The Trans Taklamakan Highway Minfeng - Korla
The route:
Flat and in many ways easy. I can imagine it's killer in the summer,
when water consumption must be extreme. It is always easy to flag down
trucks to get water and we never carried any huge amounts. NO shade for
long distances, exposure to the sun and possibly monotony is the worst
factors. It is a strange feeling to be in the heart of a great desert
and being able to travel on perfect asphalt without any hassles. The
people in the restaurants along the way are amazed by what you're doing
and very friendly. So are the truckies and believe it or not, the prices
along the way is low, basically the standard you expect to find anywhere
in the more populated areas of the country.
Graph:
I didn't bother to make a graph showing the topography along the way - it's
flat!
|
Distance Km |
Km markers |
Info |
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|
0 |
562 |
TO from the southern route |
|
|
|
|
1 |
561 |
Gas station, water |
|
|
|
|
|
12 |
550 |
Restaurant |
|
|
|
|
|
16 |
546 |
Well, two houses, stream |
|
|
|
|
|
21 |
541 |
Compound, rest, hot, |
|
|
|
35-60 lots of ups and downs |
|
55 |
507 |
5-6 rest, car rep |
|
|
|
flatter after 60 |
|
89 |
473 |
TO to melon plantation (?), rest, car rep. |
|
Bonzai like trees after 80! |
|
146 |
416 |
Restaurant, friendly! |
|
|
|
|
|
184 |
378 |
Worker's camp |
|
|
|
|
|
216 |
346 |
Spread out shops, mostly Uighir. |
|
|
|
|
223 |
339 |
Chinese modern shop, very friendly! |
|
|
|
|
224 |
338 |
TO and powerline |
|
|
|
|
|
226 |
336 |
Gas station, water, shops hot. Avoid last on the right=rip
off! |
More hills again, some steep up to 9% |
|
243 |
319 |
TO #40 something. |
|
|
|
|
|
245 |
317 |
RCC |
|
|
|
|
|
254 |
308 |
Mini solar power plant, unmanned. |
|
|
|
|
273 |
289 |
RCC |
|
|
|
|
|
281 |
281 |
RCC |
|
|
|
|
|
293 |
269 |
Mini solar power plant, unmanned. |
|
|
Less bumps |
|
328 |
234 |
Mini solar power plant, unmanned. |
|
|
|
|
331 |
231 |
Two barracks, unmanned. |
|
|
|
|
|
367 |
195 |
Mini solar power plant, unmanned. |
|
|
|
|
375 |
187 |
House, cold drinks, water, prob hot and rest. |
|
Very flat |
|
405 |
157 |
Mini solar power plant, unmanned. |
|
|
|
|
408 |
154 |
Two barracks, unmanned. |
|
|
|
|
|
415 |
147 |
Big cluster of barracks |
|
|
|
|
|
443 |
119 |
Settlement and factory. Nothing |
|
|
|
|
445 |
117 |
TO asphalt road. |
|
|
|
|
|
456 |
106 |
Unmanned baracks TO to oil rig |
|
|
|
|
470 |
92 |
Melon sellers in sheds, water |
|
|
|
|
476 |
86 |
Chin rest+gh W side, uighir rest E |
|
|
Cotton fields, irrigation |
|
478 |
84 |
Factory compound |
|
|
|
|
|
480 |
82 |
Mini solar power plant, unmanned. |
|
|
|
|
483 |
79 |
Tarim river |
|
|
|
After the city, lots of turn offs, rests, |
|
485 |
77 |
Tarim city, everything, gas station |
|
|
water, sports
fishing(!) Etc |
|
519 |
43 |
TO petro china HQ |
|
|
|
|
|
521 |
41 |
rest, shops, hot |
|
|
|
|
|
525 |
37/125 |
TO go straight for direct route to Korla |
|
|
|
|
545 |
105 |
hosp, melons, rest, shops |
|
|
|
|
|
550 |
100 |
rest, melons |
|
|
|
|
|
640 |
10 |
crossroads, water in houses |
|
|
|
|
650 |
0 |
Entering 314 HELL |
|
|
|
|
|
651 |
-1 |
gas station, cold drinks, snacks |
|
|
|
|
653 |
-3 |
Transport hub, hot, shops, rest. |
|
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Altitude:
Before entering the TTH there is an unexpected 500 meter (vertically) climb
in between Minfeng and Yutian. |
|
Count on dropping approx 100 meters/100km until midway.
After that it's almost completely flat. |
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