Gobi March Part 2 - Off to Urumqi and Kashi

We woke up at 530am to the sound of our phone alarms. Supposed to board the airport shuttle at 600am sharp. Shuttle came on time and off we went to the airport. We arrived at the airport and for the first time, we saw many of the participants. All of us are recognizable by the same Raidlight backpacks. Soon three familiar faces appeared. It was Team MR25 which consisted of Steven Lim, Jacob Johnson and Christian. We also got to know Nicholas whom now we know that he had the biggest lobangs when it comes to desert races. Flight time to Urumqi was approx 3hrs. We arrived smoothly at the airport because the airport itself is small. This is the beauty of being small. Can be efficient and not complicated.

We saw Dean Karnez "The Ultramarathon Man" and decided to take a picture. Nice bloke and we learnt from him that he had just finished an 700km race a week ago. It made people like us very normal. We learnt that our next flight was 9 hrs away! Being stuck 9 hrs in such a small airport is totally a test of our patience. Somehow, we survived that ordeal. We would be heading to Kashi airport for our final destination.
After 1.5hrs flight, we have finally landed. I believed ours is the last plane of the day. Once of the buggage area, we were greeted by the RTP staffs. We were whisked off to our buses and began our 20 minute drive to our hotel. We were told that our hotel is the newest in town. Once arrived, we were greeted by Mary Gadams, Zac and the rest of other RTP team. Checking-in to the hotel has been arranged. Within 5 minutes, Lam and myself got our room cards. We were pretty amazed by their technology. The doors are using tap card system and the facilities are new.

As tomorrow would be equipment-check and race briefing, Lam and myself got down quickly to prepare our backpacks. By 2am, we were ready to hit the bed. Has been a long day.