Road-Trip Provisioning: Supermarkets, Water & Snacks

My first Duku run left me gnawing nang in the mountains — since then the boot always holds ‘three boxes and a barrel’, the survival list for Xinjiang driving.

Xinjiang is vast; two resupply points can be 200 km apart. Provisioning isn’t convenience, it’s survival. Here’s my fixed list across water, food, medicine, tools and power — the kit that turns a closed pass from a crisis into a lunch break.

Three boxes and a barrel

A water box (2 L per person per day), a food box (instant food and nang), a snack-dried-fruit box, plus a 20 L reserve fuel barrel (desert and no-man’s-land only, compliant canister). City stretches don’t need fuel; fill at every mountain station. That barrel once bailed me out at Taklimakan. The water box is the non-negotiable — the hard water and the distance between shops make bought water essential; 2 L per person per day, more in the desert. The food box is nang, instant noodles, a can or two — enough for a day stranded. The snack box is dried fruit and nuts for the 10 am gap. The barrel is desert-only; a compliant metal canister, strapped down, filled at the last town. I’ve never needed it and been sorry I had it; I’ve needed it and been glad. The system is the trip.

• Water 2 L/pax/day
• Food box: nang + instant + can
• 20 L fuel barrel, desert only

Medicine and protection

Stomach medicine, cold medicine, band-aids, sunscreen (SPF50+), sunglasses, lip balm. Xinjiang is dry and UV-strong — a day sunburns you. Bring altitude medicine for the Pamir. The sun at altitude is the sleeper — I’ve burned at 3,000 m in an hour without cream. The dry air cracks lips and noses; lip balm and a humidifier (city nights) are small mercies. Stomach medicine for the water transition; a basic kit for blisters and cuts from the rough trails. Sunglasses are safety, not style — glare off snow and sand is real. Altitude meds (and the oxygen-room backup) for Tashkurgan and up. I keep the med kit in the door pocket, not the boot, so it’s reachable at a stop. The protection list is what keeps a small issue from ending the day.

• SPF50+, sunglasses, lip balm (UV is fierce)
• Stomach + cold + band-aid kit
• Altitude meds for the Pamir

Tools

Spare tyre (full-size best), inflator, tow rope, jump leads, snow chains (winter). Watch tyre pressure — gravel on the highway is common. I once punctured on G218; a full-size spare saved a tow. The full-size spare is the upgrade worth making — a space-saver gets you to the next town slow; a full-size gets you there normal. The inflator handles the slow leak from gravel; the tow rope and jump leads are for the other guy (and you, someday). Chains are law on passes in winter — carry them even if you hope not to use them. Tyre pressure drops with temperature and rises with heat; check at every fuel stop. I’ve limped 80 km on a plug-and-inflate; without the kit it’s a 400-RMB recovery. Tools are the difference between a story and a stranding.

• Full-size spare beats space-saver
• Inflator + tow rope + jump leads
• Chains mandatory on passes in winter

Electronics

Offline maps (AoVi, Gaode offline packs), car charger, power bank. Grassland and desert have weak signal — screenshot navigation. Camera folks, extra cards and batteries; the views are dense. The offline map is the most important electronic — download the whole region before you leave the city, because the pass has no signal to fetch it. A car charger keeps the phone alive as the nav runs; a power bank charges it off the car when stopped. Camera people: the light changes fast and the cards fill; carry two spares and spare batteries for the cold (batteries die at altitude). I screenshot the day’s route the night before on hostel wifi. The electronics turn a no-signal mountain into a known route.

• Download offline maps before leaving city
• Car charger + power bank
• Extra camera cards/batteries for cold

Cash and documents

Grassland yurts take cash only — keep 500–1000 RMB small bills. ID is checked throughout; get the border permit early. I keep document copies separate from originals. The cash is for the yurt, the stall, the toll that doesn’t take scan — small bills, because change is short in remote spots. The ID checks are frequent on the south and at the Pamir; carry passport and the border permit together, copies in the boot. The permit needs sorting in Kashgar before you go — do it the day before, not the morning of. I keep a ‘document folder’ in the door pocket: passport, permit, insurance, rental paper. Losing any strands you; copies buy time. The cash-and-docs box is the admin half of provisioning.

• 500–1000 RMB small bills for yurts/stalls
• Passport + border permit together
• Copies separate from originals

The boot as a system

Don’t just throw gear in — build the boot as a system: fuel barrel strapped at the back, water box on one side, food box on the other, tool bag accessible, med kit in the cabin. A tidy boot means you find the tyre iron at dusk in the rain, not after a 20-minute scramble. I use a couple of collapsible crates so things don’t roll. Heavy low, light high, fuel secured. The system pays off the first time you need the inflator and it’s not under the watermelon. Visitors who ‘pack light’ and skip the box end up buying water at triple price at a scenic gate. The boot is your supply base; treat it like one. Provisioning is the quiet skill that separates a smooth loop from a stranded one.

• Strap fuel; water one side, food other
• Tool bag accessible, med kit in cabin
• Collapsible crates stop roll