Don't be afraid to take detours

The endless sea of sand is not a flat river. In the desert, you will encounter many large sand dunes or sand mountains, so be sure to go around them and avoid going straight up steep slopes. It is necessary to avoid the soft sand on the leeward side, and try to walk on the windward side and the sand ridge, because the windward side is pressed very solidly and hardly by wind erosion, and it is easier to walk on it, and it saves effort; If you have a camel team, walking on the hoof prints of camels can save a lot of physical strength. In desert safaris, it's important to lead the way in front of you, find a good way to go, and take a slow walk with a 10-minute break every hour. Generally, the team should not walk more than 20 kilometers in a straight line in a day.

Day and night to avoid the heat

In direct sunlight, even without exercise, three times as much moisture is consumed in the shade. In the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, in the hottest season, if you don't bring water and rest in a shaded place, you can survive for about 3 days. If you walk in the sun during the day, you can only survive for 1~2 days. In special circumstances, it is also necessary to learn the method of "night walking". Also, in the case of heat, lack of water, thirst, anxiety, never be fooled by the illusion of a mirage.

3. Camping in the desert There is a difference between camping in the desert and camping in other areas. Usually pay attention to two points: one is that the camp should be selected in a sheltered place, and to prevent the burial of quicksand, which is often on the flat ground among the sand dunes; second, the camp must not be planted near plants such as red willow and poplar trees, because in places where there are plants, there are often parasitic some poisonous insects, such as in the Taklamakan Desert, there is a kind of "Tarim tick", which usually lives under red willow and poplar trees, this "tick" Carrying a virus, once a person is bitten, it often causes a deadly disease (Tarim hemorrhagic fever) and dies within a dozen hours.

In winter, there are no strong winds, no biting insects, and the choice of camping site is more arbitrary. Winter nights are very cold, and even with a double-decker tent, there is a thick frost in the tent. There are many dead trees in the desert, and in the coldest season, you can also make your own "ondol", that is, dig a place, burn a fire on it, and then bury it with sand, and people sleep on the hot sand. This method is ideal for fully self-guided extreme expeditions, where explorers can save weight by leaving a tent uncovered.

3. Dealing with emergencies

1. Find water In the desert, heat and drought are the number one killers for explorers, and most of the victims of desert exploration are caused by lack of water and heat stroke. Once you get lost in the desert, you must make sure you have enough clean water to drink before you get out of the predicament, otherwise there is little hope of survival. In the desert, there is no water on the surface, and it is difficult to dig up water in most areas. But the desert is mostly a basin, and there are many seasonal rivers in it.

If you find dense reeds in the desert, it means that you can dig out water at a depth of more than one meter underground, if you see the sagebrush grass, you can dig out the water about two meters underground, if you see red willow and camel thorns, it means that there is groundwater when we dig 6~8 meters, and if you find poplar forest, it means that there is groundwater at 8~10 meters underground. In the winter of 1990, when the expedition of Japan's NHK broadcasting company crossed the Taklamakan Desert from the main river along the Keriya River, this method was used to solve the problem of drinking water for nearly 100 peaked camels. They walked for 28 days, dug a 15-meter-long, 5-meter-deep ditch, led the camels down to drink, and without any backup, successfully crossed more than 300 kilometers of desert and finally reached the banks of the Tarim River on the northern edge of the desert.

In addition, if you find damp sand or bitter water in the desert, you can also dig a pit and cover it with transparent plastic sheeting, so as to make a simple solar still. The air and soil in the pit heat up rapidly, producing steam. When the water vapor reaches saturation, it will condense into water droplets on the inside of the plastic sheet, which will drip into the container below, allowing us to get valuable water. In this way, more than 1 liter of distilled fresh water can be taken per day. It is worth mentioning that most of the groundwater in the desert is very saline, and it cannot be directly drunk by humans (camels can drink), and must be treated by distillation and other methods.

2. Dodge sandstorms The movement of sandstorms has its inherent movement laws, in case you encounter sandstorms in the desert, you must first choose the direction of escape by eyesight, as long as you avoid the front of the wind, most of them can turn danger into relief. At the same time, do not take shelter on the leeward slope of the dunes, otherwise you risk being buried by a sandstorm. The correct thing to do is to lead the camel to the windward slope and hide behind the camel.

The temperature difference in the desert is very large, taking IO month and November as an example, the surface temperature can reach around 5OC during the day, and the night can drop below OC, and the temperature can drop below 1OC in case of cold snap in November, so in the desert exploration, winter and summer clothing should be - one has, the sun of the desert during the day will burn the skin, you can choose a long shirt and trousers, but the trousers will greatly consume your physical strength in the difficult march, so the author personally thinks that it is better to have skin on the legs than to choose shorts. The most unbearable skin burns will appear on the back of your neck, and the easiest way to rub your collar against your neck is to wear a sunhat and press a white handkerchief on the back of the hat to block the strong sunlight.

Sunscreen oil is not suitable in the desert. The sand in the desert is completely different from the sand on the beach, it is a very fine dust that can be lifted up by the slightest wind and a gentle footstep, and if you rub on sunscreen, these sand dust will turn your skin into fine sandpaper.

A pair of well-fitting desert boots is the most important, it must be high-waisted, soft, if it is a new shoe, it is best to wear it in the city for a week or two before entering the desert, and then wear it into the desert after "running-in".

It is best to have two pairs of sunglasses, one for daily use, and the other for windproof sand, which can be used with motorcycle glasses or ski goggles.

A large water bottle, a simple talcum powder, a flashlight, wide tape, a small round mirror, a plastic bag and other small items will bring you unexpected convenience in the desert. For example, talcum powder can be rubbed on your body parts when you exercise, a small round mirror is used to reflect signals during survival, and plastic bags are used to prevent dust.

Camel company

Desert safaris are dangerous alone, so desert safaris are mostly a team effort, so everyone has to carry forward the team spirit, and only in this way can you experience the joy of desert safaris.

If you take part in the third type of trip, then you, as a member of the group, will have to learn how to load and unload the camels as soon as possible, and on average each member of the group will have to assemble about three camels, which will carry the equipment, food, drinking water, and feed of the camels themselves into the desert, about four Individuals work together to load and unload a camel, so loading and unloading camels in the evening every day is the most concentrated embodiment of team spirit, taking two camel workers with eight expedition members as an example, it takes about 3O camels to tie the items on the camel's back, it takes about 50 minutes after everyone is familiar with the operation method, which is the busiest and tense time of your day.

Dig wells for water for cooking

The second concentrated manifestation of team spirit is the work of digging wells after camping at night. If it is a 10-day desert expedition, about three times to dig and, these "well water" is for camels to drink, in the desert where plants grow, such as reeds, poplars grow more, generally dig down to about 25 meters to produce water, which requires everyone to take turns digging wells, this work takes about 23 hours.

As for desert cooking, it's actually the happiest time of your day, where everyone can show off their talents and work together to create a delicious meal to reward each other for their hard work in the day.

Drinking memo

Water is the eternal theme in the desert exploration, there are many sayings about how to drink the best water in the desert, the most scientific, one of which is that you can drink often, but only drink a small sip each time, which is the most conducive to the absorption of the human body; but maybe people's physiology is different, the author in a trekking 6O days of desert expedition, learned to drink water is completely different from the above, that is, about 47 times a day to drink water, of which s times a large amount of water 12 times is supplemented; This goes on until noon, during which time no more water is drunk and again after a simple lunch at noon, but not as much as in the morning. During the afternoon march due to the high temperature, a small amount of water is replenished once or twice, and in the evening a large amount of water is drunk at dinner.

1. Desert tourism should be carried out in summer and autumn, and there are many sandstorms in winter and spring, which is easy to get lost and endanger life.

2. Do not act alone when participating in desert tourism, please have enough drinking water with you, and establish a good relationship with camels, which are your most reliable friends in the desert.

3. In case of a sandstorm in the desert, do not take shelter on the leeward slope of the dunes, otherwise you will be suffocated or buried by the sandstorm. The correct thing to do is to lead the camel to the windward slope and hide behind the camel.

4. The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is very large, and the sunlight during the day will roast people's skin to red and swollen, and the cold at night is like winter. So prepare both summer and winter clothing. In addition, after sunscreen oil is applied to the body, it will stick to the sand and make the skin very uncomfortable, so it is better to wear a light-colored long coat to resist ultraviolet rays, and the face can use sunscreen oil appropriately.

5. Desert adventure tourism is a collective activity, collective labor is an important part of tourism, tour guides, camel workers, tourists should be sincerely united, take into account the overall situation, tourism activities can be icing on the cake.

6. Don't forget that the desert is also a part of the earth, and we should also be environmentally conscious in the desert, try to take the garbage out of the desert, at least bury it on the spot, otherwise our children and grandchildren may see the desert when they open the door one day.

7. When riding a camel, it is necessary to prevent the camel from throwing people off when standing up and lying down, and at this time it is necessary to hold the camel saddle or hump tightly. Do not usually go near the camel's hind feet and head to prevent it from kicking and spraying people with its mouth. Although docile, the camel is dangerous when frightened, and it is important to prevent sudden noises (such as sudden shouting) and harsh colors (such as the sudden opening of a brightly colored automatic umbrella). Don't be nervous about long-distance camel rides, ride naturally with the pace of the camel, adjust your sitting position at any time, and walk down at the right time.