Smog

Kashgar to Xigeer
September 22nd
152km (546m vertical)

There was a strange yellow smog in the air as we left Kashgar. It didn't make me cough, but it blanketed everything like a thick fog. We could stare directly into the sun, which looked like a full-moon in the sky.

Long ride with pretty boring scenery. There were sandy mountains to our left and flat desert to our right...and we couldn't even see that very well because of the smog. Temperature was great, between 61F and 84F all day.

The lunch truck set up in a tiny town at 85km, and dozens of local men gathered around to watch us eat. It was a bit awkward, but I suppose understandable. If a group of people on camels started roasting kebabs on my front lawn, then I would probably come out and watch as well.

We're staying in a tiny motel tonight. It doesn't have washrooms, other than the mud-walled pit toilets across the parking lot, but we do get beds and can buy cold drinks. The original plan was to camp in the dirt parking lot, but the motel owner didn't go for that. (Why would he when he could rent all of his rooms to us?)

Convoy leaving Kashgar had to navigate the local scooters. (We were faster than they were!)

Knut and Max eating lunch with an audience:

Graeme riding past highway sweepers in the desert:

Sign with both Chinese and Arabic characters:

Multi-layered mountains that we rode along all day: