dunes of no-man’s land
dry winds designed for bravehearts 
shifting sands

©Vivian Zems

Carpe Diem #1363 Taklamakan Desert (the “Sea of Death”)(Northern route)

The Taklamakan Desert is one of largest shifting sand deserts in the world. It is intensely dry and located farther from an ocean than any other desert. Hemmed between China’s Kunlun and Tian Shan Mountains, this Chinese desert sprawls across an area of 100,000 square miles (270,000 square kilometres) and 85 percent of the total area consists of mobile sand dunes.

There is no water on the Taklamakan Desert and it was hazardous to cross. “Takla Makan” means “go in and you’ll never come out“.