#1: [14-Jun-10]

03-Jul-2011 -- Continued from 40N 110E. This is Part Seven of my eight-point confluence trip.

And then there were two. Targ decided to spend a day or real R&R in Baotou at the four-star hotel. He had a flight the next day on July 4th to Shanghai and then back to his home in Hong Kong via Shenzhen, while Rainer and continued the march. Heading south to the 39th Parallel.

Drive, drive, drive. With Rainer as navigator, I just had to follow his calls and I lost track of where we were. The infrastructure was astounding; we drove on busy highways under a maze of high-speed railroad bridges and high-voltage power transmission lines most of the way.

The next stop was in the desert dunes covered with willowy shrubs. A mobile phone tower marked the end of the road and it was an easy 1+ km hike over the dunes to our point. Surprisingly, we saw no people in the area, rare for China where people tend to pop up in the most remote places.

Next time I would go by bike despite the fact the number of confluences visited would be dramatically less, it would be a much more enjoyable trip.

Dubbed: The Sand Dune Confluence

Rainer’s Recorded Details:

3.7.2011 CP 39-110 parking 1.35km, 11:00 at CP, up and down dunes