Kashgar, China, 1st internet since completing Tajikistan and Pamir Highway, Kyrgyzstan and entering China. We cycled 7kms through no man's land to Chinese customs, big sandy hills with the occasional marble type ripple. Nice grand buildings too, and all signs, statues and everything now Chinese, like suddenly arriving in your local 'China Town', except we are in the extreme west of a vast country yet to cycle. Incidentally we're planning on taking the Northern Silk route across the huge Taklamakan Desert, the other route to the south having less facilities and frequent sand storms blocking the road. Kashgar is a major junction, an oasis of civilisation, and from here you can cross into Pakistan, or head off to Tibet, Nepal and India.
Cool Hat Brigade
We'd met a group of five cyclists (the cool hat brigade) coming the opposite direction to us, probably having spent 3 months or so from Beijing, and I was happy to hear of superbly smooth roads, good facilities in the towns and superb food. In return I promised great scenery, bad food & accommodation, and very bad roads. Gosh, I think about what they must be going through, every time I tuck into the superb food here in China. Still its the variety in life that counts for me, and we have a huge desert to cross in China. The cool hat cyclists impressed so much, I bought a cowboy hat for cycling the desert, whoooooa, crazy horses.
Earthquake
So, the first morning in China, and soundly asleep in my tent, I was awoken by the ground shaking, an earthquake. Next there was rumbling and the mountain was coming down. We were safe where we were, but after the dust had settled we discovered the mountain had collapsed on the spot where I sat the night before. Looked it up on the internet: magnitude 5, the epi-centre a few kilometres away.
After that, we cycled to Wuqia, a freshly minted Chinese town populated with Han-Chinese, the main group in China. Clean and sparkling new, we ate at a super restaurant, where I had my first Chinese dumplings. The five cyclists we'd met yesterday said we'd like it.
Kashgar Food-fest
Man o man, the contrast here in food. First day we crossed the border and a very decent lunch break, Chinese dumplings with stir fry mix. Needless to say, Kashgar is paradise, decent good quality hotel at 10 dollars, fast internet, people that can fix things, ie got a street cobbler to fix my shimano shoes, sewing leather very nicely into the cycling shoe heals. Going to rest up here for quite a few days and put up some kgs, separate rooms me and Keith, we can spread our gear out, have a decent bathroom, o heaven, and air conditioning.
Its all spick and span, everyone going around on modern electric scooters, very strange not hearing a sound as they swish past. There's the old town, plus lots of modern buildings. We're loving it at John's Cafe in the courtyard of the Qinibagh hotel, they do laundry, beer, food, internet and helpful with travel info. PS. a cold pint of beer is 30 pence, & 15 pence from the super-market, cheaper here than the stans.
Because of the smooth roads, I replaced my chunky cross country tyre (a marathon xr) with my more slicker tyre, and immediately noticed the gain in speed. Was wise though, using the heavy duty tyre on those rough roads, as the more delicate tyres wouldn't have stood up to the punishment. So far have done 6,800km from Istanbul to Kashgar, but also, including last years tour, I've cycled here from London, the total from my doorstep now being around 12,000km. A flight from London to Bangkok is around 10,000km, and we're nowhere near, so zag-zagging is the way to do it.
Had a walk around, its like a small city, walked past huge statue of chairman Mao in peoples park, just next to peoples square. All very private enterprise here though, wouldn't know there was anything else existed outside the town/city... but dessert to the east, yum, yum..... Seen lots of 2 humped camels coming here (1 hump in Turkmenistan), and had a 'silk velvet' motorway here for last 20km! Very smooth. Bought a slick tyre from the bike shop, should be faster now....
And now for some politics, the locals are
Uyghur, part of the
Turkic ethnic group, and lots 'normal' Chinese, known to the locals as the invaders, the Chinese are more prosperous, build nice roads, cook great food, etc... whist the Uyghurs seem a little left out, poorer, some are very educated, others just hang around inviting themselves to come sit next to us, stare, poke fingers at our maps, etc... From London to Beijing there are 3 phases I guess, Europe, Muslim, and China, and the Uyghurs in West China are last remnants of the Turk Ethnic group. Chinese people like to do a job well done, i guess they are full of hope about the future, very keen...
Kashgar Animal Market
The animal market is must do, so seen that, then the Sunday market, which I went to on Sunday of course, but you don't have to, yawn. Bought some raisins/sultanas, tasted almost exactly like fruit pastilles, so juicy and sweet. Am turning into a lazy bum here, but gosh its a good place to chill for a week. A Dutch guy bought a local Chinese bike with 4 wire mesh baskets to lug all his stuff over the Karakorum Mountain Highway to Pakistan, chilled out dude, the bike coast 125 euros and I guess he will make it too. A choice of 4 internet cafes within the hotel compound, broke a chair in one, just sitting on it, the guy was upset, so am now down to a choice of only 3. Also, the hotel used to be the British Consulate during the days of the Great Game. Yawn, off for stake+chips, and more loafing around....
Now re-stocking on food, boiling clean water in my room, 9 litres should do, looking forward to some sandstorms out in the desert when we ride out of here tomorrow, 2000km of desert, "hi ho silver away"...
Meanwhile: Been on the
thorn tree cycle forum asking about tyres, very helpful people, tips and advice from other people who've come this way. For anyone here's another cyclists account,
Asia in 1 year, have been reading the China section, good stuff.