Taklimakan Desert Camel Trekking-Hotan

In ancient times, the remote location of Hotan separated it culturally from the other Uyghur cities of Xinjiang.  It was through Hotan that Buddhism crossed over the Karakorum pass from India into China.  On the Silk Road, Hotan was famous for its beautiful jade that comes from the mountain rivers.  On this trip you will have a unique opportunity to learn about the culture and history of Hotan and the customs of its people.  As you trek through the desert on camelback, you will hear the stories and legends that have been passed down for centuries.  You will experience the beauty and vastness of the Taklimakan desert in a way that only the local people have experienced.

Recommended Tour

Day 01

After breakfast, we will pack a lunch for the desert, and drive to the Imam Asim Tomb—our departure point for our trek into the Taklamakan.  On the way there, we will stop in Jiya village to visit a local silk and Atlas workshop and carpet factory. We will ride camels for about 4 hours across the sand dunes before making camp and preparing dinner. You will experience the same caravan cuisine that has been enjoyed by travelers for centuries. We cook the food with our own local tools and not with modern ones.  You will help the guide start a fire using scrub brush the way it has been done for ages. That night around the fire, you will enjoy hearing the stories and jokes of our camel man.

Day 02

We will have our breakfast like caravans of old. We prepare it with our old style with making a fire and boiling the water with our own kettle. We will enjoy local nuts, walnuts, jams, sugar, coffee, local bread and so on.  After breakfast we will pack all our things and continue our journey. Today, our tour guide will play a game with the camel man, which will teach you a little about local life in the desert villages. You will trek with the camels for about 5 hours then stop to make camp.  You will hear the songs of the shepherds, the local jokes, and the stories and myths of the cities and civilizations buried beneath the Taklamakan.

Day 03

After a desert breakfast, we will continue our trek with our very friendly camels. We feel very exited and love the sand dunes, which are very silent. The endless dunes give you the feeling of being on a sea of sand.  Looking around you, all you will see are endless sand dunes.  The solitude is exhilarating. After a day of trekking in the desert, we will camp by the beautiful dunes.

Day 04

We will awaken early to catch the desert sunrise on our last day in the desert. We will have a caravan's breakfast in the desert, before we ride the camels out of the desert. We will eat lunch at the Imam Asim Tomb, which is a famous tomb among the locals in and around Hotan. In May, there are a lot of people coming from villages and towns far and near to pilgrim here. They regard this tomb as a holy place. There are a few Tombs and a big Mosque where the pilgrims can pray. This area has many unique cutural experiences and you will be able to see how the local people worship. We will have lunch here. After lunch, we will ride back to the village and drive back to your hotel.

We can organize additional 3 or 4 day trekking tours to Rawak ancient city in the Desert.