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China, days 41 to 46: Xinjiang province
After a day off in Turpan I have been riding non-stop for 5 days via Toksun, Kumus, Hoxud, Korla, Luntai from where I have arrived in Kuqa tonight. The area is quite empty, the road goes through vaste dry and desert regions and still very much windy. I am struggling every afternoon against the wind and try to make my way until my next destination despite a very low speed, ranging from 12 to 14 km/h to 23/25 km/h maximum, quite irritating!

A local mosk in Turpan.

Emin minaret in Turpan.

Emin minaret in Turpan.

An other wall painting, local Xinjiang peoples are greeting the arrival of an aircraft coming from Beijing. On the left side the man in the middle tells what he saw in Beijing, the capital city of the mother land: Tian An Men square etc (in the back ground).

Siesta time in my Turpan hotel room.

Leaving Turpan I started my ride on the local provincial road to make a short cut on the G312 which I will no longer ride, going towards Toksun.

The way up to Argaybulak Pass.

The way up to Argaybulak Pass.

This is the position of the french phoenix challenging the winds and the slopes of Xinjiang province. No fear! On that day I did 161 kms, started at altitude -20 meters and did the pass at 1750 meters...and slept like a baby.

The lunar peaks of the Qoltag Range.

The main street of Kumux where I spent the night in a family "Luguan" for "small hotel".

A mini Xinjiang tornado, a few hundreds meters on my side.

Endless straight lines....they look nice but they are very boring to cycle.

On the way to Luntai.

This was in a petrole station, I think for "Unredncible" they actually meant "Non recyclable" waste should be placed here.

The arrival on Korla, there was a little something of the "big american city highway arrival kind of thing" with the bridge over the hill.....Ok, I said just "a little something".

With the pink shirt is Qian Papa, the father of my good friends Pascal and Olivier Qian. They all live in Shanghai but Qian Papa & Mama are based in Wulumuqi. Qian Papa often works in Korla, he took great care of me, i got totally drunk!

Early morning in Korla.The building on the foreground is the site of Communist Party, more commonly called the "Party's buidling".

An other cute mini Xinjiang tornado on the road side...and happy not to embrace it!

The brave Xinjiang man and his wife & friend. At 5 pm they passed me on the highway and stopped their van 300 meters ahead. He told me "Stop your useless struggle against the damned wind and move your ass into my van, I'll take you to Luntai!".

Children on their way to school in Luntai, 9 am around - Beijing time!

This couple comes from Sichuan, they are what is called in mandarin "min gong ren", basic workers. They look for better salary in the far west of China. So far they had travelled 4000kms in 6 days. We shared a cigarette, they were super cool and friendly.

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Silk Road 2011