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The Oriental
Caravan's 2010
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| Part of our camel caravan - we had 12 Bactrian camels in total | Yurts in snow en route to the Tourgut Pass in Kyrgyzstan | ||
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| Setting off in the early morning desert mist | Map of the trek route - click to enlarge | Gathering camels before loading in the morning |
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| It was a 2 day drive over sand dunes from the nearest town, Yutian, to the trek startpoint | En route to Karadong ancient city | Karadong, a fortified checkpoint, inhabited between 100BC and 400AD has been visited by only a handful of people since its 'discovery' in 1898 by Sven Hedin. Climate change some 1500 years ago lead to many such sites being swallowed up by the sands. |
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| Local from Tonguzbasti, part of the Lost Tribe of the Taklamakan, who were fortunate enough to remain unknown to the Chinese authorities until the 1980s | Some of the many, many dunes! | Diversifolious poplar (Populus euphratica) trees dot the desert close to the Keriya River. The Taklamakan Desert was once a sea and if you dig far enough down, 10 meters or so, brackish water can be found |
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| A rare white rainbow | One of several mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin some of whom are evidently of 'Celtic' origin | Scene from Karadong. For a partial account (odd pages only!) of Stein' visit, click here |
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| En route from Yutian to Tonguzbasti, one of very few houses, with no neighbours for 50 miles and architectural style and materials barely changed for 2000 years | Goat on sale at Kashgar animal market | Romanticised image of Uighur classical musicians performing muqam |
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| Bactrian camels | Shadows of Bactrian camels | Another day, another dune... |
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| Due to the dry atmosphere many of the desert's trees remain despite having died over a 1000 years ago | Sheep bottoms on display in Kashgar | Camel at dawn |
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| In the centre of the desert many dunes are 100s of metres high - hard going! | A camel tick, once fully gorged on blood, drops off its host, to die alone in the sand | Goats being herded at the remote village of Tonguzbasti |
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| Caravaneers forging their way through the desert day | Chief Caravaneer Phil with our three cameleers, Ibrahim, Daman and Aziz | Daman and the lead camel |
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| We saw the prints of the desert fauna but not the animals themselves. These are hare prints. There are also foxes and the usual smaller rodents as well as a fair amount of birdlife near the Keriya river. | Ephedra, from which ephedrine is derived. grows on the edges of the desert and was often found clutched in the hands off the Tarim mummies. It is believed to have been part of the ancient Soma cult | At Kashgar animal market, Uighurs - the first of the Turkic nomads to settle to a pastoral existence more than a thousand years ago making Xinjiang their home, |
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| Uighur tradesman at Kashgar Market | Diversifolious poplar | Uighurs in Urumqi rose up in July 2009 resentful of recent massive Han Chinese immigration into Xinjiang |
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| Ancient methods of silk production still continue near Khotan | Uighur inhabitant of the Keriya area | Kashgar 'market street'[ in 2010. Click here to see how the street has changed since 1992 | |
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| Uighur inhabitant of the Keriya area | Khotanese boy | Uighur inhabitant of the Keriya area | |
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| Entrance to a desert house | Camel caravan | Though days were intensely hot, the desert nights were freezing - minus 5°C. Mornings began with shaking the ice from tents before setting off across the frozen dunes... | |
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| Uighur inhabitant of the Keriya area | Tash Rabat - a15th century stone caravanserai near Naryn, en route to the Tourgut pass | At home in the desert | |
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| Crossbeam at Karadong | Shop in Tongguzbasti (click for satellite map) | Group and staff safely arrived at the end of the crossing | |
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That's all, folks! With best wishes for a merry festive season and happy
travels for 2011, from Phil and all aboard The Oriental Caravan |
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| Chief Caravaneer, Phil Colley, out in the midday sun | |||
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JAPAN - Hokkaido: join us for the Sapporo Ice festival and an
unforgettable winter adventure in the snowy lands of the Ainu in Japan’s far
north.
TAIWAN - Swim in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean and enjoy all
the friendliness and culture that this fascinating, unspoilt island has to
offer!
The Hidden Monasteries of Tibet - starts Kathmandu 3rd September 2011
JAPAN - Tohoku: no other trip around Japan offers such variety of interest or the chance to hear Matsuo Basho’s poetry recited on location!
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