Silkroad Camel |
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This is a very exciting and very unusual trip along the great southern arm of the Silk Road from Xi'an in China to Hunza in Pakistan. The most extraordinary part of the journey is the three days that we spend on camels in the middle of the fearful Taklamakan Desert. The idea behind this trip is to give one a very real sense of what it actually felt like to be crossing the treacherous sands for months on end. Most of our trip is accomplished by land cruiser, so one would not call this trip a tough 'adventure', although it does perhaps require a certain resilience. The sun can be extremely hot and the camels bad tempered! Along the way, this programme traces the real history of the Silk Road, much as SRG1 and SRG2 do. We'll visit the important sites of Xian and the magnificent caves at Dunhuang, before heading due west through the barren sandhills that mark the edge of the Kunlun Range. We skirt the dry salt bed of Lop Nor and enter the Taklamakan with its famed oases: Chira, Niya, Charkhlik, Loulan, Hotan, Yarkand, and Melikawat. As some of the first foreigners on this ancient trade route we can expect to see a lifestyle which has changed little over the centuries. We'll camp out under the stars for a total of five nights, and we'll spend three nights in a Saray inn. The Hunza option distinguishes the tour from SRG2 and makes this one of the epic Silk Road journeys, that gives one a lasting impression of the region, both as it was, and as it stands today. ITINERARY: Day 1: Arrive Beijing |