The wedding was more similar to a western wedding than I had expected, with a wedding march down the aisle, and a pronouncement of man and wife etc. They weren’t married by a priest though and, as a custom, all of the important friends and family gave the couple red envelopes of money (红包) as wedding gifts.
For the second time in two days, we were drinking baijiu again. As the only foreigner there, I was asked to drink with all of the people at the table at least once, and as the bride and groom made their way around the tables to drink with the guests, I was asked to chuck back two glasses for the health and good fortune of their marriage. Lulu was smarter than I, and somehow managed to avoid drinking a drop.
Everyone got well and truly plastered. I was sitting next to the manager of the Kumtagh desert tourist centre and got along well with him until he got so drunk and paranoid that wanted to take me to the police station to register as a foreigner, which is apparently what I need to do each time I stay in a town according to the letter of the law (who the hell does that? Seriously!). Thankfully Snow Fox talked him out of it. That would have been a real pain in the butt.
We all went back for a mid afternoon siesta for a couple of hours. The weather had been noticeably warmer in the past couple of weeks and we knew it would only get hotter. Just before dinner time, a couple of guys from the local motorcycle club turned up after seeing Lulu’s posts on a Xinjiang motorcycle forum. They had some seriously nice bikes and I wondered what I would be like to drive a VMAX around China. I rode to dinner on the back of a BMW1200GS. It was a monster compared to my little bike. I felt like adventure touring in China on that thing would be like trying to drive a two-wheeled tank. If I could keep it up straight I could probably crush Lulu's bike (I would never crush my bike) flat with it, monster-truck style.
It was another action-packed day, courtesy of the hospitality of the kind people from Shanshan. Special thanks to my liver for putting up with the abuse.
01-31-2012, 12:06 PM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Shanshan to Turpan – Day 62
My stomach was burning again. I was still feeling terrible and the culprit was baijiu, again. Lulu was feeling much better than me, having skillfully avoided drinking at the wedding the day before.
We drove to the Kumtagh desert tourist area and the tourist manager that we met the day before let us take the bikes in so we could drive instead of walking through the area. We drove along brick paths among the sand dunes with plaster statues and replicas popping up here and there.
Some of the guys who were hanging around the Buddhist temple plaster replica wanted to try out our bikes. They had driven over the sand dunes on a scooter and we were all very impressed with their skill in driving through sand and made it look easy, so I thought I would give it a go. Driving through sand was so much harder than I thought and I got stuck very quickly. In my state I was unable to get it up the dune I was aiming for, so I enlisted
the help of a couple of friends after almost collapsing from trying to push it up.
Our Uighur friends, bored with mucking around on the dunes, wanted to hitch a lift down the track a bit.
We wandered around the tourist area, dotted here and there with plaster statues and stalls offering ATVs for fun in the sand. We passed up the offer; we had our own bikes to destroy.
After a couple of hours at the tourist area, we drove back to Snow Fox’s house for lunch and a mid-afternoon snooze. I set the alarm to give us enough time to get up and ready to leave by 7.30. As usual, we started off later than planned, mainly because we had to tape up the front instrument panel fairing as the plastic had broken off after the bike fell over the day before. And, yet again, we had to say goodbye to some great people who had been so generous and hospitable to us during our short stay. We met as strangers and left as friends.
It was a short but amazing 90 km drive to Turpan, particularly the gorge beside the flaming mountains about 30 kms from Turpan.
20 kilometres from Turpan, Lulu reached 10,000 kilometres on her bike. It had served her incredibly well up until that point, managing to survive two crashes, numerous drops, constant day-to-day riding and other varied, and regular, forms of abuse.
It was dark before we got into Turpan. Lulu had arranged a place for us to stay in Turpan through couchsurfing and we drove around trying to find where the main street was so we could get to the restaurant where they were waiting for us.
After dinner, they took us to their shop and we set up our sleeping gear on the floor. They owned a wedding studio so it was a nice place to stay. The floor was quite uncomfortable though.
01-31-2012, 12:35 PM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Turpan – Day 63
I woke sore from the wooden floorboards and a continuing hangover. “What the hell is wrong with my liver?!!”
There was plenty to see in Turpan, which has been a very important location in the past, as a political centre and a staging post; providing food and water to merchants traveling the Silk Road. We first visited Gaochang, city ruins which were first built in the 1st century BC and used to be the capital of a small kingdom over 1500 years ago.
We decided to drive around the city walls and found a path leading up the side of the southern wall. Climbing to the top we could see that there wasn’t much city inside the walls, but it was still impressive to know that it once housed 10,000 people. Adding to the scene were the flaming mountains in the background.
On the way to the Buddhist Bezelik grottoes (made with the same intentions in mind as those in Dunhuang), we stopped for a break and noticed significant holes and structures carved out of the rock beside the river we had been driving along. They looked like they must have been a small town, maybe part of Gaochang long, long ago.
We got to the Bezelik cave tourist centre and figured out that a lot of the grottoes had been vandalised in the past couple of years, which was a shame. We continued riding through the magnificent sandstone canyon, which opened out to a plain dotted with settlements and vineyards, with the peaks of the Tian Shan in the distance.
We tried making it to Tuyoq, a well preserved oasis village, but we got lost and had agreed to meet our hosts at 4pm to travel around Turpan. But when we got back nothing eventuated because they were busy with work, so I went for a drive by myself to sort my head out.
We had Xinjiang barbecue again, but I wasn’t feeling hungry at all and left most of the food on my plate.
That night we stayed with their mother and father in a spare room at their house, not far from the studio. Thankfully, it was much more comfortable than the wooden floor from the night before.
I didn’t sleep so well, with a couple of visits to the bathroom. I was starting to think I was sick and not hung over.
We talked with the parents in the green-dappled light of the courtyard under their grapevine covered trellises. His father was an 18 year old soldier with the PLA from Shaanxi province when Mao Zedong asked the Chinese people to help make a “New Xinjiang” in the 1950s, and got a job placement working for the railroad in Turpan. He has worked as a policeman and businessman among countless other jobs before retiring.
They gave us two big bags of sultanas, one of big sultanas and one of small, to take home with us. The small sultanas were delicious and would be a welcome snack later in the trip where we couldn’t find places to buy food on the road.
We said goodbye to our hosts and started on the road just after lunch. We were told that Urumqi was only 190 kms away on good roads and should get there in a couple of hours.
We missed the turnoff for an ancient city ruin that I really wanted to see, the Jiaohe ruins. We continued to pass masses of wind farms. The Chinese government has recently pushed hard for the development of the production of renewable energy and we could see the results in hectares upon hectares of gigantic, white steel flowers in the arid land along the road.
I realised that we had accidentally taken the G30 expressway to Urumqi when I saw the G312 on the other side of the gorge. We got off the expressway as soon as we could, not only because we could be fined for being on that road, but also because it was dangerous with all the trucks on the road. Not long after we got back on the 312, Lulu hit a pothole again and crashed. This time on asphalt, but it was much slower and again came away with no injuries. That woman is made of steel, I swear.
We drove through Urumqi at rush-hour, even though road signs warned us that motorcycles aren’t permitted until after 10pm. Our destination was another couchsurfer host who had offered us a place to stay, and we found it after an hour or so navigating the streets at dusk.
I was completely shattered, more from feeling sick the whole day than the riding, and was intensely grateful for the soft couch-bed in the lounge.
01-31-2012, 01:12 PM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Urumqi – Day 65
We had a couple of places to visit on out rest day in Urumqi, and the bus system was fairly good, so we used it to get around, rather than get lost on the bikes. Lulu definitely wanted to visit the museum, which turned out to be very interesting, even with the various bits of historical and political propaganda written in the side-notes.
We walked around the market quarter, looking for bargains, checking out the Muslim architecture with the Azan (the prayer call) providing a very Middle Eastern soundtrack to our walk through the streets and the feel if the place reminded me very much of Karachi in Pakistan. Despite feeling as though I had crossed into the Arab world, my stomach was feeling particularly western (if still a bit grumpy), the craving for some McDonald’s that I had had since Beijing became an obsession and I walked around, looking, until I was tired enough to settle for KFC. Someone told me a week or so later that McDonalds is afraid to get established in Xinjiang because of the tensions there. I'm not sure if this is true though.
We met Fiona, Snow Fox’s daughter, at the music school she studies performance piano at in Urumqi. We talked with her and her friends about their life here in Urumqi and played some music.
It was late by the time we got back to our hosts, but they hadn't been waiting for us. They work late at a tea shop they own, where they serve the tea that they ship from their family’s plantation in Fujian.
I retired early to get a good night’s sleep so I could recover from whatever was wrong with my stomach.
01-31-2012, 09:08 PM
bigdamo
Re: Around China in 100 Days
"Someone told me a week or so later that McDonalds is afraid to get established in Xinjiang because of the tensions there. I'm not sure if this is true though."
Not true.We asked McDonalds about a franchise in Xinjiang a few years ago.They plan to put one in but it will be company owned and run.Xinjiang is way down there list on China dominance.There is/was a copy of McDonalds in Urumqi about ten years ago.Did a pretty dam good job of copying everything including the taste.
I have seen people fly in McDonalds to Urumqi.
Um Xinjiang time-Beijing time thing.Interesting while the sun doesn't set until 10.00pm in summer it doesn't rise in winter until 9.30am at it's peaks.
Here's a tip don't touch the rugs if you don't plan on buying one in the bazaar.Some dealers get pretty upset.
01-31-2012, 09:10 PM
MJH
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Can we make request and or challenges?
If you post the link to the charity your sponsoring, sorry If you already have and I missed that.
Some may actually submit donation for meeting specific challenges?
The lake is accessible by Provincial Highway 111 from Fukang City.
I do not believe that Fukang city is far from Urumqi?
01-31-2012, 09:22 PM
bigdamo
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadrunner
Cheers BigD,
We took a little longer than 3 hours to do the Urumqi - Shihezi main road. The road crews had torn it all up and there was a detour posted in Chinese to the 快速 (kuaisu). I wasn't sure whether we could go by that route without risking a fine so we kept going on what was left of the national road.
We were told a couple of times that motorcycles can go on the expressways in Xinjiang, and we even found ourselves on one on the way to Urumqi. Do you know if this is true?
Depends who you speak to.Officially no.Unofficially well plenty of motorcyclists do it.Just depends on what is going on at the time.
01-31-2012, 09:25 PM
bigdamo
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJH
Can we make request and or challenges?
If you post the link to the charity your sponsoring, sorry If you already have and I missed that.
Some may actually submit donation for meeting specific challenges?
The lake is accessible by Provincial Highway 111 from Fukang City.
I do not believe that Fukang city is far from Urumqi?
Heavenly lake is not that far from Urumqi.Well not by Xinjiang standards.About an hour from Urumqi.
02-01-2012, 03:03 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Urumqi to Dushanzi – Day 66
Despite my efforts to get a good night’s sleep, I was still sick and at most I got a couple of hours. Lulu and I had a stupid argument about watching TV, because we were both cranky and stubborn, which wasn’t a good start to the day.
We had trouble getting out of Urumqi and finding the national road and when we did, we were riding on asphalt for a good hour before it turned to gravel for a couple of hours. There were detour signs to go on the expressway, but because it was likely that motorcycles weren’t prohibited from using the expressway, we decided to keep going along the G312. Lulu was still giving me the silent treatment up until lunch time.
We followed the snowy ranges of the Tian Shan west on the G312, while the plains of northern Xinjiang spread out to the right. Passing through Shihezi, Lulu mentioned that it’s known as being one of the most beautiful areas in China. It was nice enough, but couldn’t see what the hype was about from the road.
We drove past Kuitun and its gas and oil refineries.
Our aim was to cross the Tian Shan on the G217 and the last major town before the crossing was Dushanzi, a town that looked like it existed just to service the gas and oil fields, with 中国石化 (Sinopec) present on most buildings. The road into Dushanzi ran up into the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and I got a real feeling of trepidation. I was very excited about the next day’s ride.
We didn’t have much trouble finding a place but I had to stay out of sight of a policeman when his patrol car that pulled up to the curb outside the guest house, just in case he got curious and decided to check the guest-house’s license to see if they could house a foreigner. Luckily he just wanted some dumplings from the shop downstairs.
02-01-2012, 03:55 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Dushanzi to Ermaoqiao – Day 67
In the morning I found that my back tyre was flat. Thankfully, we were on a street with a couple of bike shops, so I wheeled it over to the nearest one. A nice Uighur guy greeted me and fixed it for me patching up the inner and pulling a dozen thin slivers of metal from the tyre while his young Han Chinese neighbour watched curiously. I also got a spare inner tube just in case. He was a nice guy and I tried to pay him more the fair price, because I knew he was giving me a low price, but he refused.
We asked people where the next town, petrol station, or accommodation was on the G217. No-one knew because no-one seemed to take that road. All they knew was that foreigners couldn’t go there. We decided to give it a go anyway because it would cost us about 2 days extra ride to go up to the northwest part of Xinjiang,Ili, to the furthest of the three roads crossing the Tian Shan.
On the road out of town we came across a not-so-friendly sign. Now we knew why everyone was saying that no foreigners could go on this road. The sign was dated at 2006, so after 5 years the real reason for restricting access (a large military base was in the area, or so we were told) might not be present. If they really wanted to restrict the area, there would surely be a checkpoint. If there was, we would ask them if we could pass. If not, then this sign shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
After about 70 kilometres from Kuitun, most of it beautiful twisty asphalt, we did come up to a checkpoint, its barrier blocking the road. Lulu asked if we could drive through, with me in my ski mask pretending to be Chinese. The guy was quite reluctant to let us through, and probably wouldn’t have if it was just me trying to convince him, but Lulu tried her level best and before long, he relented. I breathed a sigh of relief. He warned us that there are many problems with the snow at the passes and that we probably wouldn’t be able to get through.
Not too far along, the beautiful asphalt started breaking up and soon we were driving on gravel again. I was a little disappointed. My obsession with getting kilometres under our wheels often had me at loggerheads with the road conditions. The valley itself was spectacular. Huge weathered cliffs rising hundreds of metres into the clear blue sky, birds of prey circling and in the distance snow white peaks.
We stopped for a break and shortly after a white ute with four or five guys inside, pulled up. They looked like military. One of the guys got out and was talking into his phone for about 10 minutes, every now and again uttering the word “Waiguoren”. He hung up and started talking with Lulu, mentioning that there was a lot of snow up ahead, and that we may not get through. Satisfied, he got back in the ute and they drove off. I breathed another sigh of relief. I guess he called his boss to make sure it’s ok that a foreigner could drive this road, so I was much less anxious about getting pulled up by heavies in camo gear toting AK-47s and escorted back the way we came.
We were about to move on when a group of five bikers pulled over. They were from Usu (30 kms from Kuitun), home of Xinijiang’s finest beer (IMHO) out for a day ride. We had a convoy! They were faster than us though, and we split up quickly.
The air started to get very cold up past the snowline, about 3000 metres above sea level. Recent snows coated the road and I tried to drive in the tracks of the 4WDs where the wheels could get to the surface of the road. I learnt that it’s best to ‘ski’ in this situation, putting my legs out in a static position and ‘skiiing’ to stabilise the bike in case the front wheel got slipped or got thrown into the snow banks on either side of the ditch. When I hadn’t seen Lulu in my rear mirrors for a while, I turned around (after getting my bike up and over the central snow bank in the middle of the road) to look for her. She had dropped her bike twice and couldn’t get it up the second time.
We met our riding team near the top of the pass. It was late and the snow was getting harder and harder to drive through, so they were heading back to Wusu. They were a great bunch and told us that the next town is 12 kms from the top of the pass.
We both tried out hand at snow driving once again, but Lulu couldn’t manage it with her bike, so I drove both bikes most of the way up to the pass, which just happened to be a tunnel through the top ridge. It looked as though there were some ongoing road works (as there were poles erected as if to prepare for making a covered roadway at the worst points in the snow), and that this road would be an easy drive one day.
Lulu set off through the tunnel first as I was still catching my breath from the exertion of driving, dropping and picking up the bikes at this altitude (around 3500 metres). I wanted to get Lulu exiting the tunnel on the helmet camera, so I rushed through the rutted tunnel too fast, going over a couple of bumps a little too hard, bottoming out the rear suspension with a full load.
I came out the other side, to an amazing landscape, with a flat back tyre. Lulu’s back sprocket also needed looking at. I was livid and exhausted and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. Also, I hadn’t yet bought the right tools to change the back tyre (due to laziness and more of the laissez-faire attitude to bike tools), so we had to figure out how to get to the next town with both bikes.
I sorted the problem with Lulu’s tyre, and figured that after give the tyre a pump, enough air was staying in the tube to get some distance before it needed pumping up (something that I have since been told is called ‘foreshadowing’).
By the time we had sorted out our problems, the sun had set behind the ridge we just passed under and it was starting to get colder, but our motivation for rushing through this amazing scenery seemed like a waste. It was quite possibly the most beautiful place in the whole trip.
Night had fallen by the time we were driving below the snowline again. We passed construction crews working on the new roads who couldn’t believe we had come through the pass. We couldn’t believe they lived in tents for long periods in such cold weather, and we were probably there on a good day.
We were lucky that the only guesthouse in Ermaoqiao, a 10 building hamlet, had opened a week before. It’s usually closed during the colder months, but as it gets warmer, tourists from Kuqa come here to enjoy the natural beauty of the place. The owner originally came from Hunan, but lives in Ermaoqiao for the tourist season.
We had gone much slower than we expected. We had done 130 kilometres over 10 hours, but at this stage it was definitely quality over quantity.
After the awesome day of driving the day before I was excited about the possible day of riding ahead. Kuqa was 379 kms away, and given the state of the roads we experienced so far, it would probably be two days hard riding to get there.
Before we got started, I needed to get my bike tyre fixed. The guy wasn’t hard to find in this village of less than 50 people. It was the same problem from the day before. The guy in Dushanzi didn’t manage to get all the metal spikes out of the tyre.
It was well past lunch time by the time we were cruising through pristine alpine valleys, marmots scurrying across the road and poking their heads out of their holes.
As we drove up and around the switchbacks up to the next pass, dark clouds began to appear over the mountain range we crossed yesterday and we began to get a little worried about the weather. We had no clue about the possible conditions at this altitude, so we were keen to push on.
Until we made it to the top of the 2nd Tian Shan pass, at 3000 metres up. This pass was lower than that of the previous day, meaning less snow and making it easier to drive. From the top, there was a spectacular view over the rest of the Tian Shan and I was surprised that we needed to cross at least one more mountain range before we got to Kuqa.
We got to the bottom of the valley and met the G218 at Linggongli (Zero kilometres? 零公里) which ran east to west from Ili, well known for its natural beauty, to Korla. There were only a couple of refreshment stands where we thought there would be a town. It’s the point where two national roads meet after all and I thought there would at least be a gas station, but alas, nowhere to stay, and no petrol. We stopped for lunch/afternoon tea and to figure out whether we should follow the G218 to Korla, avoiding another tricky mountain passage, or keep going along the G217 direct to Kuqa. Either way, we would have to find petrol to go much further, so we kept driving along the paved 218 as it was much more a thoroughfare than the 217.
We drove through the lush valley famed with pine covered slopes, livestock crossing the road every now and again, the nomadic herder’s gers like white marshmallows on the green pastures beside the river. I felt like I had passed into a different world; a kind of Shangrila hidden from the outside world. We arrived in a a small town called Gongnaisigou as the sun set and we were told this was the last town for 200 kms, and we certainly wouldn’t be able to get petrol or a place to stay anywhere else. We didn’t really have a choice but to stay there, not that we needed much encouraging. The setting was incredibly tranquil and a perfect place to have dinner and a couple of beers to relax after a big day.
02-01-2012, 04:29 AM
bigdamo
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Did you actually get off the G312 and come into Shihezi? I think you just kept on the G312 that is the outskirts of Shihezi and the industrial area.Not much appealing down there.
Xinjiang is a miltary region I'd be wary of the signs for a reason plus you being a foreigner should get a permit to travel that pass if something happens to you up there and you have to call in help they aren't go to be to happy coming and pulling you out.Did you tell anyone that you were doing that pass and were going to ring them when you safely made it through?
The weather up there can change real quick even in summer the storms come in real fast.
That said lots of foreigners do that pass with out a permit probably because if they ask for one they aren't going to get one.
Having that beard helps you .People around here will look at you and at first glance will think maybe your Uryghur or Hui rather than a foreigner.
Got to watch the baijiu .Most people in Xinjiang are extremely friendly and hospitable but will get you extremely drunk.Chinese New Year is killing me.
You can make a serious amount of money getting married here.Far outweighing the actual costs involved in getting married.
I like the practice when you walk in and give your red envelope and they have a plate of lollies and a plate of cigarettes which you must partake in even if you don't smoke.
I beg to differ I think Yanjing is Xinjiang if not China's best beer.Localism may play a part in that.It is made in Shihezi
02-01-2012, 05:52 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdamo
Did you actually get off the G312 and come into Shihezi? I think you just kept on the G312 that is the outskirts of Shihezi and the industrial area.Not much appealing down there.
Xinjiang is a miltary region I'd be wary of the signs for a reason plus you being a foreigner should get a permit to travel that pass if something happens to you up there and you have to call in help they aren't go to be to happy coming and pulling you out.Did you tell anyone that you were doing that pass and were going to ring them when you safely made it through?
The weather up there can change real quick even in summer the storms come in real fast.
That said lots of foreigners do that pass with out a permit probably because if they ask for one they aren't going to get one.
Having that beard helps you .People around here will look at you and at first glance will think maybe your Uryghur or Hui rather than a foreigner.
Unfortunately, we didn't take the time to visit Shihezi. Just shot straight through.
Have you ever done the crossing?
We had no idea about the permit, and we thought that the road would be good because it's a national road:eek2:. We also had no idea about what the weather could do in that region. We just wandered up to check it out and managed to get through. We also didn't tell anyone we were going because the possibility of getting stuck didn't occur to us.
Careless and naive of us I suppose.
Even now, I can't find information on the internet about the G217 permit. Do you know how someone else, planning to ride this road, could find out about the permit without putting their faith in the words of a travel agency? It's a stunning road and should be experienced before they pave it and put tunnels at the top of the passes.
Pat's mate wanted to ride through on a bicycle, and the travel agency asked 350 Euros to get the permit. Apparently the permit itself is practically free, but "there's a lot of paperwork". It seems a fairly steep price for paperwork, but I suppose that could include insurance in case the rider gets stranded and needs a rescue.
It's funny you mention the whole beard=Uigur thing. Most people in Xinjiang assumed I was Uigur, until I spoke:lol8:
02-01-2012, 06:05 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJH
Can we make request and or challenges?
If you post the link to the charity your sponsoring, sorry If you already have and I missed that.
Some may actually submit donation for meeting specific challenges?
Thanks for that Euphonius. Are you working for an NGO here?
It's always great to hear about the causes people get involved with and it would be interesting to hear about other humanitarian and environmental projects the guys on MCM are working with. I know there are a couple.
...
Dear Roadrunner,
Yes, I am indeed doing some humanitarian work here, and will give you a fuller update soon. Right now in the process of registering some things. Look forward to comparing notes as we move forward. Actually, I've been doing this work for quite a few years, and only now getting around to formalizing it into a properly funded organization.
Stay tuned!
02-01-2012, 06:37 AM
bigdamo
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadrunner
Unfortunately, we didn't take the time to visit Shihezi. Just shot straight through.
Have you ever done the crossing?
We had no idea about the permit, and we thought that the road would be good because it's a national road:eek2:. We also had no idea about what the weather could do in that region. We just wandered up to check it out and managed to get through. We also didn't tell anyone we were going because the possibility of getting stuck didn't occur to us.
Careless and naive of us I suppose.
Even now, I can't find information on the internet about the G217 permit. Do you know how someone else, planning to ride this road, could find out about the permit without putting their faith in the words of a travel agency? It's a stunning road and should be experienced before they pave it and put tunnels at the top of the passes.
Pat's mate wanted to ride through on a bicycle, and the travel agency asked 350 Euros to get the permit. Apparently the permit itself is practically free, but "there's a lot of paperwork". It seems a fairly steep price for paperwork, but I suppose that could include insurance in case the rider gets stranded and needs a rescue.
It's funny you mention the whole beard=Uigur thing. Most people in Xinjiang assumed I was Uigur, until I spoke:lol8:
You shot around the outskirts of Shihezi the industrial area.I have been to many places in China and the world in my time.I am sure there are other places in China that are beautiful but for me Shihezi has it all huge mountains close by with areas that are untouched by main stream China and then the deserts one hour away.Shihezi unfortunately is changing quickly but still a beautiful place.
Yes done the crossing by car.Hope to go and ski it this coming spring/summer.
Um the permit I wouldn't bother they probably won't give you one.You need a permit to climb,hike or ski any mountain over 3000 mtrs in Xinjiang which you can get from XMA they would probably do the permit for that pass.
Yeah the travel agents will rip you.I think the permit for hiking and climbing 3000 mtr mountain was $100.00
I doubt that you will get insurance just the permit.
Finding info on the net about Xinjiang is difficult especially the out of the way places one of the reasons I like the place except having to travel down to Urumqi to get some official things done in person sitting around for hours and then told" paper work wrong go back do again" why I can't just email them the documents. pisses me off.
The Uryghurs think I am a Uryghur initially so do the Kazahs.Kazah tradition dictates that any new Kazah that comes into your neighborhood has to be feed and greeted warmly has worked for me in some cases.
People say to me be careful in certain places and there probably right but I say they aren't going to go after me first they'll go after you.
02-01-2012, 06:43 AM
euphonius
Re: Around China in 100 Days
One more question, Roadrunner, since I see you are using smugmug to host your pictures: How do you get MCM to accept such big pictures? Since the site upgrade a few months ago, I have not been able to post anything larger than what smugmug calls a "small" sized picture. MCM refuses "medium" and "large" images, but you are getting nice big images through! What's the magic touch?
And keep the fantastic reports and pictures coming!
thanks!
02-01-2012, 06:53 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Gongnaisigouxiang to Dalongchi – Day 69
We got going fairly early in the morning because we had decided to take the G217 and we weren’t sure how long it would take to get to Kuqa. The guest-house lady owner said that once we crossed the mountains, the roads would be good, but were bad up until the pass. This was good news, as we were expecting to have another full bone shattering day of gravel riding.
I was concerned that my GPS, camera and helmet camera didn’t charge properly after the day before, because the only electricity between 10pm and 10am was a diesel engine that sat right outside the window to our room. I was grateful that they didn’t run the diesel generator all night, but I was sure that I would need electronics for another fantastic day.
It was quite a cold morning, so I warmed myself by the stove and made friends with a week-old pet lamb whose
mother had been killed after a horse kicked her in the head.
We had had to wait for half an hour after we turned up at the petrol station before the electricity got turned on and the pump started working, and we continued on through the stunning valley on flat, tarmac roads. At the top of the pass we came across a Mongolian Aobao, a reminder of the ethnic diversity of this rural area, where Han Chinese seemed a minority to the Mongolians, Khazaks and Uighurs.
We met the G217 again and realised we could have saved 70kms of riding by going back to Linggongli from Gongnaisigou and through the road works just past the intersection, but I felt that the detour was worth it just for what we saw.
The road turned to asphalt 5 kms out from Bayin Buluke, the only fair sized town we had come across on the 217, where we stopped for a great (and greasy) Zuafan lunch in a very Muslim restaurant. There were women in burqas, men in topis, Arabian style teapots and a clock showing Xinjiang time on the wall.
We filled up at the petrol station just in case the unexpected happened. A couple of the guys there told that there are road works on the road to Kuqa and cars and trucks don’t usually use the road but motorcycles go through all the time.
The smooth tarmac continued and eventually was so comfortable for Lulu that she needed to have a nap on the bike.
The asphalt stopped abruptly at a sign saying something like “only work vehicles past this point” and a big dirt barrier with tyre tracks leading over it. We followed the tracks over the dirt mound and we were back to gravel road skirting a river in the gorge’s rock face.
I was looking forward to climbing up into the mountains we saw from the top of the pass the day before, but the track didn’t do much climbing. We passed through a long tunnel which was what I imagine driving through a massive, dark freezer would feel like. We came out into the late afternoon sunshine and found that the only way was all downhill from here.
Lulu was driving in front again as I got a flat back tyre. I didn’t beep at her to let her know I was in trouble because I thought that a quick pump would do and I’d be on my way again. It wouldn’t hold air for more than 30 seconds. There was no cellphone reception in the mountains so I couldn’t call her to come back, so I set about doing what I could with what I had. It was the first time I had ever changed a back tyre of a motorcycle, so it was a bit of a learning curve, but didn’t seem too complicated. I tried to get the back axle nut off but it was hopeless with the tools I had, even after taking off the exhaust pipe and luggage rack to get a really good crack at it.
I had no option but to wait for a car with a wrench the right size. I got the chain off the sprocket and unhooked the back brakes while I waited. I waved down a couple of vehicles until a friendly Uigur stopped with one the right size. It was off in seconds and he was off in a couple more. It took me another 30 minutes to, get the wheel off, the inner out, put the spare inner in, hook up the brakes and put the chain back on, after which I had to wait for someone else with a wrench the right size.
A Uighur guy on a motorcycle stopped and fished out a wrench from the plastic bag of tools he had strapped to the back of his bike, helped me get tighten the axle nut, and then offered to drive with me to Kuqa, which I was more than happy about. A couple of seconds later the sound of screeching metal stopped me. I had tightened the brakes too much and the torque of the back wheel against the drum brake tore out the brake link. There was no way to fix that there, so I had to make to with driving downhill on gravel and dirt by only using the front brakes and the engine to slow me down.
We saw Lulu coming back to find me. She figured out what was happening by asking the cars that had come down if they had seen me, and she had been asking about a place to get the bike fixed.
All three of us went on. We decided to stop at the next village, Dalongchi, as it was getting dark. It was night by the time we got in and had to drive through a stream fed by ice-melt from the day to get through, which was our first fording, but not our last.
We stayed the night in a Mongolian ger which was part of a campsite. It was a tourist village, and it was low season so we got a decent price of 25 rmb each and all three of us slept on a big square of wood covered in blankets with Mongolian patterns all over them. I swore to myself that, when we got to Kuqa, I would find the basic tools we needed. It seemed like the wrench would be the last tool I would need to complete my slowly growing basic tool kit; a tool kit that a wiser man would have had from before the start.
02-01-2012, 07:16 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Quote:
Originally Posted by euphonius
One more question, Roadrunner, since I see you are using smugmug to host your pictures: How do you get MCM to accept such big pictures? Since the site upgrade a few months ago, I have not been able to post anything larger than what smugmug calls a "small" sized picture. MCM refuses "medium" and "large" images, but you are getting nice big images through! What's the magic touch?
And keep the fantastic reports and pictures coming!
thanks!
I couldn't get big pictures either until I started to deselect the "Retrieve remote file and reference locally" box, which is automatically selected each time the photo-posting-box-thingy is opened. If you're not already doing that it might help.
Our friend left early (I’m terrible with new names). He asked us to call him and have dinner with him that night when we got to Kuqa. He drives to Bayin Buluke twice a week for business, spending three days a week in Kuqa with his family. A true veteran of rough mountain roads with his appropriate steed.
We had a relaxed morning, not rushing because we knew we would get to Kuqa, 130 kms away. And we wouldn’t want to rush this anyway. It was the best driving yet.
Dalongchi (大龙池) is a popular local tourist destination in the high season, when it’s a bit warmer and I could see
why.
We set out on the persistent gravel roads, fording a couple of small streams, with high winds gusting through the gorge and dust flying in all directions. Lulu was managing the gravel remarkably well. My opinion was that she was more comfortable on the rough roads than city driving. Her country road driving was certainly much better than her city driving. I was still a bit concerned about getting another flat, thinking that my tyre still had metal slivers in it, so tried to make it easy on the back tyre over the bumps.
After about 40kms of gravel we got out of the gorge and onto asphalt into a geologically fascinating landscape. It looked as though the ground had been thrust up in places so that there were 45 degree inclines shorn off to show layers of rock millions of years old.
We stopped at the self-named ‘Grand canyon of China’. After the amazing scenery of the past couple of days, paying for a ticket to enter a tourist area that wasn’t so spectacular seemed like a waste of 40rmb. It was still a mini adventure though, and the tourism centre assured us that this was a ‘top 10 scenic beauty of China’. However, Lulu said that there were plenty of places with that accolade, and she had never heard of this place.
After a couple of hours hiking around the gullies of this canyon, we kept driving until the mountains gave way to flat desert. We looked back at the Tian Shan, and reflected on the first real experience of adventure motorcycle riding we had had so far.
Lulu had tried to call our mate from Dalongchi, but his phone was out of service so we couldn’t contact him. Sadly, this would be our only opportunity to accept an authentic Uighur dinner invitation.
When we arrived in Kuqa we started looking for a friend from the Xinjiang motorcycle forum who offered to take us through the post that Lulu had diligently updated. The regional forums were her only way of communicating with motorcyclists from the areas that we would pass through, as motofans had deleted her posts and banned her after the problems in Guangdong. As we wound through the streets, the army presence was rather noticeable, with dark-green canopied trucks driving through main roads and personnel here and there on the streets. Maybe this was some kind of precautionary measure in case one of Osama’s friends decided to cause some trouble.
We met up with our host and drove with him to a restaurant for dinner with his family, who were all very happy to see us, and customarily wouldn’t let us pay our share of the bill.
Soon after, we found a guest-house nearby, followed by a Kuqa welcome party which involved several beers, more food and a couple of games of pool. They invited us to stay in Kuqa for an extra day so we could tour around Kuqa and go to KTV with the guys in the evening.
I couldn't get big pictures either until I started to deselect the "Retrieve remote file and reference locally" box, which is automatically selected each time the photo-posting-box-thingy is opened. If you're not already doing that it might help.
Many thanks for that! Can't wait to give it a try. Your pix are looking fantastic, by the way.
So we're now up to Day 70 or so, and I'm rueing the day we reach Day 100. Keep 'em coming, but nice and slow, OK?
cheers!
02-04-2012, 04:09 AM
MJH
Re: Around China in 100 Days
I do not think that this is a live report…maybe I am incorrect?
02-06-2012, 04:46 PM
bigmonkey
Re: Around China in 100 Days
your pictures are fantastic
02-06-2012, 08:56 PM
Mouse
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Best read I have had in ages ..can't wait to get back to China....thanks.
02-07-2012, 09:59 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Kuqa – Day 71
Kuqa is a city that was once the home of the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of Kucha and one of the most famous Chinese Buddhists. The fourth-century Kuchean linguist Kumarajiva lived here for forty years until, in 386 CE, he was imprisoned by a Chinese general who had been sent with an army to bring him to the Chinese capital of Chang’an. Instead of sending the famous Buddhist back to his emperor, the general declared a new state, became a warlord and held Kumarajiva prisoner, the general not being a Buddhist but loathe to give away such a valuable person. There he remained until a new emperor had overthrown the old one and requested the general-turned-warlord to send Kumarajiva to Chang’an. He refused and only after the new emperor sent an army to take Kumarajiva by force was he freed from his prison and traveled to Chang’an to take up the position of ‘National Teacher’.
Over the years, giant monasteries were built here, but there isn’t much to show of them now.
Our friend came to pick us up early to visit his house. He owned a KTM 640 adventure, and even though he hadn’t used it very much, he wanted to sell it to buy a BMW 1200GS. He used to work at the local waterworks, but has quit to start up an automotive accessory business.
We had a nice home-cooked lunch, and sat around chatting before we drove out of town to Subashi monastery ruins, while the harsh winds whipped sand into our eyes. Xuanzang, another famous Chinese Buddhist monk stopped here in 630 AD on his 17 year pilgrimage to India and back.
We drove around in red-tinged sandstone hills nearby, an area known to our host as he used to work around the area for the pumping station, but we had to turn around after our route was blocked by a dam under construction.
A day earlier, Lulu had noticed that the top bolt holding her triple-tree to the frame had come loose and fallen off somewhere on the rough roads of the G217. I thought it was important that we get it fixed as soon as possible but we weren’t able to find a fastener that fit. The mechanic had a look at the bearings, tightened the bottom nut and was confident we shouldn’t have too much trouble with it. It still nagged at the back of my mind though.
While Lulu’s bike got tended to, I went out and bought a big adjustable wrench so I could fix my back tyre if I needed to. My lazy-as**d approach to the possibility of breaking down would have to take a back seat.
Later, after dinner, we met the guys who gave us such a great welcome party the night before and we went to KTV to finish off the day.
We got lost heading out of Kuqa. The newly constructed expressway confused the GPS and pointed us in the wrong direction. After an hour of fluffing about trying to find our way, we got onto the G314 to Aksu, 270 kms away.
I was feeling sick and my stomach was giving me trouble again, something that can make long distances on a bike rather uncomfortable. The scenery wasn’t so remarkable either, so it was mainly just a 270 km getting-to-Aksu day, interrupted here and there by road-works detours and emergency toilet stops.
After we got settled in we started talking about the next day. On the map, there were very few marks near the road that we would be taking, and nothing that suggested there would be anywhere to stay until Kashgar, which meant we would have to do nearly 500 kms. We decided to wake up at 6am the next morning for our longest day and potentially our earliest start.
02-08-2012, 04:38 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Aksu to Kashgar – Day 73
Despite our ambitions to get up at 6am （Beijing time), we were still moving at our earliest time to date, 8.30am (6.30am Xinjiang time), in our effort to make Kashgar before nightfall. I took a litre bottle of extra petrol because I was concerned about the lack of petrol stations on the way even though, if I ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere, the spare stuff would take me a maximum of 35 kilometres.
Kashgar had been an important destination in my head since the beginning, and knowing that there was always a possibility of something going wrong to mess up the journey, if I was to get to Kashgar, I would feel like I had accomplished something by getting to the westernmost city in China.
I was really interested in tasting the Xinjiang food while I was there. So far, we had been limited to Laghman (pulled noodles) and I was itching to try something different, So when I saw a pile of bagels at a street-side stall, I stopped for the opportunity to appease my curiosity. I had been trying to learn a bit of Uighur, just the basics like numbers and a couple of questions, and I wanted to see if anyone could understand me. I asked how much it was for one bagel. He replied “One”. “Yep, just one thanks, how much?”. “One”. “Yes, the price for one bagel”. I was getting a bit hot under the collar and it was only after I switched to my marginally better Chinese that I realised the price for one bagel was one rmb. My feeling of stupidity lasted until I took a bite. It was fresh, and the best bread I had tasted in China. Have them with the sultanas from Turpan and you’ve got top quality sustenance for the whole way to Kashgar, which I needed because there were no places to eat until Kizilsu, 30 kms out from the city.
Not too long after that we started to see a violent storm start to cross the hills to our right, and in the distance we could see the sheets of rain obscuring the horizon and flashes of lightning above the hills. We drove on for a couple more minutes, confident that we could stop in time to get changed into our waterproof gear before the rain hit us. Just as I was about to get my waterproof pants on (I wasn’t quite finished because I was busy taking photos) a ferocious gust of wind almost had me on my rear end, and seconds after that stinging pellets of ice were flying horizontally at my exposed face. I quickly had my ski mask and helmet on, and we both sheltered behind the bikes while lightning bolts had me concerned about what would happen if our bikes were struck.
We couldn’t drive in this tempest. Not only were our bikes rather light (allowing heavy gusts to push us into the path of incoming traffic) and visibility poor, Lulu couldn’t drive because the hailstones were so venomous that it was too painful to put her thinly protected hands on the handlebars. Her gloves weren’t thick enough.
After about 15 minutes of cacophony and cold, the wind died down and the hail was replaced by rain. In another 20 minutes we were out under blue skies again. I relished surviving a killer hailstorm on a relatively uneventful day, but Lulu had little to say and she just kept going.
We drove past the first petrol station in a long time with Lulu far in front. I was low on petrol, but assured myself. “She’ll be right, we can make it to the next town”. But I couldn’t and I ran out of petrol 35kms outside Kashgar. Luckily, the nearest town was 5 minutes down the road and I rode Lulu’s bike to get some from the petrol station there.
We had dinner at the truckstop near the petrol station. We ordered a dish of laghman to share, just enough to get us into Kashgar where we would find a nice restaurant to try something new. Lulu told me to order an empty plate so we could share and, instead of asking what the Chinese word for empty plate was, I told her (a tad belligerently) to order it herself. Why make things difficult? She exploded, letting me know in no uncertain terms, that she was not my translator. She gathered her gear, got on her bike and drove off. I learnt later (for anyone interested) that the term is kong panzi (空盘子). I could understand that she was tired and hungry after riding 430 kilometres and enduring that hailstorm, so was I. We are both as stubborn as each other at times, and our refusal to back down almost always led to arguments.
I finished eating, but I didn’t know where she went. Did she keep going to Kashgar, or did she stop in the town to find a place to stay for the night? I called and texted her because I wanted to ride into Kashgar together (and also because I thought that we could be separated for the night, making things much more complicated). It was a milestone after all. I figured that she was probably on the road to Kashgar and she soon called back to tell her she was waiting for me at the toll gate on the way into Kashgar.
We drove into Kashgar well after nightfall and were to meet a guy who had contacted Lulu offering to help us find a place to stay, at the ‘International Youth Hostel’. It wasn’t too far from central Kashgar and the location was great, but the owner told us that they couldn’t take foreigners, which was more than a little frustrating for both of us. So much for being an ‘International’ hostel.
So we were off looking for a hotel, any hotel, that would take us, but for some reason, most hotels were full. If there was ever a night that I wanted to splurge on a hotel, this was it. But we would need to travel through the city and 7 kms down the G315 before we found a place that would take us. It was almost 2am by the time we settled in and we had driven 499 kilometres and been on the road for almost 16 hours. We had covered over 12,700 kilometres since we left Chongqing 73 days earlier and made it to the ancient Silk Road city, despite the problems that may have seemed insurmountable at the time. We were there, together, alive and (reasonably) healthy.
02-08-2012, 06:17 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Kashgar – Day 74
After our biggest day of driving we had a massive sleep-in. It was well after 3.30pm before we got going to explore Kashgar.
Kashgar is a city of around 350,000 people has been a major trade hub, particularly during the time of the overland Silk Road, for over 2000 years, with five countries (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afganistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan) bordering the nearby areas.
I was the nominated driver again, something we never seemed to disagree about. We were looking for the grand bazaar, to find some gifts for friends and family. I had been looking forward to this market since Inner Mongolia because I had been looking for something made locally, not made in the factories of Tianjin on the east coast.
We found a small market first, guided by the ubiquitous brown tourist road signs. We had a nice walk around, but it obviously wasn’t it and Lulu asked some army guys that were hanging around the parking lot under the trees where the big one was, and they pointed us in the right direction, which happened to go through the Old City. The Old City, despite being small relative to the modern sprawl surrounding it, is an amazing collection of buildings that looked as though they had survived from the Silk Road era. We would save a thorough exploration for the next day.
The traffic was much more chaotic than usual, which is saying something in China. The odd donkey and cart generally behaved well, but it was the scooters that made driving through Kashgarian traffic the most unpredictable.
We didn’t have much trouble finding the market. It was easily identifiable by the number of huge carpets hanging outside the bustling road-front.
The bargaining and sales techniques that the vendors used was very reminiscent of the energy used by vendors in Pakistan and India, indeed many of the vendors were from Pakistan. I bought a knife with a bone handle, supposedly made in Yengisar (where all the good knives in the region are made) and some pashminas, goat hair scarves decorated with intricate designs and bright colours.
We wandered around for a couple of hours but needed to get going before the Id Kah Mosque closed. I would need to come back the next day to finish my shopping. Lulu wasn’t interested in buying, just in soaking up the atmosphere, which was free.
I had imagined the Id Kah mosque to be much bigger (as it’s the largest mosque in China, supposedly able to hold up to 20,000 worshipers), so it was a little bit disappointing. This may have been because I was comparing it with the Badshahi mosque in Pakistan, which is the fifth largest mosque in the world. It was still a very, beautiful tranquil place with tree lined courtyards.
The side street outside the mosque held all sorts of intriguing antique shops and restaurants. We tried out charcoal roasted Shish Kebabs with round naan bread; a simple but satisfying foray into the culinary delights of Xinjiang.
We were still very tired after the couple of day’s drive since our last rest stop in Kuqa, so we relaxed at the hotel before an early night.
02-08-2012, 06:46 AM
Roadrunner
Re: Around China in 100 Days
Kashgar – Day 75
In the morning we finally found a bolt for Lulu’s triple tree. The bikes got a look over while we stood in the shade of the workshop, avoiding the heat from the harsh sunlight.
We immersed ourselves in this world for a while, insulated from the noise and traffic of the modern world by the narrow alleyways and brick houses, but it wasn’t long before we again found ourselves face to face with a street full of scooters and beeping taxis.
I left Lulu to walk around and went back to get my laptop. We had planned some internet time at an internet cafe (we only had internet at our lodgings a handful of times in the trip) and I had left it running at the bingguan to resize some of the photos I wanted for the blog. On the way, I stopped at the Bazaar to pick up a couple more pashminas. Meanwhile, Lulu continued walking around the old quarter taking photos.
I picked Lulu up to find an internet cafe. She mentioned an internet cafe nearby, but I kept going on the way back to out guest-house as I had seen one the day before. She got a little bit annoyed that I didn’t listen to what she said, which simmered away for later.
At the internet cafe, we had a stupid argument about a photo I didn’t want her to put on the internet. She walked out and I kept working for a couple of hours. I texted her later to let me know when she wanted to be picked up, because she didn’t know how to get to the guest-house. She called a couple of hours later and I headed to the Id Kah mosque to find her. Driving in Kashgar at night is a very pretty sight though, especially when the Old City is lit up facing the the bright, modern neon Ferris wheel.
As we drove home, my ears insulated from arguments and comments by the wind whistling past the helmet, I kept thinking about the possibility of heading up the Karakoram highway, the highest paved road in the world. I was told that I may need permits to travel that road and it was the weekend so offices would be closed. Thinking it could be another bureaucratic nightmare, I forgot about the idea. Pretty slack attitude really. I’d really like to drive that road one day.
