Harbin to Kashgar, and wherever else theres time for

**modron** · 08-18-2013, 01:42 AM

Any problems with getting your bike in and out of Mongolia?

**HarbinSteve** · 09-15-2013, 06:43 AM

Sorry I have been away for so long. I've been having a lot of internet problems lately. Also, flickr seems to have changed their website, and I cant find the option to sign in through google like I always have, so I have to find out how to access my pictures before I can post more. Hopefully I can get this all straightened out soon, I've been way too slow on this RR.

Originally Posted by modron

Any problems with getting your bike in and out of Mongolia?

Yes. Lots of them. The Mongolia side of things is pretty straightforward (besides the fact that they couldn't really speak much Chinese or English) but the Chinese side was a real B****. To leave China you are supposed to have something they called a 行驶证. Nobody (including the police and the border guards) could tell me exactly what the process to get one was. I even went to the military base that was responsible for the border, and they didn't know either. Some people told me the nearest town, some told me the provincial capital and others told me Beijing, but nobody really knew anything about the process. Anyhow, I managed to get out of China without it, but getting back in was a nightmare.

**futianshenzhen** · 09-15-2013, 07:28 AM

Epic route mate!!

**centralmoto** · 09-16-2013, 10:06 AM

looking forward to the report

**HarbinSteve** · 12-20-2013, 04:51 PM

Hey Guys,

I was having a lot of trouble with the internet in Harbin, (I don't have a vpn) but I'm back in the States for the Holidays, so I'm gonna revive this thread and finish it up. Should have it done within the next few days. Sorry about the wait!

**Hok** · 12-22-2013, 06:31 AM

Looking forward to more...

**JayDee** · 01-04-2014, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Hok

Looking forward to more...

+1

**HarbinSteve** · 01-04-2014, 09:38 PM

So..... Its been a long time, way too long, since I worked on this. Hopefully I can remember most of the stuff that matters.

I stayed in Beijing visiting friends and stocking up on supplies for a few days. After that we headed west. We didn't really have any route planned, just the goal of getting to Kashgar, so on the way out of Beijing we just went west. The riding near Beijing was great. Winding mountain roads with beautiful scenery and not much traffic.

(1 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

We rode until it started to get dark than looked for a place to stay. Didn't see much in the way of trucker hotels and the like, I think because we were taking smaller roads, so we opted to stay behind an abandoned building. I hadn't done too much camping in China, so I wasn't sure what the rules are about it, but i figure the worst thing that could happen was some angry man would come yell at me to leave. Besides it didn't seem like there was anybody around anyway.

(2 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Behind the shack there was a old garden that was pretty sandy/soft so we pitched the tent there. Baxi was sad, I don't think she knew what she was in for when she wanted to go on a trip with me. haha.

(3 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

We had ditched the sleeping pads before we left because they took up a lot of room, but that night we learned we would need them again.Turns out the tent floor wasn't really all that waterproof.

**HarbinSteve** · 01-04-2014, 09:46 PM

We slept well, (although a little cold-baxi had lost her sleeping bag in Beijing, so we put the one bag on top of us and just slept in our riding gear) and nobody had come to yell at us during the night. Camping success! We headed out to get some sketchy breakfast and continued on our way. The roads got pretty terrible and were under construction, but when we crossed into Shanxi, the road was all of a sudden perfect. It was a nice change. Little did I know later in the trip I would be spending a lot of time off-roading...

(4 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

It rained off and on, but in general the riding was decent. We rode by a pretty cool section of the great wall.

(5 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

After a while we passed a giant Ghengis Kahn, telling us we had made it to Inner Mongolia.

(6 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

**HarbinSteve** · 01-04-2014, 09:54 PM

It was at this point that I learned not to rely on google maps too much. Turns out they can't always keep up with the pace of China's change. The G109 would have taken us exactly where we needed to go, but it turns out they had ripped that entire stretch up to turn it into a highway. The locals I asked all say you could still drive it all the way through, but it was all pretty rough dirt. Oh, and it was raining. Not a good combo for a 125 loaded down with two people and their gear. And plenty of Semi Trucks to make sure you died if you slipped in the mud.

(7 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr

Baxi was a good sport and walked along the side while I tried to push the bike through the muck. At one point the water got deep and the bike stalled. Luckily it started right back up. At a certain point all of the Semi trucks got off of the dirt road onto a magical highway 高速 that just appeared out of nothing. Then it was just us trying to make it on the G109. After I while of pushing/walking we realized it was hopeless and we would never make it on that road unless it was dry. It was time to turn around. Unfortunately we would not be making it to Ordos that day.

(8 of 121) by HamSandwichChina, on Flickr