Pedaling from the Black Forest to the Yellow Sea

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).

daily distance: 152km
total distance: 12,681km
riding time: 8h

I had an early start after a night not far from the cemetery. Early on there were people going back and forth from the cemetery and what turned out to be a road to a little village further on and out of sight. I had been wondering whether anyone would come to the little shed that I was lying outside of every now and again, but no one did. Good thing … and unless someone really wanted to look for me they wouldn’t have been able to see me anyway.

Here are some impressions of the cemetery.

It was nothing short of a glorious morning ride … the wind in my back and the sun out. Best of all, the atrocious road from before Mingfen had not come back, but remained a pristine black line in the desert. It was great.

It was also not as monotonous as before Mingfen. A surprising number of trees and sand dunes made for some good scenery.

And the road was no longer busy at all. If I had 30 cars passing me or coming at me all day that would be a good guess I suppose. The wind changed again in the afternoon, but not as ferocious as on other days.

The markers lent themselves to some other thoughts … I will be here this year:

And I am really enjoying myself right this moment …

For dinner I had pasta and some melon to wash it down - and then watched the stars a bit before turning in, tucked behind the dunes and out of sight of everyone.