A couple of pics of two Swiss cyclists
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2007
1
6
19
Trip End
Nov 20, 2007
Jining,
China
Monday, September 17, 2007
I didn't actually get off the train in Jining myself, but a couple of Swiss cyclists did, and I figured this would be a good excuse for a quick story and a couple of pictures.
While I was standing on the train platform in Ulaan Baator, a couple of attractive cyclists with fully loaded touring bikes passed me and smiled. I'd already grown accustomed to the fact that, even in Ulaan Baator, westerners don't run up to one another, hug like long-lost family, and sob with glee, so a pleasant acknowledgement was fine. Heck, I'd seen several westerners a day, on average, most of whom I had no desire to hug, much less cry with.
Shortly, the train rolled in, the conductor helped me figure out where to go (the text on the ticket was in Cyrillic), I hauled my bags into my sleeping compartment, and I hoped like mad that I'd have the place to myself. Blind faith in my fellow man is not one of my strong suits, and I didn't want to have to learn to trust a total stranger in the few hours before bedtime so I could get some sleep.
Barely had I opened my book (still finishing the book on Genghis Khan at this point) when one of the cyclists appeared in my door to ask whether I spoke English and, ascertaining that, whether she could stash their bags in my compartment for safekeeping until they got their bikes on the train. Sure.
To make a long story short (also not one of my strong suits, as you surely know by now), Simone, Clizia, and I chatted on and off over the next nearly 24 hours, until they got off the train in Jining. A few months ago, they quit their jobs as a medical intern and a midwife, respectively, to bicycle from the northwest corner of Mongolia to Ulaan Baator. They had covered the distance so much faster than they'd anticipated that they had an extra couple of weeks before their plane left Beijing for home. Less than enthused about cycling across the desert, they decided to take the train to Jining and bike from there into Beijing.
By the way, I lucked out and did get the compartment to myself if you don't count Simone and Clizia's bikes. They had company in the other two beds in their compartment, so they had to stash their bikes in the corridor. When the conductor noticed the three of us talking and realized that I was alone in a compartment, he asked (mimed, really, like most of my communication lately) whether the bikes (in bike bags) could go onto my spare lower bunk. They were pleased, and I didn't need the space, so I bike-sat for a night.
Comments
The Modern Peter Fleming
Your travels in Mongolia and China remind me a little of Peter Fleming's adventures in News from Tartary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_from_Tartary, esp. the part about running into two Swiss cyclists. Peter Fleming was accompanied by Ella Maillart, a well known Swiss adventurer.
Re: The Modern Peter Fleming
Thanks, I'll check it out when I get home. I tried just now and got an error message in Chinese, then tried just getting to http://en.wikipedia.org and got what looks, at first glance, like the same error message. Someone seems to have decided that Wikipedia is evil.
News From the West
Scott,
You probably can find news in English, but in case you can't here is an interesting news item:
SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Typhoon Wipha slammed into the coast south of Shanghai early Wednesday as authorities moved 2 million people following forecasts it would be the most powerful storm to hit eastern China in a decade.
Waves smash against the northern coast near Keelung, Taiwan, on Tuesday as Typhoon Wipha approaches.
1 of 3 more photos » Shanghai closed schools, delayed or postponed dozens of flights and ferry crossings and other transport links amid warnings of torrential rains and strong winds.
The storm's eye made landfall near Cangnan in southern Zhejiang province, some 386 kilometers (240 miles) south of Shanghai, and was losing force as it moved north along the coast, state media reported.
State television showed streets flooded knee-deep in several regional cities.
Authorities in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Fujian province ordered 2 million people evacuated from ships and coastal regions and from housing judged to be unsafe.
The storm, with winds gusting to 233 km/h (145 mph), was losing force as it moved north along the coast and was expected to pass over Shanghai later Wednesday, local weather reports said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage caused by the storm on mainland China.
On Tuesday, one worker was reported killed and another seriously injured as the fringe of the typhoon lashed Taiwan, knocking down scaffolding at a highway construction site in Taipei, Taiwan's Disaster Relief Center reported.
Organizers of the women's World Cup rescheduled Wednesday's Shanghai match between Norway and Ghana to Thursday and moved it to the neighboring city of Hangzhou.
A Wednesday game in Hangzhou between Brazil and Denmark was moved to Thursday.
Shanghai and the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian to the south issued typhoon warnings requiring all vessels to return to shore or change course to avoid the storm. Numerous flights out of Shanghai and other regional airports were canceled.
Don't Miss
Typhoon Fitow hits Tokyo
Wipha, a woman's name in Thai, was upgraded from a tropical storm Monday. With wind gusts of up to 265 km/h, local meteorological officials said it would be the most destructive storm to hit the Shanghai area in years if it followed a course northward that would take it just west of the city.
The deadliest storm to hit the China coast in recent years was Typhoon Winnie in 1997, which killed 236 people.
The deadliest storm to hit the China coast in recent years was Typhoon Winnie in 1997, which killed 236 people. Typhoon Rananim, with winds of more than 161 km/h, was the strongest typhoon to hit the Chinese mainland since 1956, killing nearly 200 people. E-mail to a friend
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press
Gary
Re: News From the West
Many thanks for the heads up, Gary. I've picked up a couple of copies of a Beijing English-language newspaper, but distribution is spotty, and I hadn't seen one in a few days. Thankfully, the impact of the typhoon was not as great as predicted:
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200709/20070920/article_331889.htm
I expect to be in Shanghai around October 8th. Cleanup should be mostly complete by then, I hope.
Scott