Washing Down & Drying Out

22-Sep-08: Long Haul
China: Kashgar to Xigeer
151km, 5h 57min ride time

As we started out on our first full stretch of riding in China we experienced one of the consequences of being so close to the desert…dust, or more specifically, sand. There was so much fine sand dust suspended in the air when we set out this morning that the sun’s rays could not break through and instead it took on the eerie appearance of a full moon. The air remained full of a thick haze for the whole day and we all arrived into lunch coughing and spluttering as a result.

Lunch was beside the highway in a very small roadside town where we became the object of everyone’s interest…the locals stood around and just watched us which was really quite uncomfortable at times, especially when they peered over your shoulder as you were making your sandwich. Someone noted that it would be like a group of nomads with camels roasting a pig on a spit in your driveway, which I guess goes some way to understanding how strange we must be to them.

For the first 20km we backtracked our way out of Kashgar to the main highway heading east and so had to climb back up the downhill we had enjoyed on our way into the city! After climbing out of the city the road mostly levelled out with some ups and downs but nothing to really hinder us from covering the distance in good time. All the same 150km is a long way and I was pretty tired by the end of it…remains to be seen how tiring 4 consecutive days in excess of the same distance will be.

We have re-entered a desert like landscape again with little to offer by way of scenery but much more comfortable without the unbearable heat we had in Turkmenistan. The roads are very good and well maintained by large crews of workers who sweep the road shoulder and weed and shape the verge with shovels for kilometres on end. The abundance of cheap labour must result in seemingly such menial tasks having some benefit.

After a few sectional riders coming and going in and around Kashgar, the group has now stabilised and will remain the same until we reach Beijing. The departure of the fastest and slowest riders in the group has left us with a more homogenous group in regards to riding times and should make the logistics a little easier to handle. The fact that we are now in China make it easier to focus in an easterly direction towards the end and it now somehow does not seem all that far away, although the time is still equivalent to the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul and the distance is further!

Tonight we were to camp beside a small roadhouse in a small town but the owners changed their mind and would not allow us to camp and so we have rented the rooms in the roadhouse. I imagine their usual clientele is limited to truck drivers passing through and the rooms and facilities (or lack thereof) reflect the fact…the beds are dubious and I am itching (probably psychological) at the thought of bed bugs and will be using my sleeping bag despite the linen provided...sometimes camping seems like a luxury. Thankfully we will still be eating from Mile’s kitchen which has taken on an oriental flavour lately to reflect our location with dishes like Yak meat stir fry and shitake mushroom and noodle soup.

23-Sep-08: Scenic Rocks
China: Xigeer to Roadside Camp
146km, 6h 29min ride time

The question regarding the upcoming scenery was asked of Miles last night, to which he responded ‘very much the same, if you like rocks its very scenic’. And that was pretty much the order of the day, the same as yesterday, rocky hills to our left and the edge of the desert and a train line to our right. We are currently riding across the top of the Taklamakan desert, which is Turkish for ‘go in and you don’t come out’, and is apparently the location where the real life Indiana Jones’ passed through in pursuit of treasures left in cities abandoned over time due to glacial water sources drying up and subsequently buried by sand storms. We will skirt around the desert in a couple of weeks by bike…in historic times it would take 6 months to cross the desert by Camel.

To add to the monotony of the scenery we were also battling a headwind for half the day which made the day pass by more slowly and with less ease than yesterday. To be riding such long distances on consecutive days is already taking its toll…in contrast to the variability of a hilly day, on flat terrain you find yourself sitting in exactly the same position on the saddle for hours on end which gets extremely uncomfortable…muscles get more use and are tired as usual but also have less time to recover from the previous day which compounds the fatigue…mentally it is difficult to look forward with excitement, particularly knowing that the scenery won’t change and that mother nature blowing a wind in your face can ruin your already long day. I don’t love climbing but would take it over headwinds any day…a climb, no matter how steep, will always end…the end of a windy day cannot be predicted and knowing the fact does my head in!

24-Sep-08: Thawing Out
China: Roadside Camp to Aksu
171km, 7h 46min ride time

We haven’t seen much of it since western Europe but mother nature certainly went a long way towards correcting the balance today...it rained all day long. On what turned out to be the second longest day of the trip so far we didn’t really need any extra challenges, but in true Murphy’s Law fashion we got them anyway. From the moment we left camp it rained, at first only lightly and not enough to warrant a jacket but for the last 100km it really rained. The temperature dropped to 10 degrees as we sloshed our way across the countryside towards the town of Aksu.

I was going to note how good the Chinese are at building and maintaining roads after once again passing road crews in the dozens weeding and shaping the verges, this time using string lines to get them straight, but the perfect road conditions ended the moment we passed through the final toll road gate and onto a ‘free’ roadway. There were potholes everywhere which due to the rain became small ponds through which our wheels passed, on their way spraying out road grime and grit everywhere.

The scenery did not change much again today, although the rocky hills to our left disappeared and a few trees came into the picture on our right. We passed through a few more townships, none of which extended beyond 1km of buildings either side of the highway. But mostly it was head down and legs turning in an effort to get the day over and done with sooner rather than later. We arrived into town and our hotel for the night looking like drowned and dirty rats...you should have seen the look on the faces of other hotel guests as we traipsed our muddy shoes through the hotel foyer...the hotel is quite upmarket despite the $20 per room per night price tag.

In lieu of Mile’s Camp Kitchen we ate a selection of Chinese dishes at the hotel restaurant for dinner, which thankfully was up to scratch and satisfied all. After an evening of washing a whole host of wet and grimy clothing and stuffing newspaper into wet shoes we are looking forward to a good night of sleep ahead of another long day tomorrow and another day of forecasted rain.

25-Sep-08: Sunny Skies
China: Aksu to Desert Camp
163km, 7h 38min ride time

Contrary to the forecast today started out with perfect clear skies which blessed us with perfect riding weather all day. The first 75km was the most stimulating scenery we have had since starting out on our path around the desert...back on the well maintained toll road, we crossed through lands which due to glacial runoff were fertile and therefore vegetated and home to quite a few people. The roadway was busy with street produce stalls and families on their donkey led carts. With so much to look at the morning passed by quickly and before we knew it we arrived at lunch.

After lunch however was the same old story, rocky hills to the left and a train line and desert to the right. The next few kilometres into a drink stop at the 135km mark passed by quite slowly as the effects of covering the last of 630km over only 4 days start to become increasingly obvious...at this stage it is getting near impossible to find a ‘comfortable’ seated position, my legs feel like led weights which throb in protest at every pedal stroke and my neck and shoulders are stiff from fatigue, mostly after clinging on rigidly for dear life in the bad weather yesterday. But distraction works well to cure most ailments and a lesson in the financial markets made the last 35km of the day fly by without a single thought of any discomfort.

We are camped by the highway on a dry mud flat tonight. Most have deemed it to be the best campsite so far...the ground is dead flat and soft so that pegs go in easily and we have a stunning rocky mountain backdrop to complete the picture. Never mind the train that goes by every hour or the constant stream of traffic on the highway...earplugs work wonders and I never travel without them...I just hope we don’t get any flash flooding or our mud flat could become a wetlands! And speaking of ‘best’ things, we are being spoilt with dinner tonight being one of Miles’ great culinary masterpieces comprising a creamy risotto style rice dish with tasty beef rissoles accompanied by both a mushroom and Chinese greens salad and a roasted eggplant and herb salad...all very tasty and smelled fantastic in the preparation phase also. I have decided that I need to make an effort to pay more attention to how Miles prepares all these dishes so that I may come home with something to add to my culinary repertoire.

26-Sep-08: Market Day
China: Desert Camp to Kuqa (Kucha)
93km, 4h 19min ride time

As we rode through the outskirts of our rest day town my immediate thought was ‘oh no, I am going to be sharing my bed with a donkey!’ as the surroundings were more rural shanty town than tourist town. But no sooner had we turned a corner in the road did the surroundings become more modern, more city like and more promising. Our hotel lived up to first impressions and is a nice modern place set up to accommodate the needs of the mining industry.

We spent the afternoon looking about a nearby shopping complex and then battling out way through thousands of locals at the Friday market. The market was alive with activity and an authentic spectacle not tempered in any way for tourists...the locals bought and sold all manner of goods, including raw meat cut from the carcass hanging in the open on display and pastries covered in sugar hungry wasps.

For dinner we decided to once again attempt the ‘whatever you think is best’ combined with the ‘or will we just randomly choose’ approach. This time the staff were very amused and happy to play our game as they served us with a hot pot banquet which after a few appetisers revolved around a boiling pot of chicken stock. At first we ate the stock as soup which was followed by an offer to eat the chicken pieces lurking at the bottom of the pot...I passed on step 2 after lifting a chicken’s foot from the pot! Step 3 was to broil some beef steak strips in the stock, step 4 some noodles and step 5 some leafy greens. All this was accompanied by a huge plate of fried rice and so by the end we were more than satisfied and stuffed to the brim, hardly able to move!

Back in the hotel room we managed to get the temperamental internet connection to work and found some TV worth an attempt to watch even though it was in Chinese but much to our frustration and bemusement we could not figure out why the bathroom lights kept turning themself on and off randomly!

27-Sep-08: Looking for Money Trees
China: Kuqa (Kucha) – Rest Day

Today started quite late with a very dark room and a late night to promote a sleep in. I spent an hour or so doing some laundry by hand to compensate for the very expensive hotel service who I passed my dirtiest clothing over to and then went out in hunt of a massage centre rumoured to be nearby the hotel. I found the massage room by walking down the street peering into shopfront windows to find the one with people lying on massage tables on the other side. I walked in as Max walked out sprouting praise and so I was even more keen on trying the service. After only a 5 minute wait I was directed towards a table and asked to lie down.

Unlink my Bulgarian experience, Chinese massage is performed whilst you are fully clothed, so in my jeans and all I lay there as a young guy proceeded to work his magic...I spent an hour in agonising pain as he kneaded, pulled, prodded and karate chopped his way through all my aches and pains. Albeit painful it was a matter of being cruel to be kind and I left knowing that he had done a world of good and hope to get a free hour later tonight to go back for more.

After my massage we ventured out for some lunch and to restock the wallets as our funds are dwindling. It took multiple street crossings and walking blocks to locate a working ATM...despite an abundance of them, one on every corner, the first 2 were not working and the third was out of funds. We stood and waited and watched amused as the locals entered and re-entered their cards, trying withdrawal options, balance options and any other option before finally conceding that the machine was not working. We did finally manage to find one prepared to give out some money and so had a happy ending to a half hour mission before heading back to the hotel to wash all the grime from our bikes in preparation for a new and hopefully dry stretch of road!