Pedaling from the Black Forest to the Yellow Sea

My apologies for the late posting. I have been having difficulties getting on the web. Either there are no internet cafes or I don’t see them or I am not allowed on (as was the case today in Hotan - needless to say I have moved on as I am typing this). Things are going well - no need to worry

daily distance: 114km
total distance: 11,895km
riding time: 5-6h

The day started out really well. The place I stayed at was great. I was introduced to so many Uyghur things that I was glad that of the uncertainty of last night. Uncertainty however was rampant at first. I meant to leave, but was signaled to stay for breakfast. Fair enough. Then, after some bread and grapes, I meant to leave and again was signaled to come along to some place. No idea where yet.

We then went to the “center” of town - just down the road and it was a treat. Sure, plenty of people staring at me and the like, but the food was delicious.

Cooked right there and then, Muma is great. Take a look for yourself.

Plenty of people seem to be coming here in the morning, drink their tea and eat a bite - then take off again. I would have never found out about it.

Then, more riding in the rather uninspiring desert. It was again hazy, with a bit more blue skies overhead.

I covered the first 80km rather quickly, stopped in Shache for a while and got going again - and found the old part of town. The cities here seem to be always divided between a modern Chinese part of town and a traditional Uy*ghur part of town. The same here - broad boulevards v. small narrow streets and the like. Business in both parts though.

I did some more riding, but didn’t get much done finally. 30km or so, that was it. I tried finding a place to camp, but there are always lots and lots of people. Can’t escape them. I meant to pitch when someone saw me and hailed me. I had to go over and ask whether it was OK to pitch. They asked me in instead - brought very yummy food over and we watched Chinese TV. They were Han Chinese - told me that they had moved from their province (Hanxi) over here - ostensibly with go*vernment subsidies. Those can’t be high however, given the conditions they lived in. It was very basic - mud bricks, mud ground and not much space at all. But it was another good glimpse into the life of people here for which I am grateful.

Some of you have asked what the map is for on the website. It shows where visitors to the site come from - or at least it appears that they are from, based on their IP address. As of today, I realize that I also have a reader from Greenland. But I also realized that the blip in Japan has grown considerably - and I know that one reader has been having a tough time. I can only hope that she can find the strength to get through this difficult time. And you know who you are.

daily distance: 131km
total distance: 11,781km
riding time: 7h

I meant to leave early today and couldn’t really. First off, I found that my helmet had a slight problem. Take a look for yourself. Now, I don’t know how this happened, but it could be something in the aftermath of Sary Tash, it could be something else.

After some more errands I got back on the bike and headed out. First conversations that really didn’t happen in Kashgar started to take place at a fruit stand. Germany was just a far place, so was Beijing I had the feeling.

Just before, a group of elderly Chinese (some younger ones as well, I suppose) was going through their morning ritual in a park.

She wasn’t part of that crowd …

Then it was out riding for the day. It is desert riding in a different way. There are still a number of oases and I don’t yet have the feeling to be in the desert. And it is rather cold most of the day. There are maybe two hours each day during which it is slightly warm, but it was dull grey sky for most of the day. Which invoked strange feelings of gloominess.

Heading into Yengisar a 12-year old girl stretched her arm out and pushed an apple into my hand as I was cycling by. It was an uplifting experience …. so were the great number of offers to put the bike on trucks or on stretch mofas. All were declined however.

In Yengisar the lone internet cafe was on the second floor. I had asked at a print shop and when I told them that the bike was a problem, one guy simply opened up a door, told me to put it in and it would be good. I was a bit cautious after what had happened, but he just gave me the key to the lock and told me to give it back when I was done. Awesome!!!

Then I pedaled on again into the afternoon. It was now dreary desert riding … there is a forest about 3km to the North, but through the haze one can barely see it. Other than that it is just wide I guess - but you can’t be sure because of the constant haze.

Finding a place proved tricky. All the oases are completely used up and the wind was fierce all afternoon (in my face of course), so after a while I was shown a place in a building with the national flag over it. All was good until someone made a phone call and it was no longer a go. No idea what happened. All of a sudden everyone was gone.

By now it was dark and kids were pestering me. Trying to find something was difficult, but in the end - after being turned away numerous times - a guy welding said it was no problem. He turned out to be a handy person - apart from being a welder, he was also a doctor of sorts and lots of other things, such as miller and farmer. An older man came in with a problem on his left elbow, clearly in pain. With lots of unorthodoxy, he seemed to have fixed him up pretty well, although the face of the old man was clearly showing agony.

Sleep came after a long day of cycling and some eerie moments of not knowing what would happen next, but all was well in the end.

A wander around Kashgar is really all there was to things today. And it is an interesting town. Although it must have lost much of what used to feel like. It is a city with big streets and lots of neon signs. And some old doors …

I will let the pictures speak for themselves for the most part. I tried looking for the old parts of town and just got lost there for a while. And they are certainly the most interesting of places.

Suffice it to say that I felt somewhat lost here and had my first moment of pushing the limits. This one came really fast - but I don’t get any of the signs any longer and communication is somewhat difficult. And it won’t be getting any better over the next few weeks as I am heading along the Taklamakan I guess. But things turned around quickly. I went to a little alley and saw tons of food stands there. I dug right in and when I left I was thinking that this will be a really interesting time here … I am sure that good things are in the offing.

There were lots and lots of wedding ceremonies today …

daily distance: 121km
total distance: 11,650km
riding time: 6-7h

It was a gorgeous morning after a beautiful though cold night. The stars were out in full force and the morning sunrise hitting the snow covered peaks in the distance are an unforgettable sight indeed.

I had camped just before a town and got more water and bagles for breakfast.

 And then it was rather uneventful riding through great landscape, with more and more towns lining the way. There are cities as well - in the middle of nowhere it seems. The are being built at the moment - and they don’t seem to be naturally growing by any stretch of the imagination.

By midday the wind picked up big time - I decided to take a break after hitting an ugly town and found a small restaurant and got a big portion of lagman - noodles and spicy sauce with lots of veggies. Good stuff.

Then it was into the wind again, which became stronger and stronger as the day went on. Then I could see dust in the air, meaning I was nearing the desert. The Taklamakan dust coming at me. Could be a familiar sight in the next couple of weeks as I will be following the southern edge of the desert.

I then arrived in Kashgar, coming out of the valley I was in for a while and then heading along a silky smooth road. At a toll road they wanted to make me go around a fence without me seeing where I would end up … instead I headed straight on, the lady smiling. Once in Kashgar, I checked into a hotel and cleaned up before heading into the city.

Kashgar … modern city, wide boulevards and lots and lots of people, but likely only a precursor of what is to come once I hit the larger cities in the center and the eastern part of China. But also distinctly Muslim, with many more women covered than in most other places than I have seen so far outside of Iran.

By chance I met Gilad and the others again … we chatted for a while. I turned in quite exhausted, but glad to have made it so far.

daily distance: 122km
total distance: 11,529km
riding time: 8h

It was cold, very cold in the morning. The night had brought more snow on the ground and because of the lay of the land, there was ice on the ground as well. I packed up my stuff at 8am and amidst the ice, snow and cold I set out for China.

The customs questions and medical exam were a no-brainer. 1 minute each, the first asking me how I got over the pass the previous day. I told him - he thought I was nuts. The second simply asked me whether I was physically fit. I said yes and he said OK. The immigration part was also easy and then I was let go. The road was icy and I had to be careful.

The trucks weren’t moving at all, so I was the first one to reach the first Chinese control post for the day. Here is what it looks like before getting there. Trucks were all over the place, some having skidded to a halt more than anything else.

I slipped up the hill more than anything else - the ice didn’t allow for any riding. Then I reached the border post - I was in China!!! The first one is only a control post - people were extremely professional, they radiod me in and after a few minutes I was able to move on. No problems for having gotten the visa in Tashkent. A friendly border guard and I chatted while the adminstrative bureaucracy was milling away … all the while standing in a grandiose landscape.

There was a long line of trucks waiting to move into Kyrgyzstan and I am sure they were there for a while longer. The actual border post is 8km further along - the road was no longer icy thank goodness, it being in the sun now. The truck drivers were heading back to their vehicles.

Again, very helpful staff at the border post - I had to wait for a while as things were moving at Beijing time, which is 2 hours up and it was then noon time. Don’t ask why this is … but I moved out as soon as I could and still had to wait.

Then I was really in China!!!

The border town is ugly, so I moved out. Maybe I should have picked up a pot there. Then I got to this one … it is probably a bit more. But hey …

The rest of the day was a lot of up and down, the snow giving way to greener valleys although I remained at the same altitude for most of the day. There wasn’t much water for most of the day, but thankfully that wasn’t an issue.

I am glad to be back on the bike in the end despite the problems I am having with the bike. It was in the end a longish day, with lots of altitude (1415m) and lots of km (122km). But it felt good and I felt good despite the long break. I picked a great spot for camping and had to remind myself that I was now in China … which kept putting on a big smirk on my face. The landscape is still grandiose, there are still Kyrgyz felt hats. But the roads are so different. Sealed, in good condition, with lots of signs. The people here honk all the time - slighly annoying, but they do it every time they pass someone it seems.

Signs are in Mandarin and Arabic and there is a feeling of strangeness as I can now no longer read anything unless it is written in English.