Slept in again this morning as i felt the slight tinge of fluness upon awakening. Weary from the previous days cycling, I only got out of XingXingJia at about 10. Getting on the road i suddenly witnessed explosions in the near vicinity. Curiosity getting the better of me, i turned in my road cycling shoes for the off road variety and went to investigate. around the corner they were blasting the mountain away preparing the track for the new highway. It was an awesome sight.

Back on the road a sudden gale picked up, fortunately for me, a tailwind this time. Unbelievably the wind kept getting stronger and stronger, so much so that at certain times i considered stopping under the impression that i was inches away from being blown off my bike. Screaming along at speeds in excess of 40km/h up ahead appeared the faces of 2 distraught looking cyclists coming the other way. screeching to a halt this lovely couple gave some key advice the road ahead of me, to which i likewise reciprocated with, unfortunately not so good, news for the way behind me. The comparison of our speeds sheds light on the intensity of the wind. They had averaged only 5km/h for the days cycle so far. I replied stating my average speed was 35km/h which was a lie as my average at that point was 37.2 km/h. Needless to say i covered 140km that day in relatively no time at all. With Hami about 60 km away, i made camp in one of those fairy tale oasises you see on the cartoons. Oasis came complete with green trees, a little spring, but no naked girls.