Bonjour a vous !
-*-
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!
-*-
This last release of 2006 tells you about the longuest and certainly the most extreme journey of my entire bicycle trip todate...
It started late November in Kaxgar in the XinJiang Province in China and will take you up to Ali in Western Tibet - 1400 km away, which was reached on Christmas day.
Before all, I was lucky to meet Glen Saberton in Kaxgar, an English cyclist, who had pedled solo from England to Kaxgar. We decided then to complete the journey to Ali together. And indeed, we made a really fine team !
5 weeks of efforts were needed to climb up the Himalayan fortress and reach the Tibetan plateau.
The following A-Z tries to give you an overview of this wonderful adventure, and the now traditional GPS Point Log available under Google Earth will complete it ! ... Bon voyage !
***
-A-
Aksai Chin : A Chinese territory disputed by India, located betweeen the XinJiang Province and the TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) and next to the Indian Cashmeer. This desertic plateau is the Western extension of the Tibetan Plateau. We reached it after the Quitai Pass and that's where we experienced the coldest temperatures.
Antartica (the) : This is the name we gave to our 4th camp in Aksai Chin. We had to set up our tents on snow, with minimal shelter against the icy wind; the infinite plateau and peaks around were all covered with snow, looking like the Iced Continent. The temperature in the morning was close to -40 deg C.
Ali : The main (and only) city of Western Tibet, located 1400km SE of Kaxgar and 1500km W of Lhasa. We reached it in the afternoon of Christmas Day after 5 weeks on the road. Ali ! It seemed to be a huge megapole after the desertic plateaux we went through ! It's got two parallel boulevards and 4 transversal roads; there are many cars and a multitud of buildings; And so many restaurants ! And so many shops selling everything one may want !! Both the Tibetan and the Chinese communities seem to live peacefully next to each other.
Apples : We could still find plenty as long as we were in the lower part of XinJiang, late November. The last ones we had had to freeze as we started our climb of the Himalayan wall. Later, they would simply be a dream like any other fruit or any possible delicatessen left behind.
Altitude(s) : Kaxgar - 1100m above sea level ; Aksai Chin and Tibet - 4200/5500m asl ; The highest point we have cycled up to so far ? 5340m!
-B-
Bread : cf. Apples above.
Biscuits : Available in large quantities almost every 50 or 100km's all the way long. Could be as hard as stone but always really enjoyable with honey (cf. -H- below).
Breakfast : The best meal of the day, usually in Glen's tent. In the early days, we used to have tea and porridge with wallnut powder, sultanas and sugar. Later we swaped for tsampa. Wake-up time was at sunrise, i.e 7.30/8.00 am (XinJiang time). Breakfast time was soon after and followed by Boiling-Water time and then Packing time. Whatever we did to hurry, we used to set off 3 hours after wake-up.
Boiling Water : Our main concern on the way by such low temperatures was to have liquid water to drink and to cook with in sufficient quantity. Our thermal flasks would keep boilt water liquid long enough to pass a night or reach a new river. However, it happened a few times that we had to melt snow and ice and even set off with empty flasks.
-C-
Cold : What a terrible animal ! It bites everywhere, at anytime. We had almost no rest from it. Worse in the morning, when to be out of the sleeping bags. By daytime, temperature was between -5 and -20 deg C. At night, we exprienced some -35/-40 deg C in the tents (wind factor excluded).
Clothing : daytime - from head to feet > A down jacket's or gore-tex shell's hood, a fleece hat, fleece scarf, 3 thermal t-shirts, a thin fleece, a gore-tex shell or a down jacket, a pair of ski gloves, a pair or furry, leather-shelled handlebar gloves, 2 thermal long johns, a padded cycling short, a pair of trousers, 2 pairs of woolen socks, a pair of furry boots, a pair of over-boots. Night time - from head to feet > a fleece hat, 2 or 3 thermal t-shirts, 2 thermal longjohns, 2 pairs of woolen socks, a silk liner, a couple of -8 degree sleeping bags... !
Fire crackers : We loudly and merrily celebrated Glen's 7000 miles from home and my 12000th km's using Chinese fire crackers at Sumxi Pass (5200m)!! We re-iterated at Lame Pass (4800m), as it was the last pass of 11 from Kaxgar and the gateway to Ali.
-D-
Dirtiness : 1 month camping and cycling without shower does not keep you clean. I could wash my hands with soap and hot water only 4 times overall. My face ? a couple of times only. The warm and long shower upon arrival in Ali was one of the delights of my life !
Daoban : Stands for "Maintenance Building", found every 50 to 100km's along the road. Mostly ruined or abandonned, they were extremely appreciatd shelters at night.
Dry fruits : Sultanas, dates, wallnuts, nuts, almonds, sweet potatoes, apricots ... Dry fruits do not freeze and do not need cooking. They are tasty and full of energy... Whatelse do you need?
(Mountain) Deers : We saw many of them as soon as we were on the Aksai Chin plateau and further. There were proud lonely individuals or small groups of 4 to 10 looking for food in the snow. We also spotted groups of mountain goats, with curved horns. Mountain deers have straight or slightly curved-forward ones instead.
-E-
Energy : Electricity is available in most of the inhabited buildings along the road, which is either supplied from the grid, from diesel generators or from solar panels. Heating and cooking are fueled by coal mostly, wood or cattle poo are also used. As far as we were concerned, we relied upon AAA batteries for our torches and diesel for our stoves. We used 7L of it over 5 weeks, keeping 2.5L of reserve in permanence with us.
Eagles : There were many birds of pray in the vertical gorges on our way up to the plateaux in XinJiang, but they almost disappeared later. Black crows and small colourful singing birds were most common there instead despite the extreme altitude and cold. All were very curious and would fly next or over us often.
(Winter) Equinox : Happened on December 21st. Is the shortest day of the year and the beginning or Winter. For us, it meant that days would no longer get shorter!
-F-
Flasks : Each one of us had got to carry 3 thermal flasks (4L of capacity) on his bicycle. We paid a special attention to always keep liquid water with us and believe me, that was hard work by an average temperature of -20 degC !!
Feet and fingers tips : Slowly and permanently got num, pale, bruised, swollen and cut because of the cold on the way. You may want to move them from times to times to make sure they would not freeze for good, but forget about having them warm ever at all. After one week in the warm shelter of Ali, they only start to recover their sensitivity.
-G-
G219 : The mythical name of the XinJiang-Tibet Highway, which is the highest road in the world. It starts in Kargilik (km 0), 300kms' South of kaxgar, reachs Ali (km 1060) and goes up to Lhasa (km 3000).
Glen Saberton : A very fine Yorkshireman on his way around the world, if you want to know, Sir! His bicycle name is Condor. For more, please visit : www.saberton.com
-H-
(The) Himalayas : The most legendary, most magnificient and most inhospitable range of mountains in Asia, where this journey took place! Check out the difference: "I have been to Tibet in Winter" and "I have cycled in the Himalayas in Winter"...
Horses : Are plenty in Western Tibet. Pretty short-legged and rather hairy, they look like tall ponnies. Very curious, they would stare at us passing along...
Honey : A lovely sweet thing always available along the road on a few biscuits or on a spoon. Does not freeze even at the coldest. Is the ultimate sugar reserve.
-I-
Ice : Happens as soon as water temperature is below zero degree centigrade, which was common on the way. Ice is also very slippery, even for high-quality tires. Appears in large quantities in the inner layers of the tents and onto the sleeping-bags causing every morning proper "ice showers" onto the poor and sleepy occupant of the tent.
Indus : One of the largest and holiest river of India. Its source is located in Chinese Western Tibet. It runs through Ali, where it is still a narrow, half frozen river. Notwithstanding, many prayer flags have been already hung over the river bed.
-J-
Journey Highlights :
> 1400 km's from Kaxgar to Ali.
> Ali was reached in 5 weeks.
> 30km's per day at 8-10km/h in average.
> There were only 350kms' of proper asphalted tarmac out of Kaxgar. The rest is hell.
> 11 passes between 3300m to 5340m.
> |We spent roughly 15 nights outdoors, 15 nights in ruined shelters, 10 nights in guesthouses.
> -10/-15 degC in average daytime temperature.
> -15/-25 degC in night time temperature.
> My 3rd digital camera was drowned on Nov.27th -R.I.P) and luckily replaced in Ali on X-mas Day!
Down Jacket : Our ultimate shield against cold. Bought in Kaxgar, they have proven warm and really comfortable!
-K-
Kaxgar (or Kashgar) : Starting point of the journey. For more, please refer to my previous newsletter available under www.bartrouer.top-depart.com
Mount Kalaish : A holy mountain for bouddhists located 300km's ESE of Ali. We shall leave on January 1st. for Mt. Kalaish.
-L-
Lakes : Mostly frozen. Occasionally salty. Always beautiful and peaceful. Some temporary frozen "lakes" appear in most frozen river beds, after rivers have gradually flooded their whole valley and then frozen over.
Larries : Mostly the only traffic met on the G219. All of them are heavily loaded. They go very very fast creating a cloud of dust to avoid the discomfort of the ripples, which their very speed causes !
-M-
Moon : On Dec. 5th, I observed my 8th full moon from the road since I have left France...
"Meio" : The straight, direct and displeasant answer, which you are likely to hear in Tibet whatever your request is ! It means > NO !! It could easily replace "Hello" sometimes, when you think that "Meio" is sometimes said before you have said a single word !
-N-
Night-rides : We had 2 fantastic night-rides. The first one was over 23kms' from the Mazar Pass (4950m) down to the shabby village of Mazar, playing with shadows and moon sparkles into the ice... The second one was a long uphill over 25km's from the Tibet Gateway to the "village" of Sumxi. We half cycled, half pushed our bikes through snow and against wind for hours before we would reach the promised shelter. Temperetures were obviously extremely low but as we were cycling it was not an issue.
Noodles : Our basic food supply. From 2 to3 bags a meal for 2 people. Cooks fast and provides warthm and
Nepal : Now, Nepal is the place we are fancying to reach... It is still very far away but it feeds our imaginations.
-O-
(Lack of) Oxygen: It did not bother me as much as my first long stay above 4000m in the Pamirs in Tajikistan. Glen also adapted very fast. But we could help having repeated short-breathes even at rest, or nose-bleedings.
(Himalayan) Ocean : This a weird feeling -hallucination?- we had when we were ridding on the Aksai Chin plateau ; The immensity had turned into a huge swell of dark soil and snow, which our bicycles would sail over for hours.
-P-
Passes : There were 11 passes to Ali, from 3300m to 5340m covered in snow or still dry, always windy, with flying prayer-flags at the top or just nothing higher, but the sky and the sun...
Plateau : A reduced desert or ocean. Always immense. A harsh-soft beauty.
-Q-
Quitai La : The highest point of our journey as well as the first time we had passed above the 5000m-line !! It took us a full day to climb up to the 5308 metres through sand, snow and ice and have our first glimpse to the actual Aksai Chin plateau.
Just before the last uphill, the last ramp to the pass, the last effort before the evening rest, there was a short downhill... : I pushed my bike into it with a long battle shout !! Waaaaaaaaahhhh !!! I knew that it would cost me all my remaining strenghts, that I would run out of air in the minute I would have to pedle back again... But this shout was for Glen, who was next to me but unable to stop on a steep slope because of his foot-shelters : Waaaaaaaaahhhh !!! For all the cyclists who suffered before on this pass : Waaaaaaaaahhhh !!! For nothing : Waaaaaaaaahhhh !!! ! For the joy of reaching the top... Waaaaaaaaahhhh !!!
-R-
Rippling roads : Ripples are to roads what hungry mosquitoes are to rainforests: Always, everywhere and unavoidable... There were our daily life then. And such a pain!
-S-
Shooting stars : Tibet is one of the highest place on Earth, with such a pure air! There is no light pollution there either at all as there is no city of importance but only a thousand of km's away. As a result, the sky at night is beautiful! It is truly intense black (not purple-ish as in Europe) and stars are millions and millions! We could also observe dozens of shooting stars every night on our way and they kept our minds up when we were completing our difficult second night ride to Sumxi.
Stupa : A funny religious construction in Tibetan villages covered with prayer flags, goat horns and yack tails. Always turn clock-wise around them if you want to stay friend with your bouddhist hosts.
Shelter and Stove : We were keen to find a shelter to sleep in at night. We were lucky to find many of them on the way as well as some wood in some of them, which we would burn in a camp fire place or in a stove left there. Those shelters were mostly dirty and dusty places but they looked like proper heavens for us against the blasting gales and the -40 degC outdoors !
-T-
Tibet : A mythical and even trendy place for Western minds !... Come over if you want to figure out the many gaps between our politically-correct thinking imaginations and their reality!
Tsampa : A roasted, very thin wheat powder. The national food of Tibet. Is part of our daily diet for breakfast.
Tears : Was it because of joy, of exhaustion? because of Both ? ... We had to cry a few times on the way to Ali... It was so intense !!
-U-
Uygur : The majoritary ethnic group of XinJiang. They share with the Khirghiz and the Tajic communities the same Islamic faith as well as a similar bread making tradition as found across all Central Asia. Reaching the South-Eastern border of XinJiang meant for me to reach one end of the islamic world, which had started at the Turkish border passed 6 months ago.
-V-
Valleys : The Western Tibetan plateau is actually a succession of immense valleys. |Each one of them opens onto dozens on new ones. One of them was more than 200kms' long and it was so different from anything we had ever seen that we called it " The Martian Valley". We were truly on another planet...
Visa and Permits : My 30-day visa ended on Dec. 2nd. However, I consciously decided to undertake the journey to Ali. I was then illegal in China 3 full weeks. My main fear was to have to go through a passport-check but it did not happen. In Ali, I went to the Police station where I applied for a visa extension over January. I took advantage of the fact that the month was unreadable on my Chinese entry stamp to pretend that I entered into China on Dec. 3rd instead of actually one month earlier... I must be very lucky because it worked and |I am now on legal till Jan 26th ! We even got legal traveling permits for Tibet and I tell you, this is such a peace of mind to be fully legal !
-W-
Wind : Do not mention it or it would blow even stronger !! Definitely the best ally of the cold to hassle you.
Wipe-out : I only had 6 falls down from my bike from France to Kaxgar. I may be had 12 more of them between Kaxgar and Ali because of the poor road conditions, hidden ice spots, wind gales...
-X-
XinJiang : The largest and most Western province of China. Chinese, Khirghiz, Tadjiks, Uygurs and Tibetan people live there. It the gate from/to Central Asia and Tibet... To my opinion, this is an amazing Asian FarWest !
-Y-
Yacks : Long, furry black cows. Able to survive to the lowest temperatures and the highest altitudes. Produce a very rich milk, which in turns produces a strong tasted butter, which mixed with tea becomes the famous "Butter Tea" or "Tibetan Tea". It is very good, despite Glen's aversion towards it - as expected from an English tea-purist !! ... It is even better mixed with a few spoons of tsampa !
-Z-
Zig-zags : Try to find a word starting by "z" in relation to this journey !! "Zig-zag" is the best we could imagine Glen and I. And indeed, there were many of them on those mountaneous roads!!
***************
This is it, Folks !!! I hope you've enjoyed this reading ! You may now have a look at Google Earth to follow my route day after day and disclose my latest comments !
Pictures of the journey are all on CD-Rom's and will be put on PixVillage in February.
Thanks again for following me on those bumpy roads, thanks for your wonderful messages and comments ! More?? send them to > bartrouer@yahoo.fr)
Hopefully, we see soon in 2007 around a few good drinks... There must be so many things to tell, think about all the happenings of those last months !
My dear friends, have a great New Year's Eve tonight !!
Love from the Himalayas,
Barth
---------
Next newsletter : 3rd week of January.
My blog's url = www.bartrouer.top-depart.com
See my route under Google Earth = http://www.les-cobra.com/bartrouer/bartrouer.kmz |
Photos Chine
Carnets de voyage Chine
Vidéos Chine
Carte Chine
Guide de voyage Chine
Santé Chine
Billets d'avion Chine
