‘Mei you.’
There is a chatter of ‘weiguoren’ (foreigner). No hotel room for foreigners. Only the (4 star) official foreigner hotels are ok. After an hour of looking, I left Guazhou and off into the windy desert to camp.
The wind blowing the Chinese flag
It was slim pickings along the road regarding food. Not the restaurant every 10km I was used to. I left with enough water, ate some snacks on the way, and stopped at multiple melon stands to eat a melon or two. More than that was not on offer. Big town Guazhou was the first restaurant, and a multitude of hotels. Having travelled with Achun (who officially also needs to stay in foreigner hotels, being from Hong Kong) I was ready for an early evening and a long rest before the long slog into the desert. It was not to be.
The long desert road
After a further slog into the wind, I find myself in a dry creek bed near a little oasis village, only accessible from the road parallel to the freeway. I don’t think they get many people outside of the village here.. ☺
arctic-cycler.com 