You wonder maybe two
things:
- why I did not update my Blog for such a long time
- why I did ride almost nonstop to China although I originally had planned 3-4 months for it?
The answer for question
one is that since I came too China I could not go to facebook or
blogspot, it is blocked by the Chinese government. Actually I got a
program (Freegate) from my son but I could not download it to my
mobile and there was no WIFI anywhere. One evening I tried at a
Internetcafe but the USB was disconnected and it was forbidden to up-
or download anything. But now (day 87) I am finally in a private WIFI
and I succeeded to install the program and to connect to the
forbidden sites!
The reason why I don't
write until day 87 is that it should be too much in one post.
The answer for question
two is that the day I left Stockholm I went to my travel agency to
get my passport with a visa for China, which should be valid until
the 25th of September. As I checked it I found out that
the last day of arrival was the 24th of August. I told
them that I impossibly could reach China by bike so fast (which I
really was convinced of).
They wanted to prolong it
but I could not miss the ferry to Riga, so I got it without paying
and said I would try to prolong it in Moscow.
In Moscow the people at
the chinese embassy told me that it was impossible to get a visa
without a (train)ticket. I did not want to tell the embassy that I
was planning to ride my bicycle through China, because I knew that
for this you need a VERY special visa. Instead I decided to continue
to Ulaanbaatar and maybe get a visa there. (I knew it was possible to
take the bicycle inside a taxi over the border).
As I did not get a job on
a farm around Moscow, I continued without many restingdays (all
farmers in Russia seem to have more important things to do than check
their email every day. I got two positive answers but both came after
some weeks, which was several days after I had passed the places).
Thanks good weather and
many helpful people along the way I actually came to China before the
25th of August and did not have to apply for a new visa.
Appart from the complications I saved about twohundred dollars
(please don't tell it my travel agency)!
But now I will tell you
what happened after Saynshand in Mongolia
Day 78, 100 km
I woke up in the hotel and
wrote my blogtext on my computer. At ten o´clock, when the Internet
cafe opened, I went there and the first I did was to upload 16 pics
to my blog. Meanwhile they were uploading I could do many other
important things. But it took much more than one hour to upload them!
Finally I tried to upload the text also but the computer could not
open the document (it was written with Open Office). So I decided to
do it later and instead to continure my travel.
It was already afternoon
when I left the town, equipped with ten waterbottles. I had 219 km of
the Gobi desert in front of me (until the border town Sami Uud) and I had no bicycle computer, so I
did not know the time and not the distance I was riding. The wind was
blowing strongly from my right side (SW) but the road was good nd I
really enjoyed the day.
The asphalt road which had begun 408 km after
UB continued until km 535 and there was almost no traffic. But the
land was very dry.
The cattles had not easy to find water.
In the afternoon a
mopedtruck with three wheels stopped and the driver asked if I would
like to get a ride. I was not convinced, but he told me (with signs
and body-language) that he was living not far away in a yurt and he
had children who would be happy if I slept there. Although it was not
late yet I thought I was not in a hurry and it was impossible to find
a good shelter in the desert, so finally I agreed.
He drove me some
kilometers, then he pointed out where he lived. Then he continued one
more kilometer and dropped me off. I don¨t know if I misunderstood
him or if he changed his mind, but I could not do anything but
continue.
In the evening, exactly
when I had found a little canyon near a waterhole, a overloaded Jeep
stopped (I belive it was a family, three generations, about 8 people
inside). The driver was worried about me and asked if I wanted to go
with them. But I said I was fine and planned to sleep in my tent.
Although my tent was in a
good shelter the wind was so strong that it made noises all night
long.
Day 79, 100 km and a
lift of 20 km
Next day was a warm and
sunny day with a hot dry wind from SW and in the afternoon from W.
That meant that I mostly had wind from the side. It was quite
difficult to ride on the gravel roads because the bike sometimes was
drifting sidewards on the round stones. Many cars stopped that day
and offered a ride. But I liked the challenge of the Gobi desert! I
thought as long as I had water and food I would fight. Some drivers
who stopped asked if I really was alone. When I said I was fine and
did not need a lift they just shaked their heads and propably said
“crazy man” in their language.
In the afternoon the wind
and the road turned in advantageous ways so I got wind from behind!
Now I rode really fast!
 |
| sandstorms ahead of me! |
Sometimes it was a little like skiing down
from steep hills. It was fun! Late in the afternoon I finally saw a
town far away. I understood that this must be Sami Uud, the border
town to China. Some trucks had stopped and I asked if they were going
to China this evening and if I could get a lift (I actually did not
want to pay a taxi over the border). They agreed and we came to Sami
Uud exactly as sun set. But the queue of lorries was incredible long,
so the driver decided to visit a friend in the town instead and told
me to go to a hotel. On the way to the hotel I rode through a slummy
suburb. I asked some people if I could sleep in my tent in their
yard. And of course I could!
They even invited me for dinner in their
tiny little house. I cant remember how many people they were, but
about ten in two rooms. When I asked where I could wash my hands a
boy took a water can and a soap and went out on the street with me.
There was no water tap and no sink inside the house.
Day 80, 10 km and a
lift over the border to China
Next day, early on the
morning I got up and walked to the center of the town to find out how
much a Jeep-taxi should cost to get over the border. At the central
square I saw them and got many offers. Suddenly I heard a german
voice saying: “How have you come here?” It was Hans-Georg, who I
separated from three days before. He told me that he also had spent a
night in Saynshand but that he could not send an sms and he had
chosen another hotel. He had left it early in the morning, so he had
come to Sami Uud a half day earlier than me. On the way he was
invited to eat some dried fruits and he thought it was therefore he
had become really sick (fever, diarrhea and vomiting). He had been at
a hospital until 1 in the morning and got some prescriptions for
antibiotics. Now he was waiting until the pharmacy should open, but
he was planning to continue as soon as possible.
We decided that I should
go to get my bike and that we together should try to ride as near as
possible to the border and take a Jeep together (if it really was
necessary).
And so we did. Actually we
needed a Jeep in the end but we were much faster than the ones which
took a Jeep in the center.
We had to carry our bags
through the customs while the jeep was waiting outside with our
bicycles. When we came out of the customs on the chines side it was
as if we came to a new world! Everything was clean and new.
There was
no sand on the streets, there were green bushes and bright flowers
and no litter! We had to take the jeep about 8 km more to the center
of the chines border town. This town has (at least) three names. In
Mongolia you call it Ereen, in China you call it Erlien (you
pronounce it Arlien) nand in English you call it Erenhot. There live
about 400 000 people, which means it is not much for China.
It was not difficult to
find a hotel and it was surprisingly cheap. We shared a room so we
payed 45 Yuan each. That is about 5 EUR.
 |
| our hotel shifted colour in the evening every five seconds |
The afternoon we had a
resting day. First we went to a kind of McDonalds and ate fast food.
Then I found a bike shop and replaced my broken spoke and bought a
new bicycle computer. I also bought some new pedals (which I should regret).
In the evening I found out
that not only fast-food is very cheap in China. I ate a plate with
Sushi (15 pieces) for 12 Yuan.
Day 81, 170 km
Hans-Georg still felt weak
so he wanted to take another resting day. He had been to the toilet
several times that night and was worried that the antibiotics he had
got was an old sort which his bacterias were immune to. By sms to
Germany he had found out that there were much better antibiotics in
Europe. I checked the name of the medicine I had brought from Sweden
and it was exactly the one which he had been recommended, so I gave
it to him.
I wanted to continue, so I
checked the weather forecast at www.klart.se.
There I found out that there should be a strong wind from behind. The
rest of the week the wind was not so good. That made H-G change his
mind. He decided to go with me.
Although we started first
10:30 we made many kilometers through the Gobi desert that day. First
we passed a wind power park with many sculptures of different
dinosaurs.
In the end two dinosaurs
made an arrow like a bridge over the road.
Were they kissing each
other?
The road was a toll road but bicyclist of course did not need to pay.
It really felt very luxurious to ride through the southern part of the Gobi on this road with a good wind from behind!
H-G did not want to go to
far so he decided to stay in a hotel in a town 120 km from the
border. But I wanted to use the strong wind from behind and
continued. In the end I was worried how I could find a place to
sleep. There was not a single tree around and worst of all was that
the new highway was surrounded by barbed wire. After 45 km there was
an exit with a tull gate.
 |
| this picture was taken next morning |
I went there and asked if I could sleep in
my tent in the wind-shadow of the house. The guard called a kind of
officer who could speak English. He asked me to follow him inside a
big house next to the gate. There he asked his boss, a women in
uniform with a poker-face, and she said it was ok. So everybody who
was working there followed with me outside and watched how I unpacked
my tent and my sleeping equipment. Somebody came with a huge thermos
with hot water, which I could pour over my noodles and even make some
tea. Very convenient! Many wanted to take pictures of me together
with them and I made a picture of them.
 |
| The officer with the hat said "Welcome to China!" |
They had a good time but
finally they thought it was too cold so they went into the house
again.
Day 82, 90 km
Next morning was cold but
beautiful. The wind had turned so it came from my right side and it
was still very strong. I left the toll gate station and continued
towards south.
Now there was almost no
traffic on the highway because there was a alternative: the old road
did not cost toll so everybody besides coaches and very rich people
used it.
After about 15 km
suddenly my right pedal broke out of its threads. I found out that the reason must have been that the Chinese pedals I bought had about two mm shorter threads.
I tried to fix it
with some tape but there was no chance. I made many attempts to
continue: First I tried with only one pedal and even my left foot
became too tired tired, I used my right food to kick me forward. But
it was very exhausting. Finally I found a piece of wood and took my
swiss army knife to cut a piece that fitted in the hole of the pedal.
But even this attempt did not succeed, the wood broke at once.
Finally I climbed off the bike and pushed the bike some kilometers
while I tried to stop a car. Finally a man in a very new Golf
stopped. But he thought the bike with all panniers was too big for
his car (which I understand) and he continued. But then an older Jeep
stopped. I used translate.google.com to communicate and explained
that I needed help to find the closest bike-shop. They said there was
one 23 km behind me or 46 km in front of me. I asked them where they
were going and if they possibly could give me a lift. They explained
that they did not go so far but then they got an Idea. We loaded the
bike into the Jeep and the drove me some kilometers to a little
village where they lived. They brought me to a local welder who
welded a piece of threaded rod on the pedal.
Then he cut the threaded rod and put a nut on the inside of the crank
He even fixed the nut by welding on it.
Unfortunately the nut
collided with the chain when I used the highest gears, but I was very
happy to be able to go at least to the next town. So I payed them and
continued, this time on the old road (because all trucks were goig
there and i thought it would be easier to get lift in case I needed
it.
Already after 2 km the
pedal begun to wickle in its hole which
made it bigger and bigger. I thought it was no problem to ride the 46
km to the next town, but it took some time because of the wind.
Finally I arrived there and found a repair shop. They told me that
there were no bicycles of this type in that town. There were only
bikes with two and not three gears on the crank. The shopkeeper
offered me to change the crankset and the axle to a Chinese model but
I did not believe it should fit, so I continued.
After a while I thought
that maybe the host from Warmshowers (Livy Ge), which I had got in contact
with, could give me a hint where I could buy a good crankset. So I
called him and told him about my problem. He said that he should send
an e-mail. In the evening I checked my mail and he had got in contact
with a dealer in Shangdu, about 50 km east from my place. Although I
already had passed the shortest way to that town, I decided to go
there next morning.
Day 83, 100 km
I rode on small beautiful
roads until noon. As soon as I stopped in Shangdu a curious crowd was
around me and it was not difficult to get a guide on an electric
moped who showed me the way to the shop.
But even in this shop
there was no fitting crankset. The shopkeeper was very helpful an
took his bike to go to other shops but the best solution we found was
to improve the welding. It took several attempts and hours, but
finally I left the shop with a full stomach, filled waterbottles, a
new t-shirt and a welding that seemed to be very good, even after 100
km.
The shopkeeper and his wife insisted to do everything for free!
I continued on small roads
towards south, where I should come to the mainroad again. The
vegetation was much greener now and there were woods again. The
houses in the villages were built of sun-dried clay-bricks. Not all
of them had roofs covered with tiles, often even the roof was made
only of clay and sand!
I also pass a lake where I
can take my first lake-bath after the Baikal Lake.
In the evening I found a
field with bushes. Since it was already dark I did not care about
that it was quite close to a farm. But after an hour I heard somebody
walking close to my tent. It was a person with a dog which discovered
me. The dog barked a lot but they soon disappeared. After about ten
minutes they came back with a lot of people who even had some
flashlights. I decided to open the tent and sine with my own
flashlight in my face at the same time as I told them in English that
I just wanted to sleep there and that I hoped it was ok. I don't know
if they understood, but soon they disappeared anyway.
Day 84, 140 km
I continued on small roads
towards south and passed many villages where all houses were built of clay and sand.
Many of the people I met seemed to never have seen a
westerner before. They stared t me as if I was an Alien! My pedal was
getting worse again, thee was a gap again. And I had a headwind all
day long, even when I came to the mainroad and turned towards east.
Parallel to the mainroad
there was the old road which was quite good and much more interesting
than the highway. But in a downhill passage there was no asphalt on
the old road so it was very dusty (a lot of trucks chose this road
because there were no toll on it).
That gave me the idea to try the
highway and I found out that it was much faster even for me. Now
there were many more exits and so called “Service Areas” were it
was possible to rest. These areas had all the same concept: There was
a toilet, a supermarket, a restaurant and a police station. Sometimes
there was a motel too. At sunset I came to a Service Area without
motel. I found a place behind the house where I could hide my tent,
but at the same time a curious attendant came to talk to me.
As usual a crowd of
people gathered around me and asked where I came from and where I was
going. This time all of them were stuff, most girls from the
supermarket. I understood that it should be difficult for me to
disappear discretely behind the house. Besides from that I thought it
could be good if the attendant knew that I was sleeping in my tent
there so he would not be angry with me. So I wrote in my phone (where
I have google translate) “I want to sleep in my tent behind the
house. Is that ok?” The attendant hesitated, then he said wait a
moment and run to the Police station. He came back with an officer
who not really could answer the question, but gave one of the girls
the permission to find a place. I convinced her that the place I had
chosen was the best one and raised my tent there.I already had put in
all my bags when the police officer came back with his boss. The
first thing the boss did was to scream at me. I said that I was sorry
that I did not understand, but suddenly he was very kind and let me
know that it was ok tat I slept there. I don´t understand how 8 crew
from the Service Area at the same time could be at my tent behind the
building, but everybody was very concerned about me. First they asked
if I was not afraid to become bitten by mosquitoes (although there
were no mosquitoes at all and I have a net in the door of my tent).
Then they discussed if I would freeze in the night. If I understood
their body language right, they finally came to the conclusion that I
would not freeze because I had so much fur on my body (many Asians I
met were very fascinated of my hairy legs and arms).
Finally I left my tent and
said I would like to eat something. The girls from the supermarket
showed me that there was an automate with free boiling water which I
could pour over my noodles. Everybody did so, they bought a big bowl
with dry noodles for some Yuan and had water on it.
After I had charged my
phone I went to bed in my tent.
No comments:
Post a Comment