Day 212 (China): nowhereland at km marker 100 on G309 - Kashgar (desert beckoning)

by markus

daily distance: 121km
total distance: 11,650km
riding time: 6-7h

It was a gorgeous morning after a beautiful though cold night. The stars were out in full force and the morning sunrise hitting the snow covered peaks in the distance are an unforgettable sight indeed.

I had camped just before a town and got more water and bagles for breakfast.

And then it was rather uneventful riding through great landscape, with more and more towns lining the way. There are cities as well - in the middle of nowhere it seems. The are being built at the moment - and they don’t seem to be naturally growing by any stretch of the imagination.

By midday the wind picked up big time - I decided to take a break after hitting an ugly town and found a small restaurant and got a big portion of lagman - noodles and spicy sauce with lots of veggies. Good stuff.

Then it was into the wind again, which became stronger and stronger as the day went on. Then I could see dust in the air, meaning I was nearing the desert. The Taklamakan dust coming at me. Could be a familiar sight in the next couple of weeks as I will be following the southern edge of the desert.

I then arrived in Kashgar, coming out of the valley I was in for a while and then heading along a silky smooth road. At a toll road they wanted to make me go around a fence without me seeing where I would end up … instead I headed straight on, the lady smiling. Once in Kashgar, I checked into a hotel and cleaned up before heading into the city.

Kashgar … modern city, wide boulevards and lots and lots of people, but likely only a precursor of what is to come once I hit the larger cities in the center and the eastern part of China. But also distinctly Muslim, with many more women covered than in most other places than I have seen so far outside of Iran.