#1: [13-Jul-06]

02-Jul-2011 -- Continued from 40N 108E. This is Part Five of my eight-point confluence trip.

Drive, drive, drive, this time we had to go off the main road about 10 km on a dirt road. The weather turned wet and cool, a big change from the hot sun of the last few days. Unlike most of China, here the land was mostly for sheep with electrical fences, but with unlocked gates so it was easy to access. We got within 800 meters and then ditched the jeep for a trek over hill. There were two abandoned farmhouses and a dry man-made dam. We hiked to the crest of the opposite hill past a cairn of stones that Targ joked was the erroneous location of the confluence by earlier visitors.

The electric fence used the necks from broken bottles as insulators at the fence posts. I can just imagine the drunken farmers telling their wives they have to finish the bottles of liquor to keep the sheep pinned in.

Dubbed: The Drunken Broken Bottle Insulator Confluence.

Rainer’s Recorded Details:

2.7.2011 CP 40-109 parking 880m, 13:00 at CP, 10 km from main road, walk to abandoned houses.

Targ’s Meticulous Notes:

• Continue ESE on desert road to 杭锦旗 (Hángjĭnqí), then NE on highway G109 to 40°N 109°E, 9 km N of highway.
• Turn right (SE) onto highway S215 at 39°49'20.5"N, 108°43'14.8"E. CP 31 km NE.
• Turn left (NE) onto highway G109 at 39°48'53.2"N, 108°43'37.3"E. CP 31 km NE.
• Turn left (N) on sealed road at 39°55'41.2"N, 109°5'6.3"E. CP 10.8 km NW.
• Turn sharp left (W) on dirt road at 39°58'7.1"N, 109°7'2.1"E. CP 10.6 km WNW.
• Take the left (WSW) fork at 40°1'11.58"N, 109°0'44.7"E. CP 2.45 km SW.
• Take the left (S) fork at 40°0'49.4"N, 108°59'41.9"E. CP 1.58 km SSE.
• Take the right (SSE) fork at 40°0'26.5"N, 108°59'52.2"E. CP 840 m SSE.
• Continue past a farmhouse at 40°0'15.8"N, 108°59'50.3"E. CP 540 m SSE.
• Track looks to peter out at 40°0'11.2"N, 108°59'52.2"E. CP 390 m SSE.