by hand over 2,000 years ago and these underground channels extend for over 5,000 kilometers. Imagine doing this without modern machinery, all done by hand.

One of the other transformations taking place on our westward drive involved the changing of culture. Turpan is truly an exotic place where Uighurs, Chinese, and Indo-Europeans live. Here road signs are written in Arabic as well as Chinese. There is a very Middle Eastern ambience about Turpan giving it a distinctive feel that is truly refreshing.

Since we rushed past the Flaming Mountains on the way into town, I was once again at odds with our driver. This would be rectified after we got to our hotel. Mike and I paid a local tour guide by the name of Ahmat who spoke good English and within a few minutes of our arrival we were off to the mountains and then onto a local Uighur dance performance. Later that night Ahmat took Mike and I out to dinner at his uncle's food kiosk in the city square. The walk over to his uncle's kiosk took us down a street called Grape Avenue. This awesome walking corridor is lined with grapevines growing on a trellis that covers the street for about a quarter of a mile.

We enjoyed traditional Uigher food, which consisted of lamb meat nicely spiced on a kebab and Nan bread. And of course Mike and I do enjoy red wine so we had to taste a bottle of Turpan's finest. Okay, maybe it wasn't the finest, but after a long dusty day on the trail it surely hit the spot.

The next day we hired Ahmat again to take us around Turpan. We visited the Emin Minaret, which is an Afgan style mosque and minaret, and the incredible Jiaohe Ruins. Both of these places would not allow me to film because our press card was not issued from the Xinjiang government. This was another heavy blow to me. Although our guide and driver attempted to get me in with the camera it wasn't happening this time. I was encouraged to come back in the fall when the weather is better and a permit would be issued for me to film throughout the province. So I watched in utter jealousy as Mike took wonderful photos. We visited a museum dedicated to the Karez irrigation system, said goodbye to our new friend Ahmat, and were back on the road by 3:00 p.m. Next stop Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Province.

Turpan is definitely a true oasis. As we drove out of town it was as if someone drew a line in the sand that separated the avenues of green mulberry trees and grape vines from the stark desert. In an instant we were back in a sand storm...

I know this may sound redundant, but I have to say it again because I'm just so blown away by the scenery, once again it changed. The desert started to give way to a rugged landscape and the road followed a winding river through a narrow valley surrounded by colorful mountains. Trees grew along the river adding contrast to the red and brown rock.

As we began to climb out of the Turpan depression the air temperature dropped considerably to the point of needing to wear a jacket. In front of us the Tian Shan (mountains) stretched skyward as their snowy white caps glowed above the cloud layer. Bogda Feng (meaning Peak of God) towered over the plateau at 5,445-meters. Urumqi was off in the distance.

Urumqi is known as the farthest city from any ocean in the world. Talk about being land locked! All I can say is this city is huge. It's the biggest city we've been through since starting the drive. After getting situated in our hotel the four of us crossed the street and entered a bizarre market to find a meal. If we couldn't find a meal here then we weren't going to find one anywhere. The street was lit up by a canopy of overhead lights and lined with thousands of food vendors that seemed to go forever. It was wonderfully chaotic as crowds strolled the avenue while vendors solicited business by offering free taste tests. Smoke drifted everywhere carrying exotic smells, and a variety of food including whole goats on a spigot were on display. Uighur music played, Chinese music played, and people danced about. We ate at a restaurant just behind a vendor stand and celebrated our making it this far.

—Tim Boelter

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