Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category

Day 208. 99km. Qiyang – Wanggeertang

Posted: December 6, 2015 in China, Cycling
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It was grey and the road climbed slowly. I am ready for my planned rest in Xiahe – a break from cycling and the endless honking of horns.

My camp spot

My camp spot

Busy town

Busy town

I am in the mountains. The signs also have Tibetan script. I was surprised to see similarities with the Hindi Sanskrit script. I hadn’t noticed that before.

Today was a day of tunnels (forbidden for cyclists), of a new bike pump (given to me for free from the lovely people at the Giant shop in Linxia) and my first super-cheap hotel found all by my little self – 3USD.

The Giant bike shop in Linxia

The Giant bike shop in Linxia

Fully loaded

Fully loaded

Day 207. 126km. Datong – Qiyang

Posted: December 5, 2015 in China, Cycling
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I have mountains from close-up. I have lakes. I have (very) steep roads. I have tunnels. I have the Yellow River. I’m away from the cycling to eat the kilometres. From here the road goes up – on to the Tibetan Plateau.

A small mountain road at last

A small mountain road at last

It was time for another good-bye – this time with Wendy. She gave me a postcard with all the vocab (and Chinese characters) I need on my trip forward. All the ways of saying hotel or room as well as restaurant and ice-cream.

Farewell to Wendy

Farewell to Wendy

Today was all about the Yellow River. I saw it brown. I saw it blue. I left it’s valley twice on very steep roads, only to return later. I also saw the Yellow River as a lake, and cycled along the brand new road skirting its shores, complete with some massive tunnels. The road is so new, there are no villages, and so nowhere to stay or eat. Time to roll out the tent.. ☺

The Yellow River

The Yellow River

The Yellow River

The Yellow River

The Yellow River Lake

The Yellow River Lake

Day 206. 118km. Shibalipu – Datong

Posted: December 4, 2015 in China, Cycling
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The main road with lots of trucks. There was a climb over a pass of 3000m, but I didn’t feel immersed in the nature. The Tibetan Plateau is approaching – there was a village with Tibetan script – but I’m not there yet.

Tibetan script

Tibetan script

‘This is the Silk Road’ said one of the Chinese cyclists that we met on the way. I have been on the Silk Road since Turkey, although this corridor through northern China is the climax. It is now a corridor with big freeways and roads and fairly bland villages. We are now less than 100km from Lanzhou – the capital of Gansu province. I intend to avoid it. Wendy will be going through to Langzhou tomorrow to catch her train. Our paths will diverge then.

Day 205. 82km. Wuwei – Shibalipu

Posted: December 3, 2015 in China, Cycling
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They stood at the freeway exit with their SLR camera taking photos of us. Only this time, it as the police who had instructed us to leave the freeway. I was holding my breath.

Fixing the flat tyre

Fixing the flat tyre

They drove right past Wendy and told me to leave the freeway. She thought we could just continue on until she realised they meant business waiting for us at the freeway exit with their lights flashing. I acted dumb (not difficult) and let Wendy do the talking. I felt like their tone was different to me, the Weiguoren (foreigner). To Wendy, they acted like her (and our) guardian angel. There is no place ahead to sleep for many kilometres so you should leave the freeway here. Acting all innocent and grateful, we left the freeway. They now have some great snaps of the Weiguoren and the Zhongguoren (Chinese person).

I have some great snaps of the mass of people that looked over my shoulder while I was looking at Facebook on my phone. Every time I lacked my privacy, the camera went on. I might have irritated some of them. Damn. ☺ Actually, it all became a bit of a joke, and I took photos of the whole village looking over my shoulder.

Looking at Facebook over my shoulder

Looking at Facebook over my shoulder

The morning was spent in Wuwei fixing my Chinese mobile internet, getting some money and finding a bike shop to fix Wendy’s brakes. We both felt a bit stupid when the person at the bike shop fixed the problem in 10 seconds in front of our eyes. A brake cable had come out of its holder and needed to be put back in.

My flat tyre later in the day took about 30 minutes to fix. I was amazed to learn that Wendy did not have anything to fix a flat tyre, and had not had one. She watched on in interest as I fixed the problem. It is kind of weird to think that I was being looked on as the technical expert (!).

Our evening ride turned a bit problematic when we realised we had misread distances and altitudes and it got dark a long way from anywhere. Luckily, the cluster of shops called Shibalipu (= 9km shop in Chinese) popped up. It has a little hotel. It is not 9km from anywhere I know of..

Day 274. 148km. Kulen – Siem Reap

Posted: December 3, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
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‘Aren’t you afraid?’ he asked.
‘Why? Of what?’ I replied.
We were alone in the crumbling ruins of Prasad Koh Ker. The air was still, heavy with humidity. The cries of birds high up in the forest roof broke the silence for a moment – and then the blanket of silence returned.
‘Ghosts.’

The home of the ghost

The home of the ghost

I’m not sure who he was. He was working for the park in some way, I think. He was serious about the ghosts. It is just the place I would expect to find them.

Actually, that was at one of the side-temples of Prashad Koh Ker. I realised when I had found the real temple. There was a line of food and knick-knack stalls before the entrance. The temple had a large pyramid as its climax, and from the top, you could see for miles across the plains – even to Prashad Preah Vihear where I was yesterday.

Koh Ker Temple

Koh Ker Temple

View from Koh Ker Temple

View from Koh Ker Temple

But, I realised that Siem Reap, with its luscious cakes, was calling. I had had enough of hot Cambodian plains, sweating profusely, and becoming raw in certains areas – the Vaseline was losing its effectiveness. It would be one final dash to Siem Reap – a dash that would see me arrive in the dark.

A Chinese tourist at Trapeang Noem temple

A Chinese tourist at Trapeang Noem temple

From the side road to Siem Reap

From the side road to Siem Reap

Day 204. 136km. Fengcheng – Wuwei

Posted: December 2, 2015 in China, Cycling
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The lights were out and the door was closed. There was a knocking from outside. Ignoring it didn’t make it go away. It was the police. Word had got around that there were foreigners in our little hangout.

The mountains in the distance

The mountains in the distance

Our host’s little spare room in the tiny little village was not immune to the watch of the police. Out passports were checked for about half an hour before we could return to sleep.

This morning was cold and rainy. This afternoon was sunny and pleasant. Our group split in two. Oliver and Mira wanted to take their time more, and Wendy (the new English name we gave her) and I wanted to speed along a bit more. Tonight we find ourselves in a rather luxurious but cheap hotel in the outskirts of Wuwei.

The farewell

The farewell

Day 273. 139km. Sr’eam – Kulen

Posted: December 2, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
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The ridge of hills rises majestically from the plains on either side – Cambodia on one side, and Thailand on the other. The temple ruins – from another age – know no such border. Perched on the knoll, jutting out from the main spine, sits the temple, impervious to the swarm of army guards (more than tourists), and to the constant music breaking nature’s silence. The spirit of Preah Vihear temple runs deeper.

The majestic ridge

The majestic ridge

Like the ridge of hills, the road also rises up from the plains. The last kilometre gets the award for the steepest road of my trip. Even though the road surface was good, and I had an unloaded bike, I still pushed my bike up. I also pushed my bike down, as riding would result in locked wheels, and me sliding down out of control.

A steep descent with view over Thailand

A steep descent with view over Thailand

Preah Vihear temple

Preah Vihear temple

Preah Vihear temple

Preah Vihear temple

View out over Cambodia

View out over Cambodia

I got excited seeing the profile of the temple. What a view it would have!

I got excited seeing the profile of the temple. What a view it would have!

I returned to Sr’eam by 12, and so bit the bullet and cycled to the next guesthouse – 80km away. I like this eat away the kilometre challenge. Audio book on, I proceded into the heat of the Cambodian plains, arriving at my destination at dusk.

Day 203. 112km. Zhangye – Fengcheng

Posted: December 1, 2015 in China, Cycling
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This morning four cyclists left the hostel in Zhangye on the road to Langzhou. This evening four cyclists arrived in a little village on the side of the freeway. In between we cycled in the drizzle through cultivated land, stopping to eat, drink, and clamber over the fences to get to and from the freeway.

The cycling group of 4

The cycling group of 4

Today was the second time we were refused entry to the freeway. This time, however, the alternative meant backtracking 15km. Instead, we cycled along a dirt track that ran parallel to the freeway until we found a hole in the fence. Today we just did the kilometres and called it a day. The Chinese cycling colleague helped us all find a house that takes guests that I would have never found. Now I know what to look for, I think I can find a place to stay everywhere in small towns far away from the police.

Oh. By the way, in my rest day (another one!) in Zhangye, we discovered that the road to Xining we wanted to take has been closed to foreigners for 30 years. This means another few hundred kilometres of the same flat plains towards Langzhou before climbing to the Tibetan Plateau. Sigh.

Day 272. 88km. Preah Vihear – Sr’aem

Posted: December 1, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
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Mark is in Siem Reap and he keeps sending me photos of cakes he is eating. The non-tourist back-block places of Cambodia know no such delights, although soon, I too can sink into an orgy of cake binging in Siem Reap. Until then, its flat straight roads through wooded landscape void of people.

Dreaming of Siem Reap

Dreaming of Siem Reap

My path takes a detour to see the temple of Preah Vihear on the Thai-Cambodian border. All have raved about it, and it sounds like a temple of the beauty of Angkor Wat without the people. Perfect! Tonight I am in the last village with accommodation before the temple, ready for an early morning assault tomorrow.

Today started with Davide, eating (non Siem Reap) cake (and noodle soup) before embarking. After 23km our roads diverged as he is continuing onto Siem Reap directly. We will meet up again there.

Not dreaming of Siem Reap

Not dreaming of Siem Reap

The long road

The long road

The long road

The long road

Day 202. 244km. Jinyuguan – Zhangye

Posted: November 30, 2015 in China, Cycling
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How to cycle 244km in one day? Well, don’t plan it. Start at 2am, and cycle with the thought, I need to make the most of right now – there is no wind right now. I pushed, cycling the maximum speed possible at every moment. Living in the now, if you will. The feared wind never came, and the kilometres rolled past. All 244 of them.

244km in one day

244km in one day

It is dark. Everyone is sleeping. Everyone except the night drivers. It is the night shift. Just me and the long-distance truck drivers whoosing past in a blur of spacy multicolour light. And the desert – almost invisible in the shadows to the side.

The sky slowly gains some colour. I notice I can see the desert. The bleak, empty desert I now know all so well. And on the horizon I see some orange and pink. Then I leave the freeway at my planned exit. The only one awake, leaving the realm of the night shift.

Leaving the freeway at dawn

Leaving the freeway at dawn

And the speed continues. I need to make the kilometres before the wind comes. Only it doesn’t. There was even a slight breath of tailwind. I push the speed on. I was already clocking up an impressive distance. Then, suddenly, reaching Zhangye – something that I had never even considered – seemed possible. I flipped into challenge mode. I was going to cycle there in one day. And that is what I did.

Sheep in the river bed

Sheep in the river bed

On a side-note – I had a day off yesterday in Jiayuguan, where I went to look at the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall

The Great Wall

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