Daniel Dumbrill
Our next Xinjiang stop was Turpan. We actually wanted to skip it. Once we realized just how hot it gets, the idea of rolling into China’s hottest city (and one of the hottest inhabited places on Earth) in an RV with a broken front air conditioner felt less than ideal. Turpan
Daniel Dumbrill
Jiangbulake wasn’t even on our itinerary. While at a gym in Hami, a local recommended it to us. He said it’s where the locals go to escape the heat, and that if we went there we wouldn’t even need to bother with Altay. We still went to Altay later, but I’m really glad we took his advice. The scenery was epic, in places it didn’t even look real. It looked like something dreamed up by AI. This was also the first place I used the scooter we had strapped to the back of the RV. The massive spruce and pine forests in the distance were incredibly inviting, but completely inaccessible by car. So my wife and I found some small trails through the nearby villages and rode down. Up until this point I’d been wondering if bringing the scooter was a waste of space. This spot alone made it completely worthwhile.
