Included Services Overnight stays in mid range hotels plus two nights in the tent Tibetmoto-Guide Vehicle with driver All transfers to and from the airport Flight Hotan– Urumqi; Urumqi – Dunhuang Courier, English Meals (Breakfast and Lunch) Help for applying a Chinese visa Flight booking service

Westchina: The Silk Road and the Taklamakan Desert

All the way in the West of China the journey is starting through the largest province of China Xinjiang and a small part of the province Gansu. The route leads partly along the northern and southern Silk Road. Special will be a Trip into the Taklamakan Desert, the second largest sand desert worldwide.Starting in Kashgar you will head to the splendid Karakul-Lake and the ancient stone village of Shitoucheng in the south. Afterwards we take off to Hotan and the desert before we devoting ourselves to the northern part of the Silk Road around Urumqi, Turpan and finally Dunhuang. In he last days you will enjoy an overnight stay in a tent in the Gobi desert before we head to the Crescent Moon Lake, an unreal oasis.

Tibetmoto Tours …

… has a great team. If you have some troubles it immediately helps you!

Melanie K.

Westchina …

… offers a lot! So many beautiful sights. Incredible!

Heiner S.

A great tour

I book the tour together with my friends. An experienced team guided us through western China and showed us the most beautiful corners. I highly recommend it!

Karl P.

On Request

14 days / 13 nights

Overnight stay in hotels and guest houses.

Westchina: The Silk Road and the Taklamakan Desert – Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Kashgar

Pick-up service at the airport in Kashgar in the afternoon and transfer to hotel. Free time in the afternoon after checking-in and a short orientation walk around the city in the evening.

Day 2: Kashgar Visiting Day

Sundays you could visit the world famous livestock market. An absolut highlight of every Journey in Xinjiang. Farmers from all over the region are coming there to trade and haggle. In this context you could also visit the Grand Bazaar, which is open all week but only on sundays really comes to life. If you are able to arrange arriving in Kashgar on a saturday, that would be recommandable. As an alternative you will visit the splendid old town of Kashgar and its traditional Ostangboyi tea house. Other sights are the Id Kah Mosque and the Abakh Hoja monument. Additionally there is a market taking place every night around 11, where they sell sheeps; an unusual occasion.

Day 3: Kashgar – Karakul-Lake

Ride to the Karakul-Lake, situated between the mountains of the Pamir and the Himalayas at the Karakorum Highway. The first stop will take place in Upal, an Oasis about one hour from Kashgar. Here you will visit, if compatible, the monday market and the monument of Mahmud Kashgari, a scholar from the 11th century. Through the gorges of the Ghez-River the road leads all the way of to the Pamir-Plateau. From here you have an astonishing view upon Mount Kongur (7719m). Arrival at the lake. The overnight stay will take place in a Kyrgyzstan yurt close to the lake bank.

Day 4: Karakul-Lake – Tashkurgan

A whole day to experience the beauty and nature of this lake. The Sunrise above the mountains and the lake is especially pleasant and should not be missed. A hike along or around the lake to different vantage points in the surrounding mountains or hills will do the magic. Phantastic views upon the Mustagh Ata and the Kongur will present themselves to you. The road to Tashkurgan provides beautiful grass lands, yaks, horses and the views on that route are definitely on of the highlights.

Day 5: Tashkurgan – Kashgar

In Tashkurgan we will visit the Folk Cultural Museum and Shitoucheng, a stone village, which once served as fortifications. The 1400 years old complex was used as a scenery in the movie Kite Runner. Afterwards you will drive back to Kashgar.

Day 6: Train to Hotan

Train ride all day long in a Soft Sleeper along the Taklamakan Desert to Hotan. Transfer from train station to hotel.

Day 7: Hotan – Taklamakan-Desert

Ride to the Taklamakan Desert in the morning. Start of the camel trek. The starting point is the monument of Imam Asim about 20 kilometers norteast of Hotan. Here the camels will be packed with luggage. Riding the camels into the desert and start of setting up our Camp. We are collecting pieces of nearby bushes to make a fire in the evening. The local cook will prepare dinner.

Taklamakan desert with a look into the distance

Day 8: Taklamakan-Desert – Hotan

After desert-breakfast we are taking another way back to our starting point of the Trek. On both days the camel riding lasts about 4-5 hours and leads past various desert formations (Stone desert, dune desert,…) Transfer to hotel in Hotan

Day 9: Hotan – Flight to Urumqi

The flight to Urumqi is taking off in the evening. Because of that we have plenty of time to introduce to you the sild production sights. Hotan is famous for that and close by, in a village called Jiya we can take place in a silk workshop. On the way there we also visit a carpet production site. In the evening flight to Urumqi and transfer to hotel.

Day 10: Urumqi – Turpan

The next day you are taking off to Turpan. Turpan is located 150 meters below sea leavel and by that fact the second lowest place on earth. Here grapes are growing, which are exported to China in the form of wine or raisins. Visit of the ruins of Jiaohe. Jiaohe was an garrison town, the oldest ruins are around 1600 years old and are some of the worlds oldest.

Day 11: Turpan

Other places you visit are Toyoq and Gaochang, the latter one was build around the 7th century bc. In the local language it is reffered to as Kocho and was firstly blooming during the Tang Dynasty. This Ruin City is full of religious historty In the evening you will be transfered back to Urumqi.

Day 12: Urumqi – Flight to Dunhuang

Transfer to the airport in Urumqi and Flight to Dunhuang. Free time. In the evening a visit of the nightmarket is planned.

Day 13: Dunhuang – Mogao Caves – Singing Sand Mountains

In the morning we visit the famous Mogao Caves. Right now there are about 20 caves accessible to the public. A tour here last about two hours. After that we take a ride back to Dunhuang. From here you will start an exciting journey riding camels towards the Singing Sand Mountains close to Dunhuang. You will stay in a tent in the dunes and experience the richness of the Gansu sky. The camels are leaving in the evening and you stay.

Crescent Moon Lake near the sand dunes in Dunhuang

Day 14: Singing Sand Mountains – Dunhuang

The sand dunes here are up to 1700 meters high and surround the picturesque Cresent Moon Lake – an oasis which once provided water for the city of Dunhuang. In the dunes you are free to discover dune surfing, paragliding are ride a camel again. Around noon we take off to Dunhuang and the hotel before we bring you to the airport for your departure.

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