02-Jul-2011 -- Continued from 40N 107E. This is Part Four of my eight-point confluence trip.

The next morning we got an early start, much to my chagrin, and had a tasteless bowl of noodles in town before hitting the road east along the 40th parallel. The map showed road as the smallest type, so we were expecting dirt or worse, but were relived to find a straight ribbon of good tarmac crossing the landscape.

Inner Mongolia is not what I imagined. I had visions of deserts and big skies, cowboys on horses and little else. What I found was a industrialization on a mammoth scale. Huge coal-fired power plants, giant chemical factories, windmills as far as the eye can see, and power transmission cables crisscrossing the prairie like a basket weave in every direction.

Another day, another confluence or three. This one was like the first two, drive, drive drive, turn once off the main road, park at a farmhouse, walk a couple hundred meters, bingo.

Dubbed: The Don’t Drop Your Camera in the Sand Confluence

Rainer’s Recorded Details:

2.7.2011 CP 40-108 parking 250m, 10:15 at CP, too much sand for my Olympus

Targ’s Meticulous Notes:

• Continue SW on G6 Jingzang Expy to 磴口 (Dèngkŏu), then ESE along desert road to 40°N 108°E, 3 km N of road.
• Exit expressway at 40°15'33.1"N, 107° 2'15.1"E. CP 87 km ESE.
• Turn right (NNE) on highway G110.
• Turn right (ESE) onto desert road at 40°16'3.5"N, 107° 2'4.6"E. CP 87 km ESE.
• Follow desert road ESE to side road at 39°58'53.3"N, 107°57'7.3"E. CP 4.58 km ENE.
• Turn left (NE) on side road.
• Follow side road NE to side track at 40°0'5.6"N, 107°59'45.9"E. CP 375 m SE.
• Turn right (S) down side track towards a small collection of buildings.
• CP 180 NE of closest building.