Expedition in the footsteps of Bonvalot in Altyn Tagh

We arrive at our agency of Expeditions Unlimited in Lyon. We meet Bruno and the other participants to get to know each other and consider the preparations for our expedition.

During this day, everyone can ask all his or her questions to Bruno. More generally, we have the opportunity:

• to better understand the context of the Bonvalot expedition
• to get to know each other and to share our experiences
• specify the list of personal equipment, books to read and, for each participant, the possible physical preparation to do in the following months

We arrive at Xining Airport, probably via Beijing, the capital of the Chinese province of Qinghai with a million inhabitants at an altitude of 2300 meters. The city is well attended by direct flights from Beijing and other major Chinese cities.  Here we meet up with our local team, who will have arrived beforehand from Urumqi, capital of XinJiang. Depending on the flight schedule, we leave directly from the airport to spend the night in a hostel on the shores of the great Qinghai Lake, formerly known as Kokonor, and described in moving terms by the Russian explorer Nikolai Prjevalsky.

Today, we reach the city of Golmud crossing Tsaidam, an arid and hostile area perched at 3000 meters above sea level and surrounded by high mountains: NanShan to the North, Kunlun to the South. Golmud is the starting point of the railway line that joins Lhasa across the Tibetan plateau, through the Kunlun and Tangula passes.

A five-hour drive takes us to the hamlet of Wutumeiren, at the center of the vast Teidjinar oasis, made habitable by the Naryn Gol river, which flows through gorges out of the Altyn Tagh mountains. It was here, in 1935, that Ella Maillart and Peter Fleming began the most difficult, exhilarating and lonely part of their journey from China to Turkestan. Overnight in a basic local inn, or alternatively in a tent.

About a four-hour drive to the QiManTagh Mountains mine base, gateway to the nature reserve where we will find accommodation. 

We enter the Altyn Tagh reserve. A four-hour drive toward a guard post near White Sands Lake (see day 7). En route, we should see our first wild donkeys and antelopes.

Today, we approach the two White Sands Lakes, named so because they are surrounded by high dunes, over 250 meters high. These small lakes are a geographical curiosity. The higher lake (Alt. 4110 m) collects water from a large pool and is connected by 8 kilometers to the lower lake (Alt. 4095 m). The waters have no alternative but to percolate beneath the dunes on a distance of 4 kilometers to reappear in the form of a source that form a giant funnel in the sand.

If conditions permit, we will approach the upper lake by jeep and sleep in a bivouac the first night at the entrance of the lower lake, the second night at the other end before crossing the dunes and reaching the sands.

The alternative is to do a scouting journey reaching the sands by jeep. Near the sands is the house of Abdullah and Rodj Nurnissa, one of the two families still living in the area (provided they have not moved since). If they are there to welcome us, we have the privilege of a night by the fire and a meal of fresh pasta.

We go about 50 kilometers in the grasslands of Kardun where we should observe many wild yaks. At the foot of the range named Prjevalski by Bonvalot (peaking at 5450m), we should find the location of their camp, the Ice Pond. On the way back, we go to the Issyk-Pakté station, where we probably meet a park ranger that allows us to spend the night.

We reach the large and spectacular Ayak-kum salt lake and follow its northern bank. We turn at the Fongchenkou Pass (5073 m) and reach the Achikkul salt lake (4320 m).

We approach the local peak, the highest in the eastern Kunlun (Ulugh Muztagh at 6973 m). If possible, we join the year 1893 route of Grenard and Dutreuil Rhins and approach the Karamiran Peak (5200 m). Return to Lake Achikkul (4320m).

Across the ArkaTagh range, we reach the Jingyu Lake (half-salty, half-sweet) where we try to find the Bonvalot passages:  camp de la Miséricorde (Mercy Camp), Requiem Pass, Crevaux chain.

During these two days, we return to Ayakkum Lake.

North of the lake, we pass the Bonvalot Peak (Ambal Ashkan Davan), and reach the last station of the Altyn Tagh reserve to Mula Kurgan. Bonvalot took this route and we scout the different trails. Without stopping, we pass through the Mangnai asbestos mine and find accommodation in the village.

We cross spectacular displays before reaching the small town of Uighur Ruoqiang (formerly Charklik), on the edge of the Taklamakan desert. This marks our return to civilization.

A long day’s drive allows us to reach the comfortable hotels of Korla, an opulent city that has greatly benefited from the oil boom of the 2000s.

Approximately an eight-hour drive from Korla to Urumqi, the capital of the region, across the eastern end of the Tian Shan, the Celestial Mountains.

A contingency day for any delays en route.

We are accompanied to the airport where we take our flight back to Europe, probably via Beijing.