Rest day again! The days sometimes feel really long. Because of the long daily distances we have had the last week the time now seems to be flying by.
The other night in Aksu, Miles treated us all to a nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant and ordered up many different dishes for us to try. In China it is very common to sit at a round table which has another slightly elevated revolving table in the middle in which you just spin around until the food you want is right in front of you. You then use your chop sticks (some people are still trying to master the art) and scoop everything and anything into your bowl. It will be fun over the next few thousand miles trying out some of the different and exotic foods that China and its different regions have to offer. Dan and Nicole found it easy enough to just point at some different things on the menu and see what they end up with!!!
The last few days on the road have been amazing yet again and we almost feel a little spoiled with the road conditions. Ever since leaving the city of Kashgar we have had nothing but perfect roads and really no hills yet to speak of. Although climbing hills is not always everyone’s favorite thing to ride, there is something to be said about not knowing what is over the next hill or just around the next bend that can keep you motivated for hours or days on end. Although these roads have been traveled by millions over the years it is still an adventure and exploration of the unknown to each and every rider!!
The dust in the atmosphere from the Taklamakan has settled and two days ago the Tian Shan mountain range opened right up for a day long breathtaking view of the larger snow covered peaks, some of which reach up and over 5000 meters. The traffic has also been very favorable over the last few days; the biggest contenders on the roads have been the many donkey carts and their drivers as well as always dodging their exhaust!!!!
We had another picture perfect camp sight the night before arriving here in Kuqa. We set up camp on the flattest dried up sand flats ( the kind that looks like thousands of shattered plates) with yet another clear starry sky and great view of the mountains.
We will set off once again tomorrow morning to start cranking our way towards Turpan. We will add another good chunk if kilometers to our speedometers this week on route, justifying another rest day. Although it is nice every now and then (not to often) to spend a night in a hotel, nothing beats setting up camp and there is no better place to sleep then your tent!!
Well, we are definitely out of the mountains and into some flat terrain again, at least for now that is. Our rest day in Kashgar was well appreciated as always and gave us our first taste of a big Chinese city and a chance to explore yet another new country and culture.
We are traveling in the province of Xinjiang which occupies a huge chunk of North Western China, also encompassing the whole Taklamakan desert. This region or province of China is unique in the fact that it is mostly all Muslim as it is occupied by the Uigur tribe who are of Turkic descent, where as the majority of the rest of china is of the Han Chinese. The major highlight of Kashgar was visiting the Uigur “Yekshenba Bazaar†(Sunday Bazaar) which attracts over 100,000 thousand villagers and nomads who gather here to buy, sell and trade anything and everything from camels and sheep to Iranian saffron and loose leaf tea!!
We entered into a whole new world as we rode out of Kashgar and headed into some very desolate terrain. In the north (to our left as we ride) we have the Tian Shan mountains and in the south (to our right) the Taklamakan desert. Leaving the city in the early morning we thought we were in for our first day of rain on the expedition as it looked overcast and very hazy, then we thought maybe it was some disgusting blanket of smog, but we realized soon after leaving civilization that it was all just dust from the thousands of square kilometers of the Taklamakan floating in the atmosphere!! It almost put you into a dream like state as it created such a haze blocking out the sun and making the mountains that were only 500 meters away disappear. Leaving only a faint outline the dusty haze made it hard to determine whether or not there was even a mountain range there.
Our first night out of the city had us sleeping at a grubby little Chinese truck stop in the middle of nowhere with an excellent view of the mountains and where we enjoyed yet another five star meal from Miles, and still to my own amazement he has not cooked the same thing twice since leaving Istanbul!! Last night had us once again camping out under the bright starry sky in the comfort of our tents. Our camp was built around an old abandoned series of what once may have been a few little shops, tea houses and a gas station. One of the old buildings provided a great spot for Miles to set up his kitchen sheltering him from the sun and the wind.
175km ride today brings us into the city of Aksu, leaving us two more days on the road until our rest day in Kuqa. The roads are almost 100% flat and well manicured, along with the never changing scenery of the Tian Shan Mountains to our left and the Taklamakan to our right makes it feel as though we are riding on one huge treadmill. But hey, who can complain we are riding our bikes everyday and the landscape is amazing!!!
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.
After a good rest day in Osh, with all the usual, hand washing clothes, reorganizing gear and of course, taking your bike into Shillington’s bike shop (bike and drive train must be clean or no service) and for better service bring a coffee, and of course checking out the local sights, we were all ready to get away from the flat roads and start climbing into the mountains.
This is where the real biking began. As soon as we were out of the city limits we were climbing. The roads started out ok and then quickly deteriorated as the construction that started over a year ago, is still getting started. We found ourselves riding almost the whole first day on rocky bumpy gravel road. The first 64km was almost all uphill, mostly gradual though and then the last 40km was mostly steep all terrain downhill “Yeehaaw Conanâ€
The mountains were breathtaking along with all the rivers that flowed down from them; we also saw our share of Kyrgyz cowboys, yurts, mountain goats and wild horses. Max managed to trade his two wheeled carbon horse for a real horse and herd cows for about 20mins this French Canadian knows how to experience the local culture!! The end of the first day landed us at a perfectly flat plateau beside a fresh, cold river with a panoramic view of the mountains. All the riders put there fat tires on this night, knowing what bad roads, steep climbs and unpredictable weather lay ahead.
Yesterday was probable one of the toughest days of the expedition, as far as challenging terrain, cold weather, steep climbing and serious consecutive dog chases goes. It was only an 85km day but we had to climb over the Taldyk pass which is at an elevation of 3615 meters!! The roads were 100% rock, sand, gravel, pot holes and busted up pavement. The start of the climb up over the Taldyk pass started at approx 57km from camp and ended at 67km.and the road conditions didn’t get any better on the climb up either. I think the toughest part psychologically was looking up about 2000ft and seeing a huge transport that looked the size of a child’s toy car starting its long slow steep descent down and you’re just starting your long slow steep ascent. You could also see the many switchbacks zigzagging back and forth across the pass leading up and you knew it was going to be two or three hours before you made it to the top!!! It took most riders on average about 3 hours to top out on the summit. Great views from the top and the best part was that it was all steep technical rocky road descent for the last 15km (one short climb in-between) all the way down the other side right into camp, that is what made it all worth it. As we entered into the small village of Sary Tas the huge snow capped mountains of the Chong Alau Range came into view just like a photo out of a National Geographic magazine. We spent the night sleeping in a Yurt, what a great experience, especially after seeing them scattered all over the country side.
Today was our last full day unfortunately in Kyrgyzstan and our last day on the rough roads (all the riders with touring, cross and road bike are happy) We luckily woke up to clear skies, but it was still crisp and cold, the riders were all bundled up in layers this morning planning for the worst of weather but hoping for the best. Once again the snow covered mountain vistas were unreal and seemed to give you an extra flow of energy all day long. We got a excellent clear view of the famous Lenin Peak(7134m) this morning (the most climbed of all seven thousand meter peaks) Although the roads were rough once again today we only had 57km to go. We are camping tonight in a beautiful plateau with a great view and we are only 20km from the Chinese border. We are hoping for a smooth transition out of Kyrgyzstan and into China tomorrow morning.
Every border seems to be an adventure and everyday is another epic!! You will hear from us again in Kashgar.
Counting down the borders!! Since the last blog we have crossed from Tajikistan back into Uzbekistan, and yesterday after a 175km ride we crossed the last of the three days, three borders epic!! We are now in the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan, this city boasts that it is over 3000 years old and older then that of Roam!! No one knows for sure the exact age, but it has a recorded history for a few thousand at least. Our border crossing back into Uzbekistan didn’t go as smoothly or as quickly as we had hoped for, what started off as a quick start ended in almost a four hour crossing. The riders had a 90km ride under their belts by the time they arrived at the border, then after the long fun process of getting across they still had a 50km ride, blindly following only that of bright orange flagging tape with no directions to their unknown evening resting place! At the end of the day every thing all worked out and by 6:30pm everyone was filling their faces with home made Uzbek Pilaf!!
Yesterday had the riders finishing their second century ride (100 miles) of the expedition so far. With no head winds and relatively good roads, everyone made it into Osh “Kyrgystan†before dark. Bill although has been on a “pedal†nightmare, but his resourcefulness never ceases to amaze me. Bill's right pedal kicked the bucket about seven days ago when we were riding into Samarqand, no problem for Bill; he managed to convince some local man to sell him the pedals right off his bike after taking the guy's bike for a test ride. But a day or two later the left pedal started to crap out on him, no big deal for Bill a clunky pedal wouldn’t bother him, until yesterday that is when the pedal stripped his crank arm and then broke apart and fell off!! Bill has this amazing aura about him that always seems to attract many strangers to his side, and if they are not giving Bill food or tea, they are welding his broken pedal to his crank arm right on the side of the road for no charge and then having him come in for some tea!!! Bill made it through all the hassles of the day and arrived into Osh by headlamp. Bill you’re a machine!!
The next six days will be the most stunning as we are now heading into the mountains of Kyrgyzstan (just to the north of the Pamirs) and gaining tones of elevation. This is where the roads deteriorate into rocky crumbly dirt and old pavement. We will literally be riding into the middle of nowhere. The daily and evening temperatures will drop significantly as we get up to elevations of 3600m and climb over three major passes. We can expect snow and rain, wind and no luxuries of buying drinks and snacks along the way! Now we are talking expedition!! If all goes well we will be crossing the border into China in four days and we will take a rest in Kashgar after 6 days of riding. There is no cell reception for the next few days and there will be no chance of getting on any internet, so for all the friends and family at home, don’t worry if you don’t hear from us for a few days!!
“Pain is weakness leaving the bodyâ€!!
Well it was only two days on the road from our rest day in Bukhara to our long awaited double rest day here in famous city of Samarqand, but everyone had to work hard enough and earn there luxurious rest days.
The directions to get to Samarqand were easy, the topography was easy, it was all flat roads and it was hot, but not as hot as some of the 50 deg weather we experienced in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan earlier on in the expedition. It was the headwinds that almost killed everyone. The days dragged out quite a bit longer then usual as the average speed dropped to a mere 15km per hour. Most of the riders worked as a team using each other to their advantages together they would take turns breaking through the headwinds while the others could take a rest by drafting behind the rest of the group. These days provided lots of time to think, if you could only hear your own thoughts, and the cold drinks also tasted better at the end of the day.
The only night spent on the road between the two cities was spent camping in an apple orchard with some cows and donkeys. The ground was chunky and uneven, but after a day of fighting the brutal headwinds, most people could sleep anywhere. Best of all we still had the luxury of Miles cooking, and a fresh cold water tap across the road to shower up with!!
The two rest days here in Samarqand were well utilized by exploring the ancient city and checking out all the historical places we only know of through books and stories. The Registan (Sandy Place) which has been said to be “the noblest public square in the world†was a hot spot on the list of places to explore. The Registan consists of three huge madrassahs (places of study) colorfully decorated with thousands of mostly blue and green pieces of ceramic. Two of the madrassahs each had a pair of minarets(tall smoke stack like tubes), one on either side, and although you are not allowed up these 33 foot cones, if you go by the name of MAX, you will figure or bribe your way up one!!! There were also spectacular Mausoleums, bazaars and mosques to see as well. You could easily spend four or five days here and not get bored.
We have a few busy days ahead of us as we push closer and closer to China. We will spend two more full days in Uzbekistan and then we will be crossing three boarders in three days, which should be fun logistically!!! Tajikistan, Uzbekistan (again) and Kyrgyzstan here we come!!
One more border down, two more to go over the next two days!! Well we are all refreshed from our stay in Samarqand and all itching to ride again. It has been a great three days on the road so far, and I hope it is safe to say that maybe the headwinds (for now anyways) are behind us. We have been traveling on mostly flat roads, but we did ride over a small mountain pass two days ago, and I can say that I was happy to be climbing again since there has barely been even the slightest incline since the beautiful city of Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan. Two great camp sights the last two nights, the first night out of Samarqand we slept beside an old shut down Restaurant/hotel which looked as if it has not been open in 20 years, and last night we camped in the shade of a very secluded restaurant just off the main road, but it was just a small plot amongst the thick of the trees.
Today we crossed the border into Tajikistan our 5th country now, and just when we thought things were going smoothly...we all were able to exit Uzbekistan in less then an hour but when we all made it across the half kilometer of 'no mans land' to enter into Tajikistan, they tried to convince us that the border there would be closed until tomorrow!! With patience and another 3 ½ hours of hanging out with the soldiers at the gate, the riders were on the open road in Tajikistan and on their way to Khodjand!!
Next two days… two more border crossings - Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan!
Finally, a border crossing where everythng goes to plan!!
We had a great rest day in Mary and took in the impressive ruins at Merv as well as the enormous market out of town and the smaller regional museum. Then it was back on the bikes and back in the heat although tail winds made the going a little easier for the first couple of days.
The roads are still flat and the policmen were still sitting on our tails but the desert eases in the eastern half of the country and there was some greenery to help us on our way.
Cotton and grapes are the main crops here and we were able to stop and chat with the local pickers. There are also melons upon melons upon melons and Al has perfected his trick of balancing the biggest water melons on his bike and rides into camp each night fully loaded (although he did lose a couple in he beginning!)
We said goodbye to Turkmenistan after two more bush camps and cycled from Turkmenabat to the border incident free. There was the usual red tape but everyone passed through no problem - even Miles and the van had it relatively easy - only 4 hours of form filling!
The wind gods were against us however and the strongest headwind of the tour so far meant it was a real battle into Bukhara but it was worth it! lots of beer was flowing on our first night in Uzbekistan as now it feels like we are starting to make good progress - 4 countries down, 4 to go.
It was also time to say goodbye to Paul (me) as I have headed up to Tashkent to carry on researching my next edition of Silk Roads. So no more Mr Cheeky's tours or T-shirts I'm afraid but Ben will continue the blogs from now on.
The tour has been amazing and all the obstacles just add to the memories -
thanks guys and I hope to see everyone again very very soon
Flat, flat, flat...but for once we are not talking about punctures (28 at the last count by the way!). We are now well and truly in the desert and after watching it from the comfort of a bus into Ashgabat, it was time we got dirty.
The first day couldn't have been kinder. There was a nice cool breeze at our backs in the morning and new tarmac in the afternoon. What a way to welcome our new rider, Bill Dodds (UK). Those of you who followed the Silk Route last year will remember he rode Istanbul to Baku in 2007. He is now knocking off the middle section with a view to finishing off China next year. Welcome back!
If the desert pampered us during the day, it took its revenge that night - a sandstorm followed by a rainstorm and then a windstorm - there was more than one rider up at 3am putting on their fly!
Day two continued flat but now the heat was back. It was good-bye to the beautiful 2nd century ruins that had provided such a stunning backdrop to last night's camp. We headed out into the sand which was full of wild camels but not much greenery and even fewer coke stops! Fortunately, the staff managed to round up some refreshments for the evening.
Water is very scarce so the tour is now a 'shower-free' zone but at least everyone smells and the camels don't seem to mind.
The third day led us into Mary, Turkmenistan's second city, but really the only town of any significance in the area. The riders collapsed into the hotel and jumped into their baths - especially James who wanted to be spic and span for his birthday and who was happy to be finally free of the tenacious police escort that has relentlessly shadowed the cyclists for their visit in this country.
