I missed a day to the rain. The village that I got to know as wet and grey I discovered was perched in a beautiful snowy mountain lined meeting of valleys. I cycled up one of these valleys and down the other side, watching the landscape transform from grassy high mountain plains to a barren flat desert.
Summit prayer flags
When I left my little room at 3am to have a leak, I stepped outside and saw a starry sky, and a crescent moon. I smiled. The rain has gone, and the day cycling will be awesome. And it was. Three more kilometres on the crap road surface before the turn-off, and the smooth roads I have come to love in China.
My bedroom for the night
The rainy village in the sun
The road was a bit rough
Then a steady climb through the grassy yurt valley before the steep climb. I have grown used to these big climbs. I reach the end of the valley, look ahead at the ring of mountains and wonder where the road is going to go. Then I spot the road way up in some impossible place. How is the road going to get there? Well, it does. Somehow.
Yurts
High mountain valley
Top of the pass
And then the descent to beat all descents. In total the road drops from 3200m to below sea level – over 200km. It drops from the rolling grassy green landscape to the hot, desolate, rocky flats. I stopped after 131km at the edge of the wide flat expanse. The crossing of that to Turpan can wait until tomorrow.
The way down
It’s getting dryer
The dry rocky mountains
arctic-cycler.com 
That potholed road can hardly be called a road – bone jarring I can imagine! The yurt valley reminded me of the altiplano in Peru. I guess all high mountain valleys are probably similar!
Yes. The high plains often have yurts. Very beautiful place.