September 19th
116km (1,315m vertical)
Leaving the mountain heights has been great. Although there were several long climbs today, we got more down than up as we continue to drop elevation on our way down to Kashgar. Its great to fly effortlessly along at 70km/h for long stretches, just watching the rugged mountains roll past.
The temperatures are rising as well, which is nice. This morning was only 41F when we started out, and we finished in the high 80s. I read in my tent for most of the afternoon to avoid the sun. We are camped in a shadeless desert beside the main road, with nothing moving but the tiny lizards running around my tent.
This area of China must have a lot of Muslims, because there is Farsi writing on most of the street signs above the Chinese characters. (There's no English so far.) We've also seen Islamic looking cemeteries in the middle of the desert, and local men wearing the same traditional headgear as they did in the “stan” countries. All in all, the people here don't look very different from the Kyrgs and Uzbeks we saw. In each country, people have had somewhat Chinese-looking features, but their skin is dark a their eyes are more round. (Lots of variation of course, but this is my general impression.)
Rugged mountain views from the one, lonely road:
Muslim cemetery...in the middle of nowhere:
The view from my tent as I hid from the sun:
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