On the Road Again

It’s been 11 days since I arrived in Urumqi and it’s been 11 days of relaxing bliss. It’s been good for me I think. I’d been riding pretty hard for the last week ever since I got Urumqi in my sights.

The impressive state buildings near the hostel and park

It’s also been great to spend sometime in a hostel environment and meet lots of really interesting people all on their different paths. I do like riding my bike alone but at the same time your own company can become rather, how should I say…..boring? As is often the case you run into people following the same route as you and this was the case with the Swiss couple Simone and Andrew who I’d previously met on the street in Zhangye.

I’ve met many people from various corners of the world over the last few days and got to know them as well as anyone can in such a short period of time. It’s nice to be able to swap stories, visit some places together and most importantly not dine alone all the time.

Urumqi is the gateway for many people to begin their trips into central Asia in particular Kyrgyzstan and in my case Kazakhstan. Both countries have embassies located here and hence you find many people in the same situation as me, stranded in limbo in Urumqi waiting for their visas.

I say stranded but I could certainly think of worse places to be stranded. After riding for so long Urumqi has come as welcome relief to me. The weather is great, especially for someone coming from the UK; May seems to be a nice season where the weather has yet to reach the heights of summer.

The first couple of days here were spent literally doing nothing. Its funny how you become almost programmed riding the bike; up early, cook breakfast, ride, eat and finally sleep. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to simply do nothing.

The really fantastic news is that today is that I was issued with my 60 day double entry visa for Kazakhstan. It’s such a relief as it means it gives me the chance to cross the country. I will spend the first 30 days in and around the Almaty region sorting out my Russian visa. Then I will have to leave the country and probably head into either of the neighbouring countries Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan in order to re-enter Kazakhstan and the second 30 days of the visa.

The all important document which means the dream is still alive

It’s the first visa I’ve had to secure and I’m so happy to have gotten it. It’s now a question of applying for the Russian visa which requires a letter of invitation from the Russian government. Acquiring this letter takes around a week and then it can be anything up to 2 weeks for the visa itself. Like many people travelling in this part of the world it’s about playing the waiting game.

I’ve found out that Almaty is in the top 50 expensive cities in the world so not really the kind of place a bicycle tourist wants to be for 3 weeks. I’ve been doing my research and I’ve managed to locate some places of a ‘budget’ nature; perhaps I could spend my time writing a short book on how to stay in Almaty on a shoestring budget. We shall see.

In terms of things to see in Urumqi I’ve seen most of what it has to offer. The International Bazaar In the Muslim quarter is one of the highlights of being here and I also visited the Museum with its eerie display of mummies. In addition the city has plenty of parks which are nice to stroll around.

The two greatest things for me here though have been the weather which has been amazing since I arrived and the food; never before have I eaten so much lamb and Naan bread!

Just a couple of the really nice people I've met here; Einan from Israel and Malin from Sweden. Good luck on your bike heading East.

I’ll perhaps try and write something again before I leave. I’m now 645km away from the border so I’m either going to set off on Wednesday or Thursday to get there for the 22nd. Since getting my visa today my mind has switched from relaxed to switched on and thinking about the next stage; it’s very exciting.

It’s late so I’m off to bed……..until next time.

I’ve been in Urumqi a week now and have finally gotten around to updating this blog from a week ago

I knew I was only a matter of a hundred or so kilometres from Urumqi when I went to bed and had a real sense of excitement at the prospect of hitting the capital of Xinjiang province the next day. I don’t remember it being overly windy when I went to sleep at night; however I was woken up at around 2 o’clock in the morning by a fierce wind roaring through and under the culvert. Luckily everything was packed away in bags but all sorts of debris was being blown under the culvert and rapidly out the other side.

The wind was really powerful and like I said I was lucky I’d made sure there was nothing left out that could be blown away. It wasn’t a great experience I have to say, the wind was making an awful howling noise and I had little choice but to huddle up in my sleeping bag inside the tent and try and ride it out.

I usually leave the bike rested up against the inside wall and was really fortune that when it did crash down after one particularly forceful gush it missed my legs and also failed to damage the bike in any way.

By six o’clock in the morning the wind had subsided somewhat but was still blowing pretty strong. This was my worst fear realized; I’d gotten through what many people had said was the windiest part of the desert only to hit it so close to Urumqi.

I spent the next half an hour struggling against the wind packing away my sleeping bag and tent while the wind raged around me; all the time trying to dispel the thought of not making it to Urumqi tonight.

I began to question whether this would be possible or not the moment I got onto the road as the wind made it almost impossible to ride. I’d purposely chosen this culvert to sleep under as I knew there was a petrol station 5 kilometres up the road. With a combination of riding and pushing I managed to get to the petrol station where I decided to assess my options.

Fortunately it was one of those stops which has everything; petrol station, restaurant and washrooms. Having refueled on an incredibly unhealthy breakfast of crisps, cookies and coke I was ready to tackle what lay ahead.

I spoke to one guy and asked him about the distance to Urumqi, he informed me that it was about 120 kilometres away to which I tried to figure out using a variety of hand gestures whether that was uphill, flat or downhill. The upwards diagonal movement he made with his hand wasn’t the answer I was looking for. He told me that it was 35 kilometres up the mountain before it leveled off.

Going up.

It was a painfully slow ride uphill in the morning, I’ve been spoilt for the last few days with fantastic conditions and was on the one hand thankful I’d put in the extra effort to cover the distances and therefore avoid this exact situation but on the other hand was filled with dread at the prospect of not being able to make it to Urumqi and the hostel I’d set my mind on for that night.
My speed was so slow as I gradually made me way up the mountain. I’ve no problem riding up mountain but as I’ve already experienced on this trip mountains and headwind isn’t a good combination.

It took an age to cover the 35km to the top and I knew I still faced a good 90 kilometres to Urumqi. Again there were some beautiful snow capped mountains to the West but for the most part the scenery remained the same. The afternoon was grey and cold and the adverse weather conditions just made me more determined to make it to Urumqi. Each road sign was a blessing and I began to count down the kilometres.

Nearing the top but still 95 kilometres to go.

Just outside of Urumqi the weather began to pick up which in turn lifted my spirits. I don’t know what I expected to feel when I got here. For so long I’ve been thinking about the moment that I would arrive in Urumqi. I know there is another 650 kilometres to Korgos and the border with Kazakhstan but for me reaching here signified a big achievement.

The combination of the G30 and G312 that have served me so well over the past few months.

I suppose I’ve viewed this trip in three sections; crossing China, crossing Kazakhstan and Russia and then the final leg from the Ukraine to the UK. This was like ticking off number one.

My first sight of Urumqi.

Once in Urumqi I still had to locate the youth hostel. The directions on their website weren’t the best and it required a quick call from me to find out the exact address, after that I just let the GPS work its magic.

Within 15 minutes I found myself outside the White Birch International hostel with the cycle computer reading 4999km. I’d made it! I was too tired to feel any real emotion at this point and was really just looking forward to a hot shower and bed for the night.

Over the past four days I’d managed to cover a distance of 619 kilometres, an average of 154 kilometres per day. I’m incredibly thankful for the fortunate winds I experienced and it might have been a different story had the wind chose to blow differently but I’m here now and looking forward to the prospect of unwinding before beginning the process of sorting out my Kazakhstan visa.

After a really good day and in particular afternoon on the bike I felt good this morning. I was out on the road pretty early and also thankful for the petrol station nearby where I could stock up on some snacks for the day.

I knew today that Turpan was in my sights and I was very much hoping to ride past it thus giving me a good chance of getting to Urumqi the following day. I was once again blessed with tremendous weather and most importantly very little wind. So far all the predictions of gale force winds were not coming true.

I was past Shanshan in no time and was well on my way to Turpan by the afternoon. Turpan is famous for it’s depression and is according to Wikipedia is the lowest point in China and second lowest on the Earth at 154km below sea level. It’s incredibly hot and today was no different; it once again had me thankful of the fact that I’d set out in March and was now here in May and not in the unbearably hot months of June and July. It’s a region that is also famous for its grapes and other fruits. Nevertheless I was in no mood to stop, it’s about 160km from Urumqi and I was determined to put some more kilometres on the clock and thus save myself a longer ride to Urumqi tomorrow.

Vineyards of Turpan

I followed a traditional wedding ceremony as I rode along the main street running through Turpan and the blowing of trumpets and beat of the drums coming from the trucks alongside me pushed me onwards.

Just outside of Turpan I passed another small milestone on the trip, 4,828 kilometres signified the passing of 3,000 miles. It has now become custom to stop and take a quick snap of the cycle computer and also to balance my camera precariously on a road bollard to get a picture of me to remember these moments.

I continued on but conditions began to change as I pulled the bike out of the depression. I’d experienced the thrill of riding downhill yesterday so it was to be expected that I needed to go up again at some point. By six o’clock my legs were beginning to feel the effects of two long days of riding and just before six I once again found myself pushing the bike down the small pebbly embakement beside the road and back under the road for another night.

I had a nice culvert to sleep under tonight completely free of rubbish and was really excited by the prospect of a relatively short ride of 120km to Urumqi the next day. So close now nothing can stop me.

More wind farms

"Usmile.....no I smile when I see Usmile" The always welcome sight of a Usmile petrol station.

I woke up this morning early after a rather restless nights sleep. I usually sleep pretty well in the tent but in anticipation of cold weather I’d worn rather too much and if anything was too hot inside my small shelter.

Another day, another sunrise

I was determined today to make some real headway into the remaining distance to Urumqi. That determination was partly fuelled by the news regarding my Gran the previous day. The only way to deal with this was to ride as hard as I could and try and cover as much distance as possible.

I haven’t really thought about being in Xinjiang, in terms of scenery and I was beginning to think it was much the same as Gansu. That all changed today, today I got the first glimpses of what I had imagined the desert to be like, high sand dunes, deep valleys of orangey yellow sand, extremely beautiful but at the same time deeply inhospitable. It’s funny also to see greenery in some parts and occasionally you can see the odd clump of trees that have sprouted up.

A couple stopped me at about 80km, the man introduced himself as Sunny a Canadian. I often see this, an obviously Chinese citizen who has emigrated to another country and thus now has another passport who is now adamant that this is their nationality. Anyway that is by the by, he and his wife got out of their car and were really interested to chat to me. It turns out they were returning to the city they live in north of Urumqi and had chosen to go by car. They posed for photos with me and were extremely kind and friendly, warning me about the dangers that I faced ahead.

I’m not sure if I’ve just been lucky or am perhaps a little to blasé about the whole situation but I’ve been told of this extremely hostile land that I’m entering and that there are people out here in the desert who will cut your throat while you sleep at night. I have to say I’ve found most of the people in this region and on this trip thus far for that matter incredibly friendly and respectful. I can honestly say I’ve not felt threatened at anytime so far.

You can imagine my surprise an hour after saying goodbye to Sunny and his wife that I saw them coming back the other way. They turned around at the toll booth and pulled up alongside me beckoning me to pull over so they may talk to me again. Sunny explained that they had both been so worried about the prospect of me cycling this part of the trip that they’d come back around to see if it would be possible to squeeze my bike into their already jam packed car. The first thing to say about this was it was an incredibly thoughtful and kind gesture. I really had to go out of my way to reassure them that I’d be perfectly fine and that they ought not to worry about my safety.

Today was a simple case of putting as many kilometres on the clock as I could while the weather remained good. People keep commenting about how quickly I’m going but to me it really doesn’t feel that way. Unless you ride the bike there really isn’t that much to do out here in the desert. I’m just very conscious of the wind changing direction and leaving me facing constant bruising headwinds.

Getting close to Urumqi now just 364km to go now.

It was a scorching hot day and I’d made the most of the early start by clocking up a good number of kilometres by lunch. The afternoon saw the road rise slightly and I was beginning to tire at about 5:30 when something strange happened. As I turned the bike around another corner and up towards another incline the wind did something it has failed to do for much of on this trip, it suddenly gushed up from behind me. This was all rather new to me and I decided it would be foolish not to make the most of it. I’d been thinking of knocking it on the head for the day but the sudden change in fortune with the weather persuaded me to push on a little further. When I got to the top of the climb I was further buyoued by the signs with the arrows pointing diagonally down. Before I knew it I was flying downhill, wind assisted it was an amazing feeling, the cycle computer was working overtime as the kilometres clicked off rapidly. In the hour and a half that followed I think I managed to put about 70km on the clock by just simply rolling downhill. These are what I call my ‘free kilometers’

The different colours of the sand.

I had planned to camp out again tonight but just as I passed through another toll booth (cyclist are expemt from paying by the way) I saw a number of restaurants, a gas station and more importantly a small hotel; it was too good to say no. The hotel was a little pricey for what it was but I was in no mood to attempt to get a lower price. The bathroom was a disaster waiting to happen and I decided against a shower when I saw the socket hanging off the wall. A small prod of it from me saw it produce sparks and that was enough for me. I’ve become pretty adept at washing in myself in the sink so it wasn’t a huge problem.

I headed out for some overly spicy food at one of the nearby restaurants. I only managed to drink half of the cold beer I ordered with dinner before I began to feel sleepy. Before long I was back in the hotel and planning to write a little. I woke up around 3:00 in the morning the white screen of a word document brightly shining in my face, I’d obviously not got very far with the writing then!

Yesterdays wind had made riding something of a joke. As the wind inevitably picked up in the afternoon I moved over to the other side of the expressway which is currently under construction and therefore has no vehicles zooming along it. This was done predominantly for safety measures as the gusts of wind had become stronger and stronger and I was seriously worried about the prospect of being pushed into traffic.

It served the purpose of removing that element of danger from the ride but the wind was so strong that I was reduced to laughing at how insane it was trying to cycle into it. With very little progress being made I decided to duck down under the culvert for the night.

The comfort that is a culvert!

It was a day of mixed emotions as I’d receive the dreaded news regarding my grandmother this morning; she passed away that day back in England. I don’t think this is the place to be expressing my obviously sad feelings at this news but suffice to say that it was on my mind all day and the gloomy grey clouds that had formed over the mountains really summed up my feelings.

That night as I lay under my very low culvert I peered back onto the face of the mountain; a bright light shone and it was clear that somebody lived up there, a monastery perhaps? I spent a long time looking at it and just wondering who on earth would live there. I was glad when I finally drifted off to sleep in my tent; it was a hard day not in terms of cycling but because of everything else.

I have little option, I feel helpless to do anything and it's simply a case of clipping in the next day and going again.

Sun going down at the end of a strange day.