Sunday, July 26, 2009

Crash, Bang, Wallop.... What a Holiday!

We left Yingchuan early in the morning planning to camp somewhere on the border of Ningxia and Gansu provinces. In the way, however, lay the Tengger Desert, which would be our first taste of desert riding, something we will mhave to get very used to when we get to Xinjiang.

The drive through the desert was spectacular. Miles and miles of sun and sand and rock, and a dead straight road through the middle. The road was flanked by the odd tiny hamlet but otherwise the whole area, as one might expect from a desert, was deserted.

We did, however, need lunch and there was no Little Chef or Welcome Break in sight. So we stopped in a tiny hamlet next to a building with a sign that said 'shop' outside it. At least we might be able to get some biscuits and a drink.

When we walked in, as soon as the boss had had overcome her utter shock at seeing our faces, she immediately offered us a meal. 'We are just about to have lunch, won't you join us?' We almost bit her hand off. So we sat down with grandma, grandpa and their three grandchildren for lunch. True, it was no Michelin Star restaurant, but it was truly "vaut le détour", as the French guide might say. I know it is a cliche, but the generosity of those that have nothing is sometimes truly astounding.

We camped that night in some truly spectacular surroundings about 2000m up in the hills between Gansu and Ningxia. We managed to find a place to pitch camp in some ruins, either of an old settlement or a fort from Imperial times. The fort hypothesis in many ways seems more likely as the view afforded from the spot was unparalleled and the that area was very much on the old border of imperial China. Either way, we felt truly priveleged to be afforeded the opportunity to camp in such an imposing place.

Thw view was no less spectacular when we got up, and it was a real wrench to leave. We did, however, have a schedule to keep to.

The morning's drive was beautiful, if uneventiful, and we made good time before stopping for lunch. After lunch, however, my bike would not start. We simply could not work out why as it had been running perfectly before lunch. The battery was fine, there was enough petrol and the spark plug was pristine. We tried kick starting it, we tried pop starting it, but nothing worked. So we weeled it across the road to the motorbike workshop but the mechanic's wife said he wasn't in, and when asked when he might be back looked more than a little pissed off and shrugged her shoulders. Some things are culturally universal.

So we asked the lorry mechanics next door, who were playing drinking games at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. They had a brief look but couldn't work it out either.

At this stage Pryd had a thought. Could it be something to do with my alarm? At which point it suddenly occured to me to volunteer the information that the alarm button on my key ring had jammed briefly while I was getting something off the bike. We disconnected the alarm, and the bike roared into life, it turns out the alarm was also fitted with an immobiliser in case of tampering. Elation and shame. I felt like one of those patients in House who has prevented him from coming to the right diagnosis by not telling him a crucial part of their medical history. Everybody lies.

After this mino hiccough, however, we arrived in Lanzhou, provincial capital of Gansu. In the 1990s Lanzhou had briefly attained the dubious honour of the world's most polluted city. Since then, however, it has really turned itself around. It seemed clean (for China), and the people were astonishingly friendly. Being a mini celebrity never gets old, even if explaining your route a thousand times sometimes does. We even mangaged to become semi adopted by a motorcycle shop/club, which sorted out a few problem we were having with the bikes for free, as well as giving us an oil change and some helpful advice. It turns out the biker network even exists in China.

After one night in Lanzhou we had a rather long drive into the depths of Gansu province where we had planned to stop at Xiahe, a small village with an enormous Tibetan Monastery.

The day was going to be long anyway, so the last thing we needed was to get lost. Which of course we did. The first few hours were uneventful enough, and the scenery was beautiful as we wound our way through the 'Yellow River Three Gorges', which were not as awe-inspiring as the original Three Gorges on the Yangzi, but imposing nonetheless.

The sign posting, however, left a little to be desired, so we followed the locals' instructions. The route they picked out was not exactly that which we had planned, and involved winding mountain roads, a great view of an enormous lake and a ferryride. All this would have been much more pleasant had we known that we were eventually going to arrive in the right palce. Which we did, in the end.

However, having got off the ferry and continuing on roads with some fairly precipitous turns, Pryd seems to have forgotten that we was not riding his 600cc Kawasaki racer from home, but was in fact riding a 150cc "Made in China" cruiser. He slightly overcooked a turn, braked, straightened a bit, hit some gravel, braked again and went sliding off the road into a concrete ditch. My heart stopped.

Thankfully Pryd was essentially ok, although is still carrying a rather painful knee injury. The bike, however, seemed to be in rather a bad way. Lots of bent and scraped parts and, far more importantly, it wouldn't start.

After discussing what to do we eventually decided that Pryd would at least coast it down the hill and try to pop start it. By a phenomenal stroke of luck on the second try the engine roared (or more accurately spluttered) into life. At this stage, had I been in Pryd's position with a bashed up bike an incredibly painful knee, I would have been very keen to call it a day there. Pryd, however, with determination worthy of extreme admiration decided that he wanted to continue on to our intended destination, another 130km away.

Time, was by now at a bit of a premium, so once again we got lost. No signs on the road, and where we were seemed to bear no resmblance to what our map was telling us. This at least afforded us a good look at linxia which was an intriguing majority Muslim town. At last, however, with a lot of local help we found the right road and began heading up into the lush green of the Himalayan foothills, with hillsides dotted with nomadic Tibetan camps and sheep. The scenery was fantastic but our enjoyment was slightly dampened by the ever strengthening rain. My call not to put ponchos on as we were 'only thirty kilometres away' proved to be an error, and we froze in our light weigt summer kit as we climbed the mountains.

Then, Pryd was once again felled, this time by a goat that inexplicably ran out in front of him. Luckily neither Pryd nor the goat were hurt, and Pryd also had the honour of being picked up and dusted down by a Tibetan monk who also gave his bike the once over. The bike was, by now, looking distinctly worse-for-wear, but it started and we continued.

Finally cold, wet and a little bashed up we reached Xiahe. About time.

Xiahe itself is a fascinating place. Even more so considering that in the space of one day's drive we went from Han, to Muslim, to Tibetan, three very different cultures all with their own intricacies and complexities.

In Xiahe we had decided to have a much-earned day off and visit the monastery, among other things. The monastery, the monks, and the smell of yak butter and incense took us both straight back to previous travels in Tibet, and it was great to have the opportunity to see something which I wasn't sure I would necessarily see again. We are all the more lucky in that Xiahe has only been reopened for the last three weeks after being closed for one and a half years after the Tibetan riots of 2008.

Tomorrow it is onwards and upwards to Qinghai lake, China's largest lake.

2 comments:

  1. What an adventure!! Just each of you get back in one piece, please!
    xxx

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  2. Good to read that at least till the 26th you two were fine! I've been trying to get in touch in the past 2 days without success, hope ur adventure is going along better and better, with no more falling down please!
    Kisses to both
    baibai!!!

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