Make or break - that's what we tried to figure out today. So we're sure now that it is no 'make', we have to change plans. Despite all negotiations and checking out further options we will not be able to get my C-Trek out of the country legally. At the same time, my visa runs out on Friday and we don't want to give away what we already have organized for Central Asia.

This means we will have to leave the car in Kashgar and try to make the way to Ashgabat with other means of transportation which should be feasible after consulting our travel agent and our Lonely Planet Guide. We'll now get everything lined up tomorrow and leave China on Friday to Kyrgyzstan. in the late afternoon we did a nice round to the Id Kah Mosque and walked through the bazar-like surrounding...

You may ask what happens with the car now: I'll have to figure out. There is little hope to really export the car, the best we can expect to get it out of the country for maybe six months - but only with a huge deposit. This may mean I have to drive the car elsewhere, maybe to Beijing together with somebody's help. The options then also include selling the car even though it has done great service to me in the past fourty days and before.