Category — China

daily distance: 127km
total distance: 13,245km
riding time: 6h

I slept so well in the place I was in … nothing to disturb me and only the birds outside. It was hard to get up. But up and go I must. Or so it seems. Always driven. Always on the move. Getting tired of it a bit.

I went back to the center, buying what I would need for the next 3 days or so, found an internet cafe as well and then - didn’t find the road that I was looking for. I was on the right track for sure at first, but there simply was no road that branched off of it. It was only 50km later that a road came in from the road. But at this point I had made the decision to stay with what I had and move on. It was a bigger road and that was most likely for a reason.

Today was one of the most desolate stretches that I ever encountered. There was nothing there at all except for one town on the left hand side and then again, nothing. There was virgin asphalt after this part and many bridges that were not yet ready, but you could carry the bike across the dividers.

I slept under a bridge again, there was nothing else really. Tenting in open terrain is too much of a hassle, too visible and the like.

daily distance: 141km
total distance: 13,118km
riding time: 7-8h

It was an early morning … I opened my tent and heard absolutely nothing. I lay there and just enjoyed the silence.

Once that phase was over I got going on another long day with not much happening.

It was melonland however. In the middle of the desert you have these green strips where they grow loads and loads of the yummy fruit.

More desert was to follow in the afternoon. As a matter of fact, there was nothing but desert.

But the mountains became clearer - and then I saw Ruoqian. As I had made good progress, I thought I would jump into a hotel and do all the things you can do in civilization. But none of them allowed me in … all of them turned me away. It was a bit hard to believe, but that’s what happened. I was fed up and left and had given up all hope of finding something and as it was dark, it was hard to find a camp spot too. I was then invited by a family to stay at their place. Dinner was superb soup and entertainment was guaranteed.

daily distance: 142km
total distance: 12,977km
riding time: 8-9h

I have made a decision, I will not be pulling all the mileage to the Yellow Sea. It is maybe possible, but I am thinking that it is better not to try and instead bus / truck a part of the way. That gives me a bit more time and alleviates some of the problems with the visa extension as I will be in better territory to get an extension. The idea right now is to head over the mountains lying ahead and then see what I can get to get me to Xinin or somewhere around there.

The day started with a bit of a scare. I left my bag in a store, but recovered it thanks to the owner. After breakfast …

… I got under way, covering the first 45km quickly - which were in inhabited / wooded areas. Then, it was all desert after that. Sand dunes, boring desert and more desert. There were some animals towards the end of the day and some great lighting. Mountains were slightly coming out of the mist on the Southern side of things, but nothing that could have been pinned on pictures.

As for the mysterious km markers … I got a question about that: they are counting down to Xinin - which is still some more 2000km or so away from the Yellow Sea. But hey, it’s something to hold on to.

There isn’t much to report. I tried to get my visa extended, which I was almost certain would not be possible here and it wasn’t. Then I just explored town for a while, ate, slept, got a haircut and worked on the blog and did some other internet related issues.

Qiemo is a much more “Chinese” place than the others I have been to so far. By this I mean that the number of Han Chinese here is much greater than before where I had the impression that the Uyghurs had the clear majority (although I do realize that my pictures belie this statement).

daily distance: 154km
total distance: 12,835km
riding time: 8h

The night was cold, but the morning was beautiful. I tried to get moving early, but the long days are getting to me.

There wasn’t much going on today …

The road was still good and the weather was kind …

As was the case yesterday, the donkeys were out in full force.

There were houses every now and again and one village early on (rather decrepit), but other than that it was like this … long hours in the saddle and nothing much to look at.

I then got to Qiemo where I saw this …

And then I was looking for the town of Qiemo. I couldn’t seem to find it, so I kept moving along the road I was going to have to take. The mile markers for Qiemo went past and then, in the end, the town appeared. I was tired and didn’t feel like looking for a place for long. I found one, took it and then had dinner and fell asleep. Tomorrow is my day off and then further on to the Yellow Sea (or something like this).