We set off into the desert from Turpan and ran straight into a sandstorm. The wind was sufficient to slow us down to 30km/h and we made a gand total of 200km into the wind on the first day, stopping at 19:30 to make camp. Camping that night was interesting, sleep only came after I'd wrapped a sheet around my head to keep the sand out of my mouth and nose while I slept. On the second day we had the wind (and the inevitable rain) at our backs and covered ...

Haved spent the last five days crossing the Taklamakan desert and have now arrived in Turpan, the hottest city in China. We're lucky, the temperature is still in the low thirties, reaching 35 degrees yesterday. The real heat is expected to arrive in two weeks time (when we will hopefully be ensconed in air-conditioned, five star luxury in Xi'an). The Taklamakan desert is the flattest and wettest we've yet encountered. We've been rained on every night and our...

Now in Kashgar, having made it safely across the Torugart Pass from Kyrgyzstan. The total crossing time was 3 hours and 25 minutes - far less than the 16 hours one punter had bid for on the trcuk sweepstakes. Kashgar is our first official Chinese city, but in many ways it's not very Chinese at all. The population is mostly Uighar, with Kyrgyz and Tadjiks in the countryside outside the city. There are pockets of Han Chinese within the city, and it's fair...