No Man’s Land
The border between China and Kyrgyzstan is high in the mountains and the two countries have chosen (for reasons unknown to me) to have 7 km of no man's land in between there two border posts.
For myself and a newly arriving sectional rider, we had flown into Beijing and made the long journey westward all the way to Kashgar by plane and then 4 hours further by vehicle to get to the Chinese side of this mountainous and isolated region. The rest of the group, of course, came from Istanbul and over the war in Georgia, passed the desert in Turkmenistan to get back on schedule, rode through three border in three days to get to Kyrgyzstan, then rode on rugged terrain for three more days to come to the Kygyz side of the border.
We had both come so far, but the small distance of 7 km seemed immense as we struggled to connect the two pieces of our expedition (staff, baggage, and riders on one side, vehicles and Chinese support team on the other.) Official documents had been produced and favours called in, but a power outage at the Kyrgyz customs and a three hour lunch break on the Chinese side of customs meant that our long anticipated arrival to China was slow.
But finally we did cross into China and a hilly 50 km further all the riders arrived in good time to enjoy an authentic meal - a mixture of Xinjiang provincial noodles and yummy steamed dumplings - in the tiny village of Uluqgat. We camped directly in front of the restaurant as hungry riders had only a light snack after the border after several hours in no man's land. It was not our most filling meal, nor our most scenic camp, but i think everyone quietly breathed a sign of relief for having finally arrived to China.
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Posted September 21, 2008 by Shanny Hill
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