Taklamakan in southwestern Xinjiang is one of the largest sand deserts in the world and still is a fascinating and dangerous landscape.
It is known as the ‘Deadly Desert’ and has, for hundreds of years, served as a check to caravans and merchants on the Silk Route. But embedded deep into those exciting sandy hills of desert are ruins of great cities that have existed and flourished as very active commercial hubs only to be buried by sand. Some of them include Loulan and Niya, and it is a fascinating experience because the area is very harsh, making it a real discovery for those who want to explore.
The attempts to investigate and explore the desert paid off when people discovered Loulan and other lost cities and the finds, which can be described as impressive: perfectly preserved mummies, fascinating Buddhist shrines, and numerous manuscripts. Many of these artifacts remain quite intact owing to the dry desert-like climate that this area boasts of. A historian or an archaeologist will therefore find this area quite resourceful in the study of the people who once lived around this region.
About Taklamakan, the adventurers have only one thing in mind: it is something that cannot be met in any other parts of the world. Varying weather, especially huge sand tracts, boiling heat, and lack of human population make it among the most challenging terrains on the planet. But the desire to find such places contributes an indefinable ethereal factor that cannot be found anywhere else. There are not many parts of the world where one can dig for antique structures in soils that are as barren and inhospitable as these.
Since a desert is not a very friendly environment, it takes time and energy to trek, but the result is another story. Being in the middle of a once grand city now covered by sand is indeed a humbling feeling that takes you close to the history of the Silk Route and any civilization that was tried in this landscape. The story and history peaks of the desert, with their dramatic suddenness of sands and shifting colors, actually form nature’s blend of beauty and mystery in the main historical setting.
Lost cities of the Taklamakan desert are not just an archaeological exploration; it is a history of civilization that distinguishes man’s struggle against nature. As a history mystery and ultimate physical challenge, this journey through this desert and these ruins cannot be beaten.
Mark