Travelling with a bike

as opposed to travelling on a bike appears to be the order of the day at the moment. I have been thwarted by the weather, I had suspected this might happen. If I were sensible I probably would have departed a month later, although if I were sensible I probably wouldn't have got off a London bound plane in Hong Kong...

It is incredible how quickly the weather changed. One day I was contemplating riding in shorts, two days later I couldn't feel my toes through 2 pairs of socks. It was blowing a nor-westerly and had really turned cold. I rode a hard fought 30kms and stopped at Tianzhu. That afternoon it started to snow.

I have said from the beginning that I refuse to ride in snow. This is particularly the case when I know the road only gets higher meaning that the snow is more likely to have settled. So I boarded a bus. I have to admit I was feeling a bit pathetic as the road to the pass wasn't too bad, no big hills, and there was no snow on the road.

That was until I saw a car with a snow covered bonnet. Once we crossed the pass onto the northern side there was snow everywhere and the bus slowed to a crawl (speedo was broken - par for the course - but we can't have been doing more than 10kms/hr). At least I got an opportunity to take lots of photos out of the window.

The next day was fine and the bike and I departed unassisted. Then this morning I wake up and its snowing AGAIN. And again the road was going to get higher so I opted for motorised assistance, I am now in Zhangye. I suspect that this may be a pattern that continues all the way to Osh in Kyrgyzstan. The bonus is that from here on there are some sights to see (great wall, reclining buddha, caves...) rather than just more generic Chinese tower blocks.

For those of you that are concerned that I may be crossing China a little too quickly I'll just give you a little more info on the route. I have 2 maps to get me across China. Both to the same scale. I am almost across the first one. The second one is pretty much just Xinjiang uighur autonomous region in north-western China where I am headed. It is huge, one-sixth of China's total territory apparently. Dominated by the Taklamakan desert there isn't a direct route across it. I am hoping to take the northern route around the desert...more of that later.

Hitting the road again

I hit the road bright and early this morning, headed north west out of Lanzhou. Lanzhou is the last big city I will see in China, and I'm hoping this means the air might improve a little. I can't say I'm that sorry to have left the worst of industrial China behind me.

In complete contrast to yesterday today has been a good day. I meandered along the Yellow river for about 50kms then turned right and will be on this road for some time to come. Since I was leaving the river I expected hills, providing better scenery but slowing me somewhat. Turns out I was riding up a valley and the road was pretty much flat the whole way to Longdeng where I am now, with hills to the south west and only small villages en route. (computer crashed when I tried to transfer photos...) This has its downsides, because it means I feel obliged to ride further....topped 100k today.

I'll be slowing down in the next couple of days as I have spotted a pass on the map about 100k away. It doesn't say how high it is, but the very thought of it is enough to scare me right now.

I have also been amazed by the number of people up here who speak some English...guy in a petrol station, kids on a bike who rode with me for a bit, woman in the street who came to help me in the hotel...after a dearth of English in between Beijing and Xi'an this was surprising.

from bad to worse to pure ridiculous

The journey (well the 24hours in question) start in Xi'an train station. Being foreign and illiterate I thought it wise to get to the station in plenty of time. The flip side of this being that I had to wait in the stinking waiting hall being gawped at and having my photo taken on mobile phone cameras for which there was absolutely no need.

Then the train starts to board and everyone surges for the gate in what can only be described as a cross between a rugby scrum and the queue for the Harrods sale. I made it onto the train with a little assistance only to discover that it wasn't a train passing through Xi'an, Xi'an was the first stop meaning there was at least 1/2 an hour for boarding and the majority of people had beds booked so quite what the scrum was in aid of I have no idea.

After about 4 hours sleep we rocked up in Lanzhou and I set about reclaiming the velo. The woman in the office tried to send me away until 10am (3 hours hence). I figured if I just sat there they'd get sick of staring at me and relent - it can't possibly take 3 hours to locate a bicycle.

Half an hour later and we were on the road, the only thing was I had no idea if it was the right road as the map the hostel had on the internet was shockingly bad and the map in my book not much better. Luckily I had the address written down and the locals seemed to know the road. When I got to the hostel I walked in to this ridiculous greenhouse atrium thing. It had rooms all off it and was full of plastic flowers and rocks, it even had a little river running through it and a miniature bridge despite the fact that you could step over it in a normal sized step. All these were simply obstacles to the velo...

After much form filling and chat in crap Chinese I had a bed. I decided not to nap, but to venture into town to see if I could book a tour to the Bingling Si caves.

Feeling a little peckish I stopped for some food, which chipped a tooth.

Decided on a taxi as I was not in a good mood at all. The first one couldn't understand me. The second one broke down. I ended up walking most of the way (should have taken the bike, but small issue of a map...).

Bingling Si cave tours weren't running (this was one of the 2 reasons I was in Lanzhou).

Noone could give me a map of Lanzhou - they suggested I go to the bookshop and buy one...not so helpful when you don't know where the bookshop is.

Spent an hour looking for the internet to find out what one does about a broken tooth.

Got another taxi to what is purportedly one of the best museums in China (the second reason for my stop in Lanzhou). It was closed for renovation.

Went back to the hostel. Things started to look up. I met an Israeli couple who had had a similarly frustrating day. Went to the dentist (turned out there was one right next to the hostel) and have had what I hope is a temporary fix.

From here on things just became more and more ridiculous. While the Israeli guy was at the bank some man in the "hostel" bar (see photo above) tried to buy us for 100 yen...which obviuosly just sent me into hysterics. We finally managed to get rid of him and then the Israeli guy was forced to drink shots of beer with the big potato (read big cheese) of the "hostel" (they weren't interested in drinking shots with the ladies thankfully, possibly due to our earlier rebuff...).

This is an abridged version and probably doesn't make that much sense. Suffice it to say it was a memorable day and I was pleased to be back on the road this morning.

The "start" of the Silk road

As the one time capital of China, Xi'an was the last stop on the Silk Road for those travelling east or the beginning for those travelling west. So its only right and proper that they have a monument to mark the "start" - the Chinese see it as the start and not the end - of the Silk Road. This thing was basically a huge statue of camels (apparently they didn't travel by velo back in the day) and traveller types serving as a huge climbing frame for the local kids.

And so it appears that I am now on the Silk Road proper.

I have one day left in Xi'an and am going to bike around the old city walls, apparently my bike isn't allowed, so I'll be on a flying pigeon...Tonight I'm headed for Lanzhou on the train which will buy me some time to go and see some of the sights further north/west (visa clock is ticking...) and hopefully get me somewhere with cleaner air.

Sights of China - Part II

I have been on the road for two weeks and have managed a few scenic detours. I went to a great museum in Xi'an with clay pots and water jugs dating from 3000BC....wow. And I was impressed that the Chinese had wine jugs (ornate, animal shaped ones) over 2000 years ago.

I have also been to see the Terracotta warriors. I'm loath to rave about them too much as they have received so much publicity recently, but they were spectacular. I'll spare you the history lesson since wiki can probably do a better job than me, but Emperor Qin Shihuang (the emperor famed for unifying China) had in excess of 270,000 people work for 4 decades to create his tomb about 2000 years ago. The tomb itself covers something like 56 square kilometres. The terracotta warriors are just part of this tomb and you have to wonder what else is lying in state under the urban sprawl (most of the tomb hasn't been excavated).

44 years after the discovery of the warriors, excavation is still not complete and in places it resembled some kind of bizarre mass grave with bits of clay people strewn all over the place.

Like most things in China, the scale is difficult to comprehend.

One thing I hadn't banked on was these little chariots. After all the hype surrounding the warriors it was nice to have a little surprise in the museum. They are half size, solid and adorned with silver and gold and buried complete with spare parts in case of breakdown(!)...generally super super cute.

The route thus far

For those map/google earth geeks among you, thought I'd post a little info on the route thus far with a few missing photos as my patience is running out...

I left Beijing on Monday 10th March and headed south to Xingtai where I got a train to Xinxiang. In Xinxiang I had a day off the bike and went in search of tombs (another goose chase that saw me taken to a village in the middle of exactly NOWHERE before taking a detour via the university to find a translator...).

Leaving Xinxiang was the nightmare that saw me end up on the motorway. After a failed attempt to leave the motorway and find the side road I rode for about 10k before wussing out entirely and flagging a ride at a toll stop. The most ridiculous thing about this little escapade is that people were directing me to the motorway despite the fact they could see I was riding a bike(including the police I might add) but then this is China...

I got a ride to Xingyang and crossed the Yellow river (the first time, or second if you count the train ride from Hong Kong). From Xingyang I headed west, crossing the Yellow river to a place called Pinglu (a name that has given me endless amusement solely because it sounds like the penguin!) and rode along the northern bank on a smaller (and hillier) road. This is me looking puffed half way up about the 15th valley of the day.

The landscape along this road was incredible, and well worth the extra exertion. Huge yellow clay hills, valleys covered in man made steps cultivated with crops and hundreds of caves carved out of the hillside.

I'm not entirely sure what the caves were for. Some were empty, others had doors and windows, some were stables and others were storehouses and I'm not sure that there weren't people living in a few of them.

From there I lost myself on the map (either the map was wrong or the road had disappeared, or I couldn't find it - all of which are equally plausible). Luckily finding the river wasn't such a challenge. Finding a bridge across it was another story. I took a 10k detour through a hutong trying to avoid what looked like a motorway that everyone kept on directing me to。 Eventually I found a very nice lady who rode the motorway road (nothing like my first motorway experience) with me, after I packed a huge sad at the gathering crowd of people gawping at me - this being the third such crowd on the same stretch of road in the space of half an hour.

From there I took another road that wasn't on my map (the joys of heading west). This one was mostly unsealed and by the time I reached the mountains of Huayin the bike was looking a little grubby. Huayin turned out to be a little like a Chinese version of Tongariro, with lots of Chinese tourists making the pilgrimage. I have no idea which the sacred peak is, but it looked pretty impressive nonetheless.

From Huayin I biked the final 120kms into Xi'an yesterday under glorious sunshine. By the time I reached the hostel the speedo stood at 950kms.

The perils of solo travel

I am a fan of travelling alone (just as well I suppose), however, it does have its drawbacks. Picture the scene. Emma, a bike, really really rank air. The sort of air that you don't really want to breathe, but holding your breath only makes you cough and splutter and inadvertantly breathe a little more. Added to the haze of pollution it appears to be whatever the Chinese equivalent of bonfire night is and there are a series of small fires lining the street. Truly hideous. And on the street the locals are going about their business, but a few of them have dirty faces. Emma wonders idly why someone doesn't point this out to them so they could go and wash their cheeks - a passing thought.

The day continues with more of the same. Emma passes a number of hideous factories doing she knows not what, but she also passed Henan's coal gasification plant. It appears that this plant is used to get rid of the dirty coal residue. Anyone who knows how rank this stuff is first time around (those little black cylinders of coal that the Chinese cook over)can imagine how gross it smells the second time around.

After a gruelling 80k trying desperately not to breathe too deeply. Emma sets her sights on a hotel and proceeds to bargain with them over 10 kwai (about 2 dinners in the Chinese wop wops). All of this takes some time and involves 4 or 5 different people. Price agreed Emma and bike head to their room for the night and wave goodbye to the multiple fuyang who are helping carry bags.

At this point I look in the mirror and I am sporting a full on monobrow of dirt. I have no idea how long I looked this ridiculous for, and can't quite believe that I'm posting photographic evidence, but it made me laugh so much I had to share!

Who knows how silly I would have looked had I not had a helmet, glasses and facemask to offer some protection....

The journey west begins

well its been an eventful few days. I am currently in Luoyang, probably about 900k sw of Beijing. I say probably because I haven't done all of it on the bike. Have been having a few teething problems, not to mention the motorway I inadvertantly ended up on (yes that is possible). So I did about 300k on the train and about a hundred in a blue 3 wheeler that I flagged on the motorway (always wanted to go in one of those!), and the rest on the bike. I am now headed west and it is nice to know that so long as the sun is on my back in the morning I'm headed home!

Yesterday in an effort to camp in the hills I turned off the main road and headed up the mountainside. Only the mountainside was covered in houses. Those bits that weren't inhabited were cultivated. I never did find the "Mountain Flower watering hole scenic area" which I thought might be a forest of some description. I did find this little lady

(she was very small) and her lodging house. It was absolutely hysterical, she treatd me like a small child, making sure I washed my face and my feet and behind my ears and gave me some strawberry face cream. All this while she watched me intently and shouted very loudly very close to my face. This morning she came in to wake me up (as if her rooster's incessant crowing from 1am hadn't already ensured an early start...) and proceeded to watch me dress and pack - privacy clearly not an issue.

Saw my first hills today, and some very strange gathering with a marching band, stage, lots of official looking black sedans and lanterns, all at the top of a very big hill...my Mandarin clearly doesn't stretch to - what is this? - and even if it did I doubt they'd understand me. They have a distinctly west country lilt down this way.

Other than that I'm battling the dust. Not sure this photo quite does justice to the "I forgot to take last night's mascara off" look that I seem to have all the time.

I'm less concerned about me than the bike, or at least the bike chain...which means I'm trying to clean it every couple of days at least.

Any luck I'll be in Xi'an next weekend. Till then...

Practicalities

I am managing to eat you'll be pleased to hear. There is usually a market on every street corner and fruit is easy to come by, that is if you can stomach the audience - it is entirely normal for a crowd of 20 to gather to watch me buy bananas. Buying anything that is already cooked is a little more fun. I generally tell them I don't eat meat and then just to be sure I get out my little picture book (thanks Benley) and point at the page with animals as I say "I don't eat" and then point at the page with vegetables and say "I do eat". Its all very comical and the waiting staff seem to find me very curious.

On the internet everything you might ever want to look at is banned which makes it slightly less annoying that I can never find an internet cafe (I'm on another borrowed computer).

The only other things that are noteworthy other than the pollution, the endless audiences and the navigation are the toilets which are getting grimer by the mile. I'm thankful the petrol stations have them, but am not so sure about the communal squatters...

The sights of China

The landscape thus far has been farmland, lots of people tilling the soil (is that what you do to soil?), and flat. The flat is a bonus, but comes with its drawbacks. I think I'm basically skirting down the western edge of China's populated eastern industrial plateau which means the air stinks. Every time I think its getting better I'm mistaken. But I think I am now over the worst of it (just over 400k south of Beijing). Other than that there have been a lot of dried up river beds and mountains of plastic bags abandoned among the rubble (am trying my best to stop them giving me plastic bags, with limited success).

On the way out of Beijing I gave Tiananmen a miss after my efforts to see the Mao-soleum the other day I wasn't rating the chances of a photo in front of the famous Mao portrait very highly. So I left Robyn's bright and early

and headed for the Marco Polo bridge. The bridge was awesome, although one would hope that Marco Polo had a clearer view over it than I had. In the middle you can see the original stones...no I didn't ride my bike over them, figured there'll be more than enough opportunity for riding over craters over the next few months.

From there I was headed to the Western Qing tombs, but didn't make it because there were no sign posts (except one to Daxing Country seat...) and I really didn't fancy losing myself on the map quite this early on. Also I was quite keen to put some k's on the clock.

So I've just been headed south on the same road ever since. I think I will probably stick with this road as far as the Yellow River and then hang a right and head over the hills into Xi'an. Some of the signposts are still in pinyin (although fewer and fewer) and the road is relatively well sealed - with some notable exceptions...

Day two and still pedalling

I am still alive. Somewhere on the G107 about 200k south west of Beijing. Have absolutely no idea if this is an internet cafe or not. There are 2 computers and about 5 other people all watching over my shoulder which is more than a little offputting!

The riding so far has been fine. Flat roads, fine weather. The air is still grim, although not quite as bad as yesterday when visibility was down to 2-300m in places. Haven't yet braved the tent as there are people everywhere. The land I'm cycling through is pretty much all farmland and I wussed out last night, we'll see what tonight brings. Final destination about 15 k down the road.

Will write more when I find a computer without an audience.

The long-awaited departure

Having been in Beijing 2 weeks I am now all visa-ed up as far as the Caspian Sea. I will have to stop in Tashkent to get a visa for Azerbaijan...having found the embassy here I was told they couldn't give me one, something to do with needing to pay in pounds and them not having the right bank account, but its alright because I can get one in the airport - not SO helpful).

Anyway I have missioned around Beijing collecting all the things I could possibly need for the next few weeks (white gas was a hoot) its been quite a treasure hunt. Today I have battled the bulge (the panniers not the puku) and ditched some of my possessions although I suspect not enough...I board the bike in the morning and should hit Xian in a couple of weeks.

All that remains is for me to say thanks to Jill for putting me in touch with Robyn, Alia for taking me out (and making sure I can get home again) and Robyn for putting me up, helping me out and showing me round.

Let the adventures commence...

Sights of Beijing - Part II

Having been reunited with my bike I decided to take advantage of my newfound freedom, avoid the combo of buses/tubes/walks/taxis that have got me round Beijing thus far and ride round to the Summer Palace. So I set out to ride 25k round the auxiliary road of Beijing's 4th ring hoping that it would just lead me to the palace and it did - oh the joys of a grid layout.

The Palace was awesome. It was really nice to see some open spaces and the silhouette of the Fragrant Hills to the west of Beijing (whoever thought I'd miss Wellington's hills?!). The buildings were great and it did slightly amuse me that this kid was allowed to play tennis up against the wall of one of the (UN heritage) buildings and noone was batting an eyelid - comedy.





On the way back I spotted this little birds nest. The observant among you may notice the road in between the camera and the nest...14 lanes I kid you not. Pollution a problem? No way they'll just ban the cars from the road!

The sights of Beijing

In between my embassy runs I have been getting out and about in Beijing doing some sightseeing.

Below are a few photos from the Forbidden City, the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties, so called because it was forbidden for commoners to enter (signalled by its moat, walls and huge red doors hung at every entrance). It was built in the early 1400s and added to by successive emperors. The biggest and most impressive halls were being renovated, but there was plenty left to see.

I also made it to the Temple of Heaven which is an incredible structure...

I have been perusing the markets which is an experience in itself, and there are almost as many markets as there are bicycles (well maybe not quite - 9 million bikes is a lot of bikes). More than once I have made the mistake of enquiring how much something is only to end up walking away with it. If you express any kind of interest then its very hard to say you don't want it or don't like it. Shopping in the markets is definitely an art form I have yet to master, but I haven't yet walked (or ridden) away with a mini-Mao...

Although at times I can't help but wonder if I wasn't the sight to be seen. The overwhelming majority of the tourists over here are Chinese which means that I draw a few stares in even the most touristy of places. I had my photo taken surreptitiously by some guy on Tiananmen Square and starred in someone's home movie as I was coming down the stairs of a temple...

But I have also been doing a fair amount of bike spotting. Some of the best I have seen are a guy who had two large fish tanks on the back of his trike complete with goldfish, the men who have kumara cooking in metal drums on the back and the old guys who have throne style seats on the back of their trikes where their wife sits while they pedal furiously (Grandpa I think you should get one)...comedy. They will put anything on the back of a bike here - hours of entertainment!

The happy reunion

My velo has finally caught up with me a few days late and a little battered and bruised, but nothing too serious thankfully.

To get my sticky mitts on it I had to pass the Chinese bureaucracy test - in the space of 2 1/2 hours I saw about 20 different people in 11 different offices none of whom spoke any English. Early on in the piece some random guy took pity on me and from then on I just smiled, traipsed around after him and signed forms and looked thoroughly put out when I was told I had to visit yet another office and pay another customs tax. My newfound friend didn't speak any English so I just kept my fingers crossed. Somehow it all worked out and my first brush with Chinese bureaucracy hasn't scarred me for life although can't say I'm desperate for a repeat...

The bike box was a little battered and I wasn't entirely sure what I would find when I opened it so I wussed out of unpacking it at the airport and put it in a taxi. I was amazed that it fitted in the boot, ok so the boot didn't exactly shut, but it was at least 80% in.

When I finally got it up to Robyn's apartment it was like Christmas I was very excited which is a little ridiculous given that I knew what was in my oversized parcel...

There were a few technical hiccups...the bike appears to have flown most of the way with one of the brake levers compressed which meant it took a while to get the front wheel on (I wasn't really feeling the unicycle look).

I tried to ease myself in gently by going for a ride around the park yesterday. Paid my Y5 (you have to pay to get into parks over here...). The woman at the desk was looking a bit strangely at my bike but didn't say anything. So I thought I must be allowed to ride through the park...error. Clearly not. She launched at me in a tirade of Mandarin which I clearly didn't understand...that'll be me riding round the car park then.

The bike and I have since graduated to the road. I'm having to remember to ride on the right, although it doesn't make that much difference since the road rules (I am assured that there are some, its just they're pretty incomprehensible to foreigners...) are only loosely adhered to over here.

Navigating Beijing

Beijing is an incredible city. Although somewhat in flux at the moment. With the amount of building, cleaning, restoration and redesign going on anyone would think the Chairman himself is due to rise from the dead...suffice it to say that it is an all out effort to make the city shiny and new for the olympics in August.

All of this is fascinating to watch. The building work goes on round the clock, there are bubble wrapped ticket machines and swipers in the tube stations to replace the two people currently on duty and streets are being developed all over. Aside from being a fascinating spectacle, this makes navigation a NIGHTMARE. Most of the street signs are in pinyin (romanised version of Mandarin) as well as Mandarin, but there's no AtoZ of Beijing. Tourist maps don't really exist, there are no iSites to plunder for information.

This basically means you find your way around in taxis, there are taxi books with common destinations in them in English and Mandarin which you can use to direct the taxi driver by pointing. If your destination isn't in the taxi book you have to go somewhere near and then walk or call someone who speaks English and knows where you are going and have them direct the taxi driver in Mandarin.

Alternatively if, like Emma, you have no idea whatsoever where a particular embassy is you walk and walk and walk and walk a bit more and pick up scraps of paper where people have written the names down for you and pester the guards and anyone else who happens to be passing to see if they know where you're trying to get to. Only problem is most people haven't heard of Azerbaijan....

So it took me 4 days just to locate the 4 embassies I needed - comedy. In that time I have also managed to get visas for Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Two down, two to go...

In my wanderings I have also managed to take in some of the sights, below is a view of the Forbidden City and the city to the south on a relatively clear day, pollution haze gets much worse than this.

More of my sightseeing adventures later.

Craig - am pleased to hear I have 5 Bridges stamp of approval (albeit unofficial, will table a motion for official approval when I return). In the meantime I'll keep my eyes peeled for any schools or Soviet style boot camps (!) that might provide twinning opportunities. In answer to your question I'll be in Beijing for about another week sorting out visas. The velo should (fingers crossed) arrive on Monday - whether I will be able to find the depot where I have to pick it up is another question entirely (that navigation thing again...) and I should be in the saddle sometime around the 11th or 12th of March.