A beautiful, crisp, clear dawn greeted us in Aksu today. After a simple breakfast of steamed dumplings the riders took the road out of the city and churned past the multitude of small villages flanked by lush green trees and vegetation, dodging people, cars, trucks, dogs and donkeys before hitting the open road. The landscape turned into a desert and the rugged sandstone ridges rose up towards the bright blue sky. Sounds nice? Well, it was and although for the first 50km, the traffic was rather manic,when the landscape turned, the pace eased and the riders relaxed with many coming in with a tired, but happy look on their faces. Lunch consisted of noodles, pasta salad, sweet bread and hot drinks (as much as you wanted) so it was a long term affair with many deciding to take their time and enjoy the warm sunshine. A sweet little flu bug has descended onto the group, so riders are hanging out with croaky voices and chesty coughs but nothing too serious. As the day wore on, the desert camp appeared on the flats, just past a large power station (mmmmmm, sounds lovely doesn’t it?) but 300m off the road, on a flat with an awesome view of the mountains, we are enjoying the scenery, soaking up the atmosphere, relaxing under a Chinese sunset and swatting mosquitoes. It seems eons ago that we were in Kashgar enjoying a rest day but tomorrow, yet another rest day is upon us……the town of Kucha, a mere 100km down the road……down the flat road so everyone is hoping for a tailwind to get us there quick so they can enjoy a good rest after 5 days of averaging 150kms plus!
There is a reason why the road we have been travelling on is so quiet during the day; all the trucks travel on it throughout the night! All night long our wee little paradise of a desert camp echoed with the roar of trucks, the horns of the all night buses and the ‘clunk, clunk’ of the trains. At least the cool temperatures made it easy and enjoyable to sleep! The long distance today meant that riders packed up and got ready to hit the road early. What lay ahead was 175km of mostly flat terrain with a couple of villages along the way. The fact we lost the mountain range early made the landscape feel more like a desert than the last few days. Lunch at 90km and a refreshment stop at 145km made sure everyone stayed well-hydrated and well-fed. All in all it was a great ride until we crossed through a toll booth and hit the outskirts of the city of Aksu; a dusty, industrial, city of over a million. The riders had to compete with horse carts, bicycles, motorbikes, scooters, buses, trucks, cars and pedestrians to finally make it to the Aksu Inn. It seemed like a pearl after the last 10km of riding amongst the traffic. Their arrival was also made pleasant by the Jiang Nan Bath Center, offering massage therapists, saunas, showers and baths to dusty and weary riders! So while some riders slogged it out over 175km, others enjoyed a massage or ate in the yummy little restaurant at the back of the hotel. Miles and the African Routes boys chopped and cooked vegetables (and filled the water tanks) before a crowd of highly amused, excited and curious Chinese folks. The rest of the staff…..well we rode, we manned refreshment stops, handled check in at the hotel, fixed bikes and if you were Elaine, then you cleaned wounds and dealt with all the various other illnesses floating around the group at present! Errol, who is the undisputed Captain of the lunch truck at present, servies up savoury crepes, fried egg and toasted sandwiches and all sorts of other goodies (when you are on the road…..things like this are gold!). So, we may not be able to write a ‘Rough Guide’ or ‘Lonely Planet’ description that would do anu justice to the city of Aksu, but for the 30th of September 2007, it will be remembered as the wee pearl in a 5 day stretch of desert camps along the Silk Route in China…..and that’s enough for these riders!
Good morning desert camp (or should I say Café Camp/busy all night truck stop) and hello again to flat roads , fried egg sandwiches and hot drinks for lunch at a roadside petrol station. After a busy and noisy night at our pink and white striped café (trucks coming and going and the ‘ladies of the night’ were hard at work) as well as a few solid hours of rain, it was a slowish start for the riders today. A pleasant start was replaced by rain and some cold temperatures but as we moved further east the weather cleared up, the rain went away, the temperature rose to a comfortable level and the wind decided to calm down and blow behind the riders instead of in their faces. The route was mostly flat and probably the most exciting thing that happened was Big Dave holding a stretching class at the desert camp. The scenery around is starting to resemble the desert but the beautiful sandstone hills still rise up next to us on one side and the flat, gravelly and scrubby desert scenery is ever-present on the other side. After lunch, the ride was mostly downhill, the wind played nice, a couple of villages appeared in which we were able to buy drinks and snacks. Before we knew it, we arrived at camp, an abandoned fuel station at the foot of the mountains and a short walk from a local village that housed some great cafes selling beer, snacks, sodas and other yummy fare. So some of the riders spent the afternoon relaxing in cafes, some hung out in their tents, some fixed their bikes, some read, some slept, some stretched and some just socialized as life in China rolled by! Tomorrow, the town of Aksu awaits a few hundred kms away and as most riders are planning what part of the day to ride, all are hoping for a ripper tail wind to get them to the hotel early!!!
Well, well, well! It is official that in this part of China, as reported, there are headwinds and today, they arrived with all the trappings to give the riders a sweet little added bonus. The first 50km were pure bliss; a flat road, gorgeous mountain scenery, not too hot or cold. Then the winds did roar; from the back, from the side, from the front and from basically all over the place! So the last 100kms of the ride were frustrating and tough for the riders. Many grouped up to help each other all the way through to our sweet little campsite, the grounds of a café (with pink and white walls) where beds are available (many have taken this option as it is cool here tonight!). The café serves food and drinks (of all kinds) and there is a gigantic wall that offered wind protection enabling Miles to cook a hot meal! Tomorrow’s ride brings much of the same ‘stuff’ and another desert camp but this is what the trip is all about; enjoying the company, taking in the scenery, learning about other countries, appreciating a well-earned drink at the end of a hard day, taking lots of photos, eating tasty meals and dealing with the environments (beautiful but sometimes harsh) that we have chosen to travel and ride through. This is really what an expedition and biking heaven are all about. We really are the lucky ones.
Oh, wonderful, beauitful and, oh so very modern, Kashgar! Today, after a delicious yummy chinese buffet breaky (noodles, noddles and more noodles), our lovely bikers explored the city of Kashgar spending big on shoes, clothes and souvenirs, eating in all the delicious noodle places and enjoying the sights that make this city buzz. There is a bike shop here so those desperate for parts spent their morning there, bikes were scrubbed and most who were suffering from bugs of one kind or another slept and rested. We all enjoyed the hot showers! Trucks were insured and registered, food shopping was done, more noodles were consumed and more toilet paper bought and generally everyone just enjoyed the feel and the craziness of the place. Tomorrow, we are heading east and apparently into some headwinds.....we'll see! The group is a wee bit smaller with four riders gone but Joy and Brian will make up two places and with some flat roads ahed we can do nothing but fly along the pavement and enjoy the scenery China has put on offer for us!!!
How can one explain the pure bliss of cycling 74km, 70 of those km's being downhill!! A brief climb out of the campsite along the highway and then...yeeeehah, all the way into Kashgar as we dropped in elevation from 2200m to 1200m. What a ride! The rugged sandstone mountains were fringed with green fields, poplar trees, quaint villages and delightfully lovely and friendly school kids who waved non-stop! Oh, and was a tailwind mentioned? With everyone in by early afternoon, it means that we have a day and half to explore the treasures of Kashgar; noodle houses, shops, bike stores, gardens etc.! After six days on the road, most cyclists were keen to enjoy the hot showers, use the laundry service and internet cafes and get into some shopping therapy. How will we ever forget the scenery and landscapes that we have had since our arrival in both Kyrgyzstan and China? It is also time to say goodbye to yet another bunch of sectionals - Lili, Danie, Ken and Barb - thank you, miss you and wish you well on your onward journeys. We now welcome Joy and Brian into the Silk Route fold. So, as most get ready for the party tonight, tomorrow is a day to hang out, clean up, and eat up. Then our onward march to Beijing continues.
It was a day of incredible mountain scenery, large sandstone hills, great riding temperatures and rolling hills that allowed the riders to coast up the uphill and 'fang' down the downhill sections. From the bush camp, it was sandstone mountains all day and the scenery was breathtaking. There was not a town in sight until lunch so it was just the riders and the highway for the majority of the day and, boy did they love it. Our campsite for the evening is another true bushcamp, a rocky river flood plain just off th highway. We are joined by cycle tourists from Italy, China and Japan for a delicious dinner of Yak and yummy vegetables cooked to perfection by Miles and served with some questionable red wine. Hey, when there are no shops around, can one afford to be fussy???
From our beautiful and scenic high camp in Kyrgyzstan, the riders headed uphill towards a high pass before descending into the border town of Irkistan, some 17km away, and our border crossing into China. It should not be placed on your top 10 places to visit but if you ever find yourself there waiting for the checkpoint to open then the local cafe serves the best eggs in Kyrgyzstan. The riders sheltered there from the cold eating eggs, drinking chai and spending their Kyrgyz money on chocolate, coke, beer and vodka. When the checkpoint opened, we only had to compete with 100 trucks waiting to cross so the going was slow but once through we were off to the Chinese border crossing/immigration. The Chinese, well known for their precision, wasted not a moment in herding us through the hall, having us fill out our papers and meticulously checking the trucks out, all wearing their green border guard uniforms. The process, expected to be slow and tough, was over in an hour or so and once on the other side the riders celebrated with beer and green tea. A short 50km ride into camp followed and the scenery was what impressed us most. That and the double humped camels that we finally encountered. The campsite was a true bush camp on a rocky river bed beneath enormous sandstone mountains. The best thing was the sun does not go down until after 9pm. Welcome to China and some of the most inspiring scenery on our trip so far!
The riders of the 2007 Silk Route Bike Race/Expedition have reached China! For the past few days they have been pedaling away through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. The jagged, snow-covered peaks of the Pamirs surround rushing rivers and dwarf small villages. The mornings have been cold! The temperature slid as low as -6C one morning and when the riders woke up there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. The cyclists have been keeping warm through the high altitude (up to 3600m) by sleeping in Yurts and abandoned houses. Yaks have been sighted along the way and the people remain incredibly friendly and helpful. Having crossed the border, they are quickly losing altitude and the temperatures are rising. Green fields are starting to appear. China beckons..
If yesterday was an incredible ride then today was an incredibly amazing ride! There were four mountain passes, clear blue skies and snow capped peaks. It began with a crisp, clear and icy morning and a touch of Dixie Chicks. Then a bumpy and rocky ride that went up and down all the way through to the border checkpoint. After that, joy of all joys, there were paved roads all the way through to the campsite (only 3 kms worth but after 54km of bumps it was heaven!). Along the way the riders saw ranges of snow covered mountains and rugged rocky crags dotting both sides of the road. No one could have asked for a better ride than this one today. Pure bliss, pure heaven, pure joy and for those without shocks, pure agony, but the views were oh so worth it! Our campsite tonight has a 360 degree view of the mountains and although it is a wee bit chilly, a huge bonfire makes life a bit easier. It is the views that cap the day off as one of the best we have had yet! Riders spent the afternoon walking the rolling hills towards the 7000m ranges, sitting and admiring the views, cleaning their bikes (after a day of dirt, the bikes are rattling and squeaking like never before), hunting for their passports (tomorrow is our border crossing into China), writing in their journals, drying out damp gear and generally just hanging out and enjoying the mountain air and mountain sunshine. Tomorrow, another border crossing into yet another country, our last for the trip.
