"Up this Hill and Down, Up this hill again,
Up this Hill and Down, Up this hill again,
It's a mighty mighty long road, What aint got no end."
So as you're probably well aware, China and Tibet don't exactly have a romantic relationship (to put it lightly) and as a result, China has a tendency to prevent foreigners from traveling to certain regions of Tibet (namely the TAR). However, due to some quasi recent riots and a Tibetan anniversary, China has put the lock down on most Tibetan prefectures (prefectures basically meaning areas that contains a majority of Tibetan people) and closed down foreign travel within these regions (which basically accounts for most of western China). So after a beautiful hike in Tiger Leaping Gorge (where we met 2 of the coolest Israeli's to grace this planet), we were faced with a rather critical decision. Do we play it safe, jump on a bus and skirt around these Tibetan regions (which is extremely out of the way and much less beautiful) or do we press our luck and cycle some 400 km towards a Tibetan prefecture and risk being turned around away (which would result in loosing about a week in travel time). So over a plate of dumplings and some green tea, we decided to roll the dice and take our chances on Tibet.
4/21: We pressed north towards Shangri-La . We climbed for the majority of the day until we finally leveled out at 3200m (10,000 ft). This was the first time that we consistently cycled at this altitude and it showed as we stopped every 10 km to put on more clothes (it's funny writing this now as we had no idea how much elevation we would gain in the coming days). So we arrived in Shangri-La, which warmly welcomed us with plates of french toast (the real kind), yak steaks and chai tea (as we've learned to take advantage of food when it's actually available). Shangri-La is a central hub for foreigners traveling to Tibetan regions, so we heard all sorts of skepticism over our attempt to enter the Tibetan prefecture.
So after stocking up on food and warm clothes (I picked up a sweater and a pair of slacks for 19 yuan ($2.75 each), we pressed north towards the Yunnan/Sichuan border, where the success of our passage was in question. So we hit out first checkpoint (on 4/23) with some anxious emotions but after a quick glance at our passports we were told 'Zank You' and waved on through the gates. However we knew from recent reports that there were more checkpoint in our future, so we weren't entire in the clear. Then came the hills or more like one gigantic hill that never ended. We finally topped out at this pass:
We knew that we had at least one more checkpoint before we were in the clear, so this mental unease lingered in the back of everyone's head as we turned each pedal (realizing that we may very well have to turn around and reclimb these insanely large hills). Nonetheless, we pressed on
4/23...This was possibly the hardest day we've had thus far, involving climbing retardedly large mountains on a road that was slightly less than primitive. We climbed all day until we finally topped out at an insane elevation of 13,660 ft.
Once we topped out, we quickly realized that a hot lunch was out of the question, as there was nothing but road for as far as we could see. So at about 6 pm, running on fumes from jelly candies purchased at breakfast (we were running on 'E'), we spotted a town nestled in the bottom of a valley that we still towered over. So after one of the most painful descents of my life (as all 85 km was unpaved) we rolled into a town just as the sun was departing that had one lodging option and one dining option. The lodging option turned out to be a few rooms at some hot springs (awesome!), the dining option however turned out to be ramen noodles....
4/25...So we pressed on towards Xiangcheng and just outside of our hot spring town, we encountered our second checkpoint (insert anxious emotions here). The checkpoint was a large bar that spanned the width of the road. We pedalled right up to the bar, looked both ways, then ducked under the bar and continued pedalling, without our feet even hitting the ground. Ok...so technically this area is closed to foreigners and technically the legitimacy of our passage is questionable but come on....we pedalled our sore asses all the way from Thailand and we gave them a fair chance :) And to add icing to the cake, every police man that we passed waved and gave us the thumbs up, which put our fugitive feelings at ease. "Yeah, we deserve to be here!" (By the way, the repercussions for being caught in a closed area are simply being forced to leave that province so we're not exactly facing time or anything. (So to the cute french girls from Shangri-La, we made it)
So after a day in Xiangchang, we headed north (4/26). Spencer has some troubles keeping his tired inflated, so Charlie and I pushed ahead. Around lunchtime, we stopped to wait for Spenc and Breck to catch up and we found ourselves on a hillside near a Tibetan village (by the way, Tibetan villages are awesome!). So with our stomachs growling, we figured we'd see if there was anywhere to buy some food. So I went walking through this beautiful village and one of the first things I ran across was 3 Tibetan elders spinning prayer wheels in a Stupa. They immediately took interest in me, I gave them a warm smile, motioned for food and in no time I was being escorted into a beautifully elegant Tibetan house with intricacies of wood carvings on every surface and a large common room with a kitchen.
4/25...So we pressed on towards Xiangcheng and just outside of our hot spring town, we encountered our second checkpoint (insert anxious emotions here). The checkpoint was a large bar that spanned the width of the road. We pedalled right up to the bar, looked both ways, then ducked under the bar and continued pedalling, without our feet even hitting the ground. Ok...so technically this area is closed to foreigners and technically the legitimacy of our passage is questionable but come on....we pedalled our sore asses all the way from Thailand and we gave them a fair chance :) And to add icing to the cake, every police man that we passed waved and gave us the thumbs up, which put our fugitive feelings at ease. "Yeah, we deserve to be here!" (By the way, the repercussions for being caught in a closed area are simply being forced to leave that province so we're not exactly facing time or anything. (So to the cute french girls from Shangri-La, we made it)
So after a day in Xiangchang, we headed north (4/26). Spencer has some troubles keeping his tired inflated, so Charlie and I pushed ahead. Around lunchtime, we stopped to wait for Spenc and Breck to catch up and we found ourselves on a hillside near a Tibetan village (by the way, Tibetan villages are awesome!). So with our stomachs growling, we figured we'd see if there was anywhere to buy some food. So I went walking through this beautiful village and one of the first things I ran across was 3 Tibetan elders spinning prayer wheels in a Stupa. They immediately took interest in me, I gave them a warm smile, motioned for food and in no time I was being escorted into a beautifully elegant Tibetan house with intricacies of wood carvings on every surface and a large common room with a kitchen.
We were sat down and fed a delicious lunch of potatoes, rice and yak butter tea.
After it was all said and done, they wanted nothing for the meal, just out of the kindness of their hearts. On top of that, one of the elders sat by the road and watched our bikes while we ate. Did I mention I love Tibet?
Charlie and I with the Tibetan elder that watched our bikes
That left such a great taste in our mouths (both literally and figuratively) that the rest of the afternoon was nothing but smiles with intermixed huffing and puffing as we climbed to our highest elevation thus far:
Peaking at 14,910 ft (notice the time)
So we descended from this high altitude, and landed in a small Tibetan village (Sandui Village) which was quite possibly the most beautiful town I've ever seen in my life. We stayed at a gigantic Tibetan castle for 15 Yuan ($2). Did I mention I love Tibet?
So we're currently in Litang where we arrived after a long night of freezing rain and hail experienced from our tents. The campspot was possibly one of the most picturesque spots I've ever had the privilege to sleep at (as it was around 13,000 ft).
This trip has been nothing short of amazing. Words like 'epic' and 'best day ever' are used almost daily and I find myself with a permanent smile plastered on my face. It kind of makes me sad because I don't believe life could get much better than this and I want to share this happiness with everyone that I love and care so much about (hence the extremely long blog posting). I've also posted all of my China pictures thus far here: http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z93/lineker119/Bicycle%20-%20Laos/Bicycle%20-%20China/?albumview=grid
Finally, here's some stats:
Days in China: 22
Miles in China: 925
Total miles cycled: 1750
No comments:
Post a Comment