Late this afternoon, as the rest of the team edited video or wrote their reports, Tom Adair and I assembled our Voodoo mountain bikes and pedaled out of town. We wanted a sneak peek of the Taklamakan, the desert we're about to cross. It's early evening on the western edge of the world's most brutal desert, the Taklamakan. We're in China's most westerly city, Kashgar, about to begin AsiaQuest. Desert dust hangs in the air and casts a weird, silky glow over the city of around 250,000 Uighurs, the Turkic people who live here.
Men wearing felt hats ride mule-drawn carts down streets lines with silvery poplar trees.
Women, observing their Muslim faith, wear hood-like veils to cover their faces while children tend bagel stands on the side of the road. Though this is the biggest city in this part of China, far fewer ethnic Chinese live here than in San Francisco. Every Monday and Wednesday, team leader Dan Buettner will bring you tales of exploration and adventure. Twice a week in the Team Update, you'll read news of our progress on the Quest. My friends think I have the best job in the world.