China: Irkeshtam-Pass to Kashgar

31.10
first checkpoint in China at Irkeshtam. Philip from Belgium came to the officer and behaved himself very unfriendly. First bad impression of this guy. 2 km later a new border control. x-ray of all bags. very friendly officers. we met Lukas, Sonja and Yvonne from Bonn on the way to KGZ. their bikes were on a coal truck. due to the story of lost bikes from Dan and Sam from NZL and now this story we expected a bad scenario for our equipment. it was too late to go on a truck , so one of the officers allowed us to camp on the border ground. with Anna from Russia we build our tents in a sideway and cooked some rice. this part of the first part of the border was an exchange between China and KGZ. many left houses and shops and very nasty. People who are living there belong to the Uyghurs. most Chinese belong to the Han-Chinese.

01.11.
during the night I felt ill, stomach problems. a really bad night , barking dogs, trucks, a drunken man, who was angry about our tents. we got up at 8, packed our stuff and went to the meeting point outside of the immigration office. we had to wait again. some truckers watched our bikes and one of them, Ibrahim, contacted us with a pretty good English.he was a tour guide in Kashgar and he offered us to take us in his 55- tons-truck. well, this would be great! I contacted "our" immigration officer and he agreed. we had to wait for another half an hour but it was no problem. outside very cold but inside a oven;-) Philip was there too and his behaviour was very rude. I really do not want to see this idiot again. then we had to hurry : Ibrahim's truck arrived and we had to load our stuff. 5 h gravelled road :-( since Aug 26 2012 cycling or walking is not allowed anymore on this road and we understand this decision of the Chinese Government. minimum 200 of 40 till 55-tons trucks on a very narrow road. too dangerous!! and if it would be possible to cycle there you would eat dust the whole way. in the later afternoon we arrived at the last border control in Wuqui: we had to open all bags and to explain the things. Astrid has to delete two photos from her camera. LP (Lonely Planet) map China without Taiwan! Taiwan declared itself as a sovereign state, but China does not accept this. a longlasting conflict. the staff was very friendly. after one and a half hour we camped on a field . groggy!!

02.11.
wake up with sun shine at 9. crowded road with trucks . . 8 km uphill with 6% and headwind.in Toba now 6000 km by bike ! there were small shops with delicious food ... chicken wings , banana chips, peanuts, cookies.... so yummy!! then downhill from 1915 m to 1589 m. in a smaller village we asked in a sideway some pedestrians for the possibility to camp or a guesthouse. we showed our "point it" dictionary, only some discussions , there should no possibility to camp.. no invitation, although the backyards of the houses would have enough space to build a tent. people were more interested in the dictionary than in us. it was late. against the advice of the people not to cycle further downhill we found a camp site close to the river. quite and hidden. thanks a lot for your hospitality :-(

first campsite in China, 1 km behind the border

on the road to Kashgar

after 12 days of tough cycling without any possibility to wash ourselves or to shave my beard ;-)

camping inside the 1.border

on the "highway" .... too narrow and too dangerous for cycling or walking

Sonja,Yvonne and Lukas from Bonn

on the "highway"...

yeah !!!!

Anna from Russia, camping with us inside the border

new fans ;-)

from Osh (KGZ) to the border of China

24.10

33km , 2150 alt. camping, -0.1 C

25.10.

36km, alt. 2389. nach Guelchoe camping 1685 alt.

26.10

47 km, alt. 2400. total 5824, camping

27.10.

24 km cold makes me less powerful. on our way we met aKyrgyz who worked in Plymouth and Czech. with a very good english he asked usfor autostop, but we refused it.  campingon 3000 m, where usually nomads have their jurtes.  after dinner with noodles it began to snow.

28.10.

the night was cold but we have very good sleeping bags.we woke up with snow. we started quite late, at 10:30 we left our camp site.  km total. 8,5 km till Taldyk-Pass. from 3000mup to 3.615m.

average speed 4.5km/h. a real tough trip. the coldexhausts me more than the heat in the desert. a truck driver offered us to takeus uphill, but we wanted to take the challenge. it was very windy and on thesummit we met two other truck drivers. we had a funny small talk. the mother ofone of them lives in Grimmitschau in East-Germany. we expected a longdownhill-section to Sary-Tash but after 5 km again a 2-kilometer upclimb with8%. dark clouds were approaching. we arrived in Sary-Tash and noticed a signfor a guesthouse. it was 4pm. snow cold and no more food in our bags . it wastime to relax a little bit. it was a simple guesthouse, but with a very hotoven. the very friendly host served us some noodles and tea. what luxury !

29.10.

20km, avs 8,2. only 1., 2. or maximum the 3. gear on a quite flat road !  strong cold headwind,   better storm .an empty waggon from a shepherdsaved us. we used some criminal energy with our multitool and opened thelock;-) cooker with diesel was a desaster.we had to cook inside thewaggon.  after 4 hours we had tea and awarm meal. due to the cold it is always important not to freeze. so we keptmoving while brushing the teeth. ;-) we call it the "brush-your-teeth-dance" :-). we build Astrid'stent inside the waggon and it was quite warmer.

30.10.

no more storm, only a small wind! we met Regan fromTennesse (USA) who travels by autostop. the owner of a small house behind thenext hill visited us. I asked him for benzin and later I bought a liter. goodluck, no more f....g diesel !  we metHenry from IR, cycling the same way as us. 20km up to 3770 downhill up to 2914.super weather, military checkpoint in front of a strategic bridge. we boughtsome bread and juice at the local small shop and I gave my Keen sandals to theowner. they were too heavy and I wanted to reduce my luggage. after 2 km wecamped at the river. 40km in total.

31.10.

cold night. minus 4. 24km.some altimeter again. In Nura,a small village, we bought some food. very funny and friendly meeting withpeople there. In the LP (Lonely Planet travel guide book) it was a warning forthis village! no problems at all:-) I should take photos from differentfamilies. then first exit of KGZ. we had to wait for an hour. we met Philipfrom Belgium, who was hitchhiking. no problems with the officers.  Exit KGZ ! short uphill and then many trucks. some know us, because we always tryto greet every TIR-truck, they are our best friends :-)

snowy evening in the mountains

rockfall.... not so funny.

8% upclimb on the Taldyk-Pass

summit !!!!

now downhill to Sary-Tash

Sary-Tash, snow is approaching

what a view !

inside cooking in "our" waggon due to storm

next morning: no storm anymore !

Diesel caused this "desaster"

on the summit: 3.770m altitude. a really exhausting ride, but so gorgeous !

now downhill from 3.770m

village of Nura, 5 km to the first checkpoint for China

in Nura

the night inside the checkpoint

inside the checkpoint. from here we had to take a truck to Wuqi

camping on a nomad's place: left usually are the so-called jurtes

Taldyk-Pass, 8% !

Guesthouse in Sary-Tash

Osh (KGZ), Part III

19.10.
after a flight of 40 minutes we arrived at the airport in Osh. again a strange situation with the luggage: a small truck with the bags and suitcases came to the end of the runway, where some people were waiting. after its arrival everybody tried to get his luggage first and leave the airport through a small door. well a ramp agent was checking the luggage with the receipt; and scrambling people again. such an unorganized situation, difficult to understand. a taxi took us to the TES Guesthouse. in the evening
we went to the "California" to have some pizza. after half an hour Peter from NL who works in Osh and lived for two years at the TES entered the restaurant and it was great to see him again.

20.10.
we checked our bikes, made our laundry and relaxed.

21.10.
in the afternoon we were invited for dinner at Aybek and Aiko's home, with their son Bektur. Both of them studied in Magdeburg (Germany) and Aiko works at the GIZ (see 20.09.)
Aybek worked at the Caritas in Germany, caring for the refugees. It was a great evening because they told us many things about Kirgistan, the problems with the Usbeks and economical problems. we also got an interesting impression about their opinion regarding different situations in Germany.

22.10.
we tested some of our equipment and later we went for supper to the California.

23.10.
we left Osh in direction to China....

Bishkek (KGZ), Capital

01.10.
Edinn from NL, Dan and Sam from NZL, Astrid and me, we took a shared taxi to Bishkek.12 hours for 640km with a real stupid driver. he was incompetent in driving curves and he was too fast. most unnerving was that he changed every minute the track of his cd-player..... at 9 pm we arrived in Bishkek and we slepted in a jurte of the Nomads Home Guesthouse.

02.10.
after a delicious breakfast we spend the whole day with organizing some outdoor equipment.
Well, Bishkek is the same nasty city as Osh and all the other cities of the USSR (except Tiflis) where we cycled through. many unfinished buildings, extrem bad sidewalks and no appeal at all. there is no need to waste time with "sight-seeing". by the way : it is the capital of KGZ...

03.10.
4 hours in the Koffeeman, a very good cafe with Windows 7, delicious coffee and food :-)

04.10.
shopping at Sport Expert. gloves , shoes, underwear and socks from Salewa. I tried to get a refund for the Kyrgyz valued added tax as it is possible in Europe but the staff did not understand anything. another customer was so friendly to translate but no chance to get the refund or a better discount more than 5%. well I asked the customer who he is . it was Rev.Remigius Kalski SJ from Poland who lives in Jalal-Abad. with his organization "Children's Leisure and Rehabilitation Centre" in Isyk-Kyl Oblast he cares for disabled children. Great to met him!

05.10.
many things to do: we had to change the accommodation, because at Nomads Home, where we had been for three nights water have been cut for the next 10 days. we found the "Interhouse" a quite new guesthouse via booking.com. very beautiful but again a strange behaviour of the owners. they would not give us a key for the room. they argued that 24h a day somebody is at the reception. after 2 hours we had a key, because I was very persistent and I became more and more unfriendly. honestly I learned that if your are too polite in these former countries of the USSR you will not be taken serious.
We checked the possibilty for a horse riding trip to the mountains. it will become a little bit difficult, because it is snowing up to 2500 m. Astrid felt not very well again. she seems to be much more prone after her illness in Bukhara. :-(. it makes no sense to go horseriding at this time. she has to be healthy.we will see...

06.10.
relaxing day. Dan from Tasmania,
who is traveling by motobike from London back home, is in the Interhouse, too. he wants to enter China as well and his travelagency recommended him to shave his beard. the argument: Chinese immigration officers do not like "Hippies"..... unbelievable! indeed, a tough decision for him.

07.10.
relaxing day

08.10.
we went to our travel agency, Avia Travel Company. the Chinese lady, Miss Liu, has a great experience in organizing visa for China. well, we arrived at 09:30, later as we planned. she told us that our photos are too small. we had to go to a photographer for new ones , we should fill out a form of three pages and be back in 20 minutes. what a stress! we did not find the photographer immediatly, because we lost the business card, I went back to her office, suddenly Astrid was missing.... . after the new photos (mine are horrible, I look like being on drugs) we have been told, that we need different hotels in China to insert in the form. ok, internet access in the office was to slow, I ran to the cafe around the corner, checked tripadvisor.com and booking.com, back to the office. The son of Miss Liu came with Astrid and a KAZ businessman out of the office. we drove to the Chinese Embassy and met Miss Liu. 11.55 a.m. .. Good luck, they opened the door. while Miss Liu was standing in line we met Nicky and Roy from Switzerland. they are traveling with a Toyota Landcruiser to China, but had big problems with the embassy. as a car driver you must not drive for your own, you have to pay a permanent guide. well, China is a country which does not like individual tourists. Nicky and Roy already payed 6000 USD for the guide, but the visa were still missing. it would really be a desaster for them not to enter China.

09.10.
both of us with a bad cold, fever and a running nose :-(

10.10.
bad day. we started to take antibiotika

11.10.
still in bed and feeling very bad

12.10.
we were still groggy, but we had to go to the travel agency to catch our visa. at 12 o'clock we got it !!! Miss Liu did a great job. from two other cyclists we received the information that Dan, who we met in Osh, arrived in the Nomads. we took a taxi and it was so great to see him again. he cycled this track through the mountains, where we had to turn back. due to the fact that there was still no tap water in the Nomads, he decided to come to our guesthouse. we took his bags with us in a taxi and he came with his bike to us.
In the evening we had delicious Italian food in the "Bella Italia", together with Dan from Tasmania. a real funny evening :-)

13.10.
I organized my homepage, blogspot and some other internet communities and platforms, Astrid stayed most of the time in bed. She really needs this recreation. Dan, the cyclist, felt very sick. vomiting and diarrhoe and he had to catch his flight back to Zurich in the next morning. no good combination. he slepted the whole day and in the evening he packed his bike in a box. at 10 pm he left the guesthouse by taxi to the airport. we were really sad, because he is now a very good friend of us . hope we see us as soon as possible :-)

14.10.
we went with Dan from TAS to the "Koffeeman".later we bought at the German shop "Brinkhoff" a new thermoskanne, lithium batteries

15.10.
Now six months traveling. At Avia Travel we bought our tickets for the flight to Osh. 2300 soms, which are roughly 50 bucks, are quite cheap. we do not want to sit again in a small van for 12 hours, opened window and a stupid driver. we are just recovered so we would not endanger our health.
we went to our facourite cafe, the "Coffeeman" and met Dan and Sam from NZL again. they want to leave Bishkek the next day, looking for some bikes in Almaty. last possibility to see them for a long time. we had lunch and then we were so busy with Facebook and me with my travel expense accounting for 2012. well, I am traveling, but next year I have to make my tax declaration and it makes no sense to defer this quite uncomfortable work.
in the evening suddenly Laura and Aitor entered the cafe . what a surprise !! in Bukhara they stayed at the same guesthouse as we.
and the funny story is: Astrid put her spare-pedals to their bikes, because she did not want to carry them further. Laura and Aitor have been on the way to Tashkent by train. we did not see them again, so we did not know if they used the pedals.
Aitor told us yesterday, that he is so happy to have this pedals, with his old ones he had pain in his feet and he searched for a long time for others. good job :-))
after eight hours in the cafe we went home. while having some toasts the owner of the guesthouse arrived and we had an interesting conversation. he is quite young, runs an internet business and rents this house. the business "guesthouse" is his hobby and he started in May 2012.

16.10.
we met Richard and his wife Jazgul from www.heider-consulting.de. he is from Munich, but now lives with her in Bishkek. I found his homepage by accident and contacted him. was a funny lunch in an Italian restaurant. due to the fact that Jazgul is Kyrgyz, we got interessting information about her country and the social live.

17.10.
I went to a dentist, recommended by Richard, because I had some pain in my gum. the doctor's office was with very modern equipment and the treatment was very professionell. together with x-rays and fluid only 800 Soms, which is roughly 18 USD.
In the afternoon we met Annika and Roberto, cycling through the world, too. We knew them only from FB and it was so great to see them , in the "Koffeeman", where else ? ;-).

18.10.
we went to a bicycle shop to get some pins for the chain. later coffeeman. it began to snow.
it was really cold and a bad weather. will become "funny" when we go up to the mountains.

19.10.
we changed some USD to Chinese Yuan and packed our stuff. Dan from Tasmania wanted to leave Bishkek, too, but suddenly his motobike did not work anymore. he tried to find the problem but he did not find it until we left the guesthouse. we took a taxi to Manas Airport. Honestly many people have a quite stupid behaviour. when we had to enter the plane, many of them were scrambling. no reason to do this because as you know you already got your seatnummer at the check-in. our flight by Air Kyrgyztan to Osh departed at 4:50 pm.