Day 230 (China): Xining (gloomy skies will brighten up … at some point)

Arrival in a new city. I was not looking forward to it and despite the cramped quarters would have liked to remain where I was. The night had been awful … the situation had only gotten worse during the night and my two companions weren’t budging much. But we got to Xining and I was not looking forward to fighting another battle for a hotel. I had to I guessed. Short of moving on to Lanzhou (another four hours by bus) I dind’t have much of an option.

So I got my stuff, checked my bike and headed out. And there was this moment … they just happen every now and again. I put my bags on my bike and just then I felt that I didn’t want this to be the end of the trip. That I wanted to move on. This lasted for only a bit of time - but despite the shortness it was uplifting. I headed out and was turned away a few times and then found a place. It was time for a long, hot shower. I considered sleeping a bit, but decided that I was hungry and might as well scout the city for something to eat and a derailleur. The first one wasn’t a problem. We got in at 6:30am and now it was 8:00am because it had taken forever to find a hotel.

I was also looking to extend my visa. The PSB office was easy enough to find. On the way I already saw plenty of uniforms.

But the office was closed. What? I knocked. An old man spoke good English and said that I would have to come back Monday. What? It’s closed? But it’s Friday! No, said the man - with a bewildered look at me. It is Saturday and it won’t take long to do the visa. Maybe one day. That was good news, so things were looking up. Finding a derailleur was a bigger issue. I looked long and hard, was sent this way and that way. It was cold and I was still tired and didn’t feel like looking around for long. I was just about to give up when I by chance happened upon a bike store. I had seen none at all before and here was one with new road and mountain bikes. And they had Shimano derailleurs on them. Good. Do you have a derailleur without the bike? The guy looks at me blankly - then pulls out a very low end derailleur to my great delight. This was what I needed. I told them to keep it under lockdown and that I would come by the next day as they were closing things down.

Will be back tomorrow. Then more food over which I talked to a local agriculture professor here in Xining. Some more internet time and then I turned in. Xining will be get a more apt description tomorrow, suffice it to say that it is large enough to not only have one, but at least two of these …

I will stick with the yummy local food though.