Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category

Day 203. 112km. Zhangye – Fengcheng

Posted: December 1, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
2

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
Tags: , , ,
8

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
Tags: , , ,
7

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

Day 271. 145km. Stung Treng – Preah Vihear

Posted: November 30, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
0

Today we cycled on a long, straight, flat road. Our goal was 145km distant Preah Vihear. We left at dawn and arrived in the late afternoon after moving quite quickly through the kilometres in the bright light and heat. Reward was 2 smoothies and 2 mixed fruits with coconut ice. Nothing else to report.

Davide and I eating lots of fruity deserts

Davide and I eating lots of fruity deserts

Day 201. 94km. Chijin – Jiayuguan

Posted: November 29, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
2

To escape the wind. Today I changed my route, leaving the freeway to what I suspected was a road through farmland with the accompanying wind protection. My mind was focussing on how to avoid the wind. And I have it – tomorrow I will be cycling at night! Night rider!

The long road

The long road

The road south to Yumen town looked on the map like it was through farmland (any roads on the map leaving the freeway with occasional side roads are usually farmland). Well, it climbed 500m across a desert plain to a ridge with a massive oil refinery. I was happy though – with almost no wind in the morning, I rocketed up the 500m, and had that altitude to ‘spend’ cycling down against the wind to Jiayuguan. No farmland though.

Police

Police

I passed the 17000km mark from Eindhoven.

17000km

17000km

A rest day is planned visiting the Great Wall and then I’m turning nocturnal!

Day 270. 35km. Koh Preah – Stung Treng

Posted: November 29, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
2

Happy dolphins, wobbly boats, bike washes in the middle of the 200m-wide river and rejoining with an old cycling companion – Davide. Not much cycling, though..

Bike cleaning

Bike cleaning

Dolphin viewing was on the menu today – in the early morning before it got too hot. After travelling for about 30 minutes, we reached a broad, calm spot in the Mekong. And there they were, blowing out air, diving majestically – circling the boat at about 100m. I counted five, playing with us – always faster than us as we rotated the boat to see them.

Coming back from seeing the dolphins

Coming back from seeing the dolphins

I returned to the boat place on the opposite side of the island. There was no apparent activity. I asked some locals when the boat was leaving, pointing to the other side of the river.
‘No.’
Well, that was clear.
‘When? How long? How many hours?’ I ran it through Google translate.
I got a stream of Khmer language.
‘How many minutes?’
Laughter.
The guy wrote down what he was saying – in Khmer script.
‘One o’clock?’
No – I gathered from their Khmer.
‘Tomorrow?’
No.
Finally, the woman there pointed to a little rickety old boat and went down with her 15 year-old and 5 year-old sons. After almost capsizing when putting the bike on the boat, we made it across, for which I am grateful.. ☺ Thanks to the lovely Cambodians who helped me out!

My humble mode of transport across the Mekong

My humble mode of transport across the Mekong

After some contact on Facebook, I realized that Davide was in town. We had cycled together in Iran, and met up briefly in Luang Prabang. We’ll cycle together to Siem Reap. While sitting on the banks of the Sekong River, we saw a curious site. A parade of motorbikes riding into the middle of the river for a clean. Time to do the same.. ☺

Motorbike wash

Motorbike wash

Day 200. 79km. Shulehe – Chijin

Posted: November 28, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
0

There are spots of green in this desert. Trees, Corn and sunflower crops. And protection from the wind. Then the desert continues and the wind hits like a wall. With a small side component to the gale-force headwind, my non-aerodynamic luggage slams on the brakes. OK. OK. 7km/h it is.

Wind in the grass

Wind in the grass

I have read about cyclists who have taken busses to cross this vast desert. I have read how dejecting it is to get nowhere slowly with the terrible winds, and how they step onto the bus. I have always wanted to cycle all the way to Australia, without busses or other forms of transport (except when water makes cycling impossible). I can understand this dejection.

The weather forecast is for the same as far forward as it goes. Gentler winds (about 17km/h headwind) are in the morning. Stronger headwinds (30km/h+) are in the afternoons. There are still hundreds of kilometres to go. Cycling into the wind is not like normal cycling where you pedal, and have regular pauses from pedalling as you just roll along. With this wind, the moment I stop pedalling, the wheels stop turning and I have to step off the bike. It is a mind game. I still intend to cycle tomorrow. Let’s see if and when the bus beckons.

Exhausted after another windy day

Exhausted after another windy day

Day 269. 35km. Stung Treng – Koh Preah

Posted: November 28, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
0

‘You come and sleep at my house.’
He had returned now for the second time. The rest he said was in Khmer which I didn’t understand. I was staying at the official ‘homestay’ on the island. He looked quite insistent.
‘What did he want?’ I asked my host after he left.
‘Oh. He’s crazy,’ she replied simply.

The beautiful road to Koh Preah

The beautiful road to Koh Preah

It was a lovely cycle next to the Mekong and on a boat across to the palm-lined island. I arrived by 11, and realised that I quickly get restless. On the tropical paradise island, I went for a swim next to the water buffalo. I listened to a podcast in the hammock and then slept. I walked up and down the island village, waving ‘hello’ to all the ecstatic kids. I had dinner, not with the host family, unfortunately. I was showered with gifts of a block of rock salt and a shell from Mr Crazy. I realized I had exhausted the island’s activities for a non-local who doesn’t speak a word of Khmer. A nice little break, but time to return to cycling.. ☺

Before the river crossing

Before the river crossing

Drahtesel (my bike) is ready and waiting

Drahtesel (my bike) is ready and waiting

Day 199. 93km. Shuwei – Shulehe

Posted: November 27, 2015 in China, Cycling
Tags: , , ,
2

There are not enough hours of light and I am not strong enough to clock-up 100km with a wind like this. Sometimes I just stop. In the middle of the desert. In the sun. And just drop my head over my arms on the handlebars. This wind is relentless and, at this speed, the desert is infinite.

Strong wind

Strong wind

Sometimes I take the freeway. Sometimes I take the parallel road. I change between the two (often acrobatically due to the fence that follows the freeway) when there is a shop of some kind. It means a well-earned break from the wind. Sometimes I duck into a water drainage passage under the freeway. The wind is also less there.

With a wind like this, I don’t really notice the surroundings – a lot of glare and a lot of sand. I focus on some podcasts I have downloaded, and stay inside my mental cocoon.

Dry desert

Dry desert

My goal of Yumen was just too far. Off my planned route was the town of Shulehe – and from where I was, it was perpendicular to the wind. That’s where I wanted to go! The road had lots of trees blocking the side wind, and it was magic easily passing 10 km/h, and even hitting 20! Straight to the expensive tourist hotel. Tonight, I deserve it!

Sunflower drying

Sunflower drying

Day 268. 88km. Don Det – Stung Treng

Posted: November 27, 2015 in Cambodia, Cycling, Laos
Tags: , , , , , ,
6

‘That will be $2.’
‘Can I have a receipt please?’
‘You can have the stamp for $1.’
‘Can I have a receipt please?’
‘OK. You can go.’
Border crossing in Laos.

My first glimpse of Khmer script on this trip

My first glimpse of Khmer script on this trip

I have left my favourite place in Laos – Don Det. It just exudes ‘chill’ and I love it. On my day off I explored the islands of Don Det and Don Khon, ate, and hung out with a group of Belgians, and also with a German and Australian (from my home town Adelaide).

Little path on Don Khon

Little path on Don Khon

Sunset on Don Det

Sunset on Don Det

Kids playing at sunset, Don Det

Kids playing at sunset, Don Det

Today I visited the largest waterfall in Asia (by volume), bribed my way through the Laos/Cambodia border crossing famous for its corruption, and sped along an often dusty road to the Cambodian Mekong town of Stung Treng (passing 23000km on the way).

Phapheng waterfall

Phapheng waterfall

My lovely frangipani

My lovely frangipani

23000km

23000km

The dusty road

The dusty road

Crossing the bridge to Stung Theng

Crossing the bridge to Stung Theng

Tomorrow a change of plan. A detour to a secret homestay on a secret island in the Mekong. The marketing people haven’t done a good job at spreading the word. I’m very excited about it.

For the record: Bribery and crossing from Laos into Cambodia.
– Laos exit stamp. They wanted $2, but on insisting I get a receipt, I got the stamp for free.
– Medical check. I was tested for malaria by having a little machine pointed in the vague direction of my head, and waiting for it to beep. I don’t have malaria, and was able to reduce the bribe amount from $2 down to $1 by smiling and acting stupid (not too hard for me).. ☺
– Cambodia visa. I paid $35 (it should have been $30). No receipt was possible, and no discussion was possible. It costs $2 more if you don’t have a passport photo. No further bribe for the entrance stamp.

Older Entries
Newer Entries