Loulan Hotel - Ruoqiang

From hotels where the boiler is turned off at midnight to ones where
we have marble bathrooms and our own personal sauna, this trip is
delivering the full range.

Because China has only one time zone across the whole country the
Loulan Hotel dining room opens for breakfast at 9.00am. But it was
still quite light last evening at 9.30pm.

It's now 6.38am and we are timed to hit the road at 7 heading for
Urumqi. Should be a big day but we have a rest day before heading to
Beijing.

Ruoqiang

Have arrived here on 2 May at 7.00pm after 13 hours. Got lost a couple
of times despite having maps and GPS.

Travelled 800 or so kilometers all through desert country of varying
sorts. We are now off the Tibetan Platuea at Bout 900m asl.

The road was generally good but the landscape was sometimes like being
on the moon. Almost no vegetation the whole way, which is why the
scene below is such a relief - being a street scene in the above town.

Tomorrow we hope to reach Urumqi, presumably through similar countryside.

More desert heading to Ruoqiang

Another view of Youshashan

An oil town. Very windy and extremely dusty town enroute to Ruoqoiang.
We've done 500k this morning and have 350 to go.

Lunch stop at Youshashan

On the road heading west from Da Qaidam

Qaidam Basin

Left this morning at 6.00am but quickly found that there are
discrepancies between our numerous maps, the gps and what is actually
being built on the ground.

The landscape is absolutely devoid of vegetation. We are 2700m above
sea level in the Qaidam basin heading west toward Mangnai Zhen.