a2b – Crotos, from Lanzhou to Luoyang

Three excellent articles from the Greek couple, Vasilios Mesitides and Danae Tezapsidis, [links can be found at the end of this posting] beginning with their experiences in on the way to, and at, Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu.

Days 135-137 – A few punctured tires and other repairs impede progress but by the afternoon of the third day they have reached Wuwei.

“We wandered around the city by bike, found a nice park to walk around till the evening. Danae is exhilarated to have all this fruit around her. She is now sure she will not be hungry anymore… In the evening Danae joined an open dancing session in the main city square where people often gather to share activities (day 137)”

Days 138-141 – From Wuwei they press on uphill to the next resting place in a pass, almost 3,000 metres above sea level, and then to Tianzh, the county town of the area. On day 140 Richard, who has been suffering for a few days, becomes too ill to ride on and is taken by taxi to a hospital in Lanzhou, the next major stop. Road accidents involving large trucks are not uncommon and they come across a fatal one involving a motorcycle rider. Is this a sign they are getting nearer the more industrialised parts of China? Perhaps not yet as they comment on the rural scenery around them.

“We can’t help but notice how Chinese people keep themselves busy in the fields around us. 70% of the labor force works in agriculture. Instead of using machinery they use their bare hands to reap the wheat, to plow the land, to transport the goods by merely pulling and pushing old wooden wagons.“

Until new buildings appear, and for the first time in months they find themselves stuck in heavy traffic as they are now in the city of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province. Here the party takes a day’s rest to go walking in the parks and up the mountains surrounding the city.

For the next phase of the journey Vasilios and Danae take a different route to the rest of the group as they want to visit an area to the south of the Silk Road. They expect to rendezvous 9 days later in Xi’an. Before leaving Lanzhou they visit Richard, who was taken ill a few days earlier and is now in hospital; he has received surgery [no explanation what the op. Was – I hope Richard knows] and has been told he can cycle again after 2 weeks recovery. Monica opts to join their sub-party.

“The same night we are hosted at a toll booth officers’ building next to the highway. Amazing hospitality!!! (day 142) “

The route takes them through some very attractive and hilly countryside, a lot of it over 2000 metres above MSL. To reach their destination city, Tianshui at 1700 metres above MSL level, they descend for several kilometres and passing through tunnels to get there. One room for 3 of them at a hotel costs 17 Euros – but what is that in yuan?

MaijiShan is the next stop where do spend some time walking up and down the karst hills, visiting caves, grottoes and lakes. Although the occasional downpours make them wet and cold, they find it all worthwhile.

Reluctantly continuing their ride they pass through more high ground and valleys before beginning their descent towards Xi’an. Arriving in Xiangyang, a city on the outskirts of Xi’an, their first problem is finding accommodation but their luck holds –

“Finding a sleeping place in an urban area is quite difficult. We are quite lucky to find a real estate agency – they sell apartments at newly constructed high-rises – where a couple of elderly guards do their best to accommodate us. They give us a small room with beds, and Li Xiong and Fan Xin, two agents who were working till late, invite us to dinner. We couldn’t have imagined a better ending for our day. We have experienced Chinese hospitality on numerous occasions despite our difficulty to verbally communicate with them (day 149).”

Day 150 they enter Xi’an and rejoin the main group at a hotel. There are approximately 1400 kilometres and 2 weeks remaining.

Stopping off for a short visit outside Xi’an they visit the Qin Terracotta Army before continuing towards HuaShan – one of the five sacred mountains of China. They note that riders are becoming sick due to the change in climate, from dry desert conditions to high temperatures and high humidity. At HuaShan they buy a cheap backpack and then spend a day climbing the mountain. Over the years tracks up the mountain have been cut into the rocks and the steepest places have chains permanently fixed in place.

“We hiked for endless hours, visited all of the main peaks on the mountain and descended late in the evening just before dusk. Our legs would suffer for days since we are not using the same muscles while cycling. This was one of the best experiences we have so far had. (day 155)”

Three more days on the road and they arrive in Luoyang, Henan province.

“Finally, downhill all the way to Luoyang . Even though we are still tired we manage to cover 89km till our hotel, where we will have a rest day. The road is full of industries, coal mines, trucks, and our faces and lungs are covered with black shit – according to Danae – by the end of the day. The hotel showers were busy today! (day 158)”

Links to the pages are – Lanzhou, Xi’an, and Luoyang

Links to the photo galleries for Lanzhou, Xi’an, and Luoyang – all highly recommended.

Links to other related posts are listed on the Crotos – BaltiCCycle page.

a2b – Crotos, across the Taklamakan and beyond.

We have two blog postings this week, one from Carlotta and the other from Vasilios and Danae. One thing to note is that the group appears to have divided into small sub-groups and even a few sub-sub-groups. This is just speculation but possibly they have given up their support vehicle as they couldn’t bring the original one across the border into China and were compelled to hire another and a Chinese driver [all extra expense].

Date of posting: 2008.7.9 11:38 – Carlotta tells of her experience of travelling through Turpan and the effect of the heat; as they go downwards into the Turpan Basin the temperature goes up even more, into the mid-40s and beyond; apparently two people, Bob and Scott [?], left her group because of the ill-effects. Then onward through oasis villages until they reach the mountains when the scenery changes – although the sandstorms do not. One interesting nocturnal episode occurred while camping near some livestock, a tractor appeared during the night and some of the sheep were taken away, probably stolen. Cattle and sheep rustling lives on! Eventually she reaches Anxi for a one day stop and takes a bus to Tun Huang to visit the ancient caves of Mogao and see some paintings and carvings. At Jiaquan they stay in a 5-star hotel and the group shares one room for 16 euros each; sounds expensive. Here they meet a young man from Germany you has studied photography in Beijing for the last 2 years but is now walking home to Germany – I wonder how long he intends to take over that. At this point they are behind the rest of the group and so at a roadside cafe near Zhangye they hitch a lift with a truck driver and cover the next 70 kilometres in just over one hour. Here they stay for another two days, resting eating and taking in the local music. At Shandan, the next stop, they meet a group of French cyclists travelling to Beijing. The French group have a Chinese guide with them who is able to assist in finding a suitable hotel for them and then somewhere for sampling the local dishes. At Wuwei during the evening meal they are approached by a number of local people who invite them to eat [and drink] more. Everything ends at about midnight with everyone happily inebriated. Late rise the next morning and others from the group arrive in the afternoon. On to Anyuan, at about 2,2200 metres altitude, where they stay the night with a local family whose daughter speaks some English. The following day they are invited to go to the local school to meet the pupils and teachers – how many more times will this happen?

Another two days riding gets them to Lanzhou, Gansu.

Date of posting: 8.7.2008 – Vasilios and Danae – after Kuqa life on the road returns to normal and the couple consider catching a train to Xi’an and making up the miles in a more pleasant part of China

“The following days are not any different than the previous ones. Constant headwind while riding on the outskirts of Taklamakan desert with occasional oasis towns that serve as truck stops – restaurants, mechanics, sparse hotels. The endless monotonous road and the high temperatures have affected most of us… We have been thinking about changing our route by taking a train to Xian and cycling the same distance in a greener part of China thus leaving the group behind “

However, they decide to press on and cover the gap of nothingness between themselves and Hami as fast as possible. The problems, include constant headwind, sandstorms and poor food. Even the fruit is not up to standard.

“Even the local fruit doesn’t seem to taste as good as the ones we have been used to in Greece. While eating a melon Vasilios comments to a fellow cyclist : “that’s the worst you can get in Greece. If you buy a watermelon such as this one from a merchant you can rightfully smash it on his head. You should definitely visit Greece.” One has to wonder whether the taste of fruit is as bland as we think or perhaps this is how we feel in general due to the monotony in our surroundings.”

Somewhere beyond Hami the treeline and shade appear and they meet up with Janice and Doug [from the USA] and share “one of the crappiest guesthouses, in a room full of cigarette butts and foul smell that almost keeps you awake at night (day 123).”

And then to Anxi.

Links to other related posts are listed on the Crotos – BaltiCCycle page.