Jiaotong Hotel Jiayuguan

... pass was no easy cycle in the park. The Chinese are building a new road connecting their (lovely and smooth) roads on their side of the border to Osh, no doubt as they became fed up of the appalling bumps and conditions of the Kyrgyz road. Frankly, I cannot blame them, and it was the four days from Osh to China that made me glad that my bike was built for these conditions. About 50 miles out of Osh, on a roaring stretch of downhill, the paved road ended, and whilst the Chinese ...

... Qilian Shan peaks in one direction, the Hei Shan [Black Mountains] in the other; and the Gobi Desert stretching into the forbidding distance.

We visited the so called Overhanging Wall, constructed in in 1539, but restored in 1987.

Monday 19th October:

Drove through the Gobi Desert most of the day towards Dunhuang; the highlight of the Buddhist connection of the ...

... muraille, mais surtout le debut du desert et de la route de la soie. C'etait la premiere visite du desert pour Josee et elle a adore. On pouvait appercevoir au loin des montagnes de roche, assez hautes pour etre couvertes de neige eternelles, dominant sur des etendues de desert de roche paraissant s'etaler a l'infini.

On a aussi fait la rencontre de deux freres allemands dont l'un d'eux vit en Chine depuis 11 mois et parle vraiment bien ...

... complicated in a good way either. I came across some nice people in Xian, but more often than not they were distant and calculating. Going to Huashan and being served by some kids (not kiddy labourers or anything, just kids on holiday helping out in the family shop) there was really, really nice because they didn't think twice about prices, they answered immediately with the real price and they responded naturally to questions. Whereas a lot of adults were hesitant, calculating and ...

A quick stop in Jiayugaun (嘉峪关) to see the end of the Great Wall. Driving through the area you can still see the original wall. But the Jiayuguan Fort (嘉峪关城ઌ 4;), 61 yuan entrance fee, has been rebuilt. Jiayuguan isn't anything special, but if your interested in following the silk road it makes a pleasant stop.

... survive the wire we collect on the roads from the truck tires I guess. Maybe go tubeless next time...? Our restday is in Jiayuguan which is known for where the "end of the Great Wall" is. Well can we call it the end as there are so many walls built at various times in China's history and I know there was one somewhere further west in the desert when we travelled to Dunhuang but couldnt see from the road. Maybe worth a visit in between the 2 hour massage I have booked....

... two men who had sat next to us on the bus. Both 40-something college professors, of physics and geography, they were on a mini-vacation with two women who they seemed to be trying to date. I shared with the women. They sort of adopted us for the trip, making sure we knew when to come back to the bus and repeating some things ultra slowly so that we could understand. That night, they took us out to a roadside barbecue for fresh slices of cantaloupe, juicy chunks of mutton ...

... rising over the desert that stretched off into the distance flat as a table top on my left. And on my right the desert stretched twenty or so miles to where the mountains suddenly shot up out of the plains. Even in July the caps still have snow and it was really the lovelies site I had seen in China.

... then flies back to where he left off. We talked for awhile about traveler stuff, visas, borders, local people, places to go, etc. He asked me to contact him if I went across any hundred kilometer stretches of nothingness and gave me a card. So yeah, here is somebody even crazier than me, go read his blog www.thelongestway.com. Around noon, the road turned into dirt then ended at the highway, where the fences had been removed. I didn't ...

... for tea. It's a whole procession, first pouring tea over the pot and the small cups, then a second time, a third one and a last four one. Then, we can dring tea, small cup by small cup. I'm surprised at what he shows me ; he's got as many tea pots as kinds of tea he drinks. I try to make him understand that, at home, I've got one single tea pot for many kinds of tea. I guess it's weird for him ; I remain surprised and quite respectful at the concept. His small room is composed of a ...