Mood:
a-okFolks I am chillin' in Urumqi, getting ready for what I beleive to be the best challenge of the journey, crossing the Gobi. In the last several days I passed out of bleak desert into some very nice irrigated lands full of melons and vineyards. I'll skirt along a mountain range for about a week before hitting Hami, where the road turns south and plunges across the open desert. I have faith from what I've seen so far, the roads are very nice and have good space on the side and there's the national gas stations every 20-40 k's. Like most things, I'm expecting the worst and it'll probably be just fine as long as I keep thinking ahead.
Urumqi is a very large nice city but in the country it looks like a post nuclear age where everyone just decided to move back in. Everyone lives in some mud shack or broken building.They just put a shade cover up front and move in. I needn't mean to speak poorly of what I see, it's just the only way I can quickly describe it. The people are just as nice as I've run into, everytime I stop they whip out a drink, a melon and smokes and politely ask if they can have their picture taken with me and offer me a place to stay. I'm having to relay this and the rest of my messages for the journey thru Cody, my website will simply not load here in China, there's a national filter and perhaps because mine is a new site it hasn't made the grade.
I really enjoy reading everyones remarks to the blog so I am going to have Cody email me all of the comments. Again, I'll try to load some pics, but can't promise anything. I'm keeping my head into this, trying to ride it hard all the way to the finish, telling myself don't ever think you've made it until I arrive in Hong Kong. Plenty of adventure ahead and some incredible scenery. Oh and plenty of mountains. Take care everyone. Brian
