my Badain Jaran Desert trip

This six-day trip, October 10 to October 15, 2016, covered 2000 km in distance. We had 12 persons in total, including the tour leader. The tour leader is a thoughtful and experienced young man who specializes in outdoor and exploratory trips. More information can be found at http://www.worldhey.com/.

Alxa League in Inner Mongolia

The starting point was the capital city YinChuan [1] in Ning Xia Hui Autonomous Region. Historically, this was the capital of Xi Xia [2] at the time of South Song Dynasty.  We traveled in and around Alxa League, Inner Mongolia [3].  This league has three banners, i.e., the Ejin Banner [4], the Alxa Left Banner, and the Alxa Right Banner. We started from east (Alxa Left Banner) to the very north at Ejin Banner first on the north side of two deserts, Tengger Desert [5] and Badain Jaran Desert [6], then south to the west (Alxa Right Banner). After the Badain Jaran Desert exploratory visit, we traveled back on the south side of two deserts.

On the way to Ejin Banner on the west, the driver pointed out to us a couple of times a mirage [7] in the desert, which was discernible as a few islands spread over a sea or lake. That was my first mirage, not counting the less phenomenal "fake water" on the hot-road during the summer time in the United States' Southwest.

Here are some annotations and background for the pictures throughout the trip.

Guang Zong Temple on the west side of Helan Mountains

1) Guang Zong Temple (also known as South Temple or Nan Ssu) on the west side of the Helan Mountains [8] that purportedly is the resting place for Dalai Lama VI [9]. His death or disappearance was mysterious during the Qing Dynasty.
   This temple had more than 1500 monks a century ago. This legendary Dalai Lama was born outside of the Tibetan region.  He was a very talented poet and spawned many legends during his life.

Huyang Trees in Ejin Banner area

Huyang Tree Reflection in Ejin

2 and 3) Huyang (Poplar Diversifolius) trees [10] reflections at Ejin Banner.
  This is a species of poplar tree in the willow family. It can be found in many desert areas around the world, and it is very much adapted to dry conditions.  The forest of these trees in the Ejin Banner area is famous for its formation and water reflections, as experienced by many travelers in recent years.




4) Sea gulls near the reed wetland in Juyan Lake [11]
   The Juyan Lake is one of several terminal lakes for the inland Heihe River (Black River). There are few rivers that don't flow to the oceans. Heihe is one of them. I normally associate sea gulls with oceans. Apparently they don't need oceans to exist, they just need the right water environment, I imagine.

Sea Gulls in Juyan Lake

Juyan Lake Sunset

5) Sunset in Juyan Lake
   This was a rare chance to take good pictures during the sunset in this wetland area with many reeds.

6) Strange Huyang Forest

Strange Huyang Forest

We went to this forest before sunrise. Supposedly the environmental changes in this area caused all trees to die, but the arid condition in the desert areas prevented the trees from decaying further.










7 and 8) Ruin of the Black Water City and Walled Fortress
   This was an important city for the Xi Xia (Tangut) State on the western end of its territory. It was known by a few different names, including the Mongolian name Khara-Khoto [12]. It was conquered by Genghis Khan in 1226, but it continued to flourish.  It was abandoned, though, for more than seven hundred years after the Ming Dynasty defeated the Mongols and took the city in 1372.  Its importance was lost during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.  Interestingly enough, this city appears in the "Travels of Marco Polo" as Etzina.
Various expeditions and excavations in the 20th century unearthed many books, xylographs (woodblock prints), scrolls, and manuscripts in Tangut language. The Mongolian Buddhist stupas [13] traditionally house the sacred scriptures and religious articles. Dictionaries were among the unearthed items, including a Chinese-Tangut glossary that made the Tangut (Xi Xia) study possible today.

Stupas of the Khara-Khoto Ruin from the Distance

The Mongolian Buddhist Stupa in Khara-Khoto Ruin

9) Badain Jaran Desert Jeeps - Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
10) Mongolian Yurt
11) Sand Dune and Desert Lake
12) Badain Jaran Desert ridge at sunset

Expedition with Desert Jeeps with Camels in the distance

Sand Dune and Desert Lake

The Badain Jaran Desert [6] covers an area of 49,000 square kilometers, which is about 30 percent larger than the island of Taiwan. It has more than 140 lakes, and many are in the southern region of the desert.  These lakes provide life sustenance for the herds and limited vegetation. This desert is home to the tallest stationary dunes on earth. The Bilutu Peak measures 500 meters from its base, and is the tallest stationary dune in the world.
   We hired three desert jeeps for our group for an excursion trip going up and down the sand dunes and visiting/viewing the oases.  We stayed in a guest house for one night with dinner and breakfast served.  There was no shower.  Water was precious. We got the the place early enough and did not have to stay in a yurt/ger.  We have 5 twin-sized beds for men and similar ones for women.  The tour leader told us that the yurt is usually not as well heated as our small brick compound.

Mongolian Yurt

Sunset on Sand Dune Ridge

     

I was very fortunate to be in good health throughout this trip.  I was able to take many good pictures with my simple iPhone and iPad. Nevertheless, there are many challenges for the unprepared and uninitiated.
1) Difficult and unacceptable toilet facilities on the road.
2) Dry air that caused allergic reaction for one team member.
3) Huge temperature swing between day and night for the travelers who had to get up around 5am three times to see the sunrises.
4) On the rough and exciting desert jeep ride, two members had to bail out after the first 5 km due to severe motion sickness. Fortunately, there was a decent hotel near the entrance of the geopark in the desert.

References:
[1] YinChuan 银川 - Capital City of NingXia Hui Autonomous Region -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinchuan
[2] Xi Xia 西夏 History in China - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Xia
[3] Alxa League, Inner Mongolia 内蒙古阿拉善盟 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alxa_League
[4] Ejin Banner 额济纳旗, Inner Mongolia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejin_Banner 
[5] Tengger Desert 腾格里沙漠 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengger_Desert
[6] Badain Jaran Desert 巴丹吉林沙漠 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badain_Jaran_Desert
[7] Mirage 海市蜃楼 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage
[8] Helan Mountains 贺兰山 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helan_Mountains
[9] Dalai Lama VI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Dalai_Lama
[10] Huyang Tree 胡杨树 - Diversifolius poplar - Euphrat-Pappel https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%83%A1%E6%9D%A8  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus_euphratica https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrat-Pappel
[11] Juyan Lake 居延海 (Gashuun Nuur) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juyan_Lake_Basin
[12] Black Water City 黑水城 /Walled Fortress and its XiXia Cultural Treasures - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khara-Khoto
[13] Mongolian Buddhist Stupa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa