A glimpse of the Pamirs

We travel to Western China hopping from bus to trains, loading our bikes on pickup trucks and 4WD. We start the longest stage of our journey from Tashkorgan (China) in the Pamirs with mountains peaking above 7'000 m. We also celebrate our 10'000 km milestone before crossing to Kyrgyzstan.

Bike route 2 237 543 - powered by Www.bikemap.net

The trains from Hohhot to Urumqi are all full, and we are really lucky to run into Gao Lei and Kong Chun-Hong, who speak a little English. They are travelling back to Urumqi which is also where we have to transit on our way to Kashgar. We get pulled by their taxi motorbike to the bus terminal, and thanks to their help, we are able to buy a bus ticket to Lanzhou.

Gao Lei and Kong Chun-Hong

In Lanzhou, we are not allowed to take a bus to Urumqi because foreigners without a special permit cannot travel on this line. We have no choice but to travel by train and send our bicycles by the railway postal service because they are not accepted in the passenger train. Fortunately, Gao Lei is here to help us out. And all seats are already sold out. Whatever, we will travel standing in the aisle. The journey only lasts 22 hours.  

Not much space but the ambiance is good!

We're not the only ones without a seat 

We arrive in Urumqi during the anniversary of the deadly confrontation between Hans and Uighurs (more info). Worse, one week ago, a police station has been assaulted by Uighurs armed with knives. The police and military presence is therefore very impressive. A policeman is standing at the entrance of every hotel to redirect foreigners to the Urumqi business hotel, the only hotel in town that is allowed to host them.

Chinese development model is the same all over the country, Urumqi

Twenty-six hours of train later, still without a seat, we finally arrive to Kashgar. This town was an important stop in the silk road, where camels were exchanged with yaks. Nowadays, despite the efforts of the Chinese central government, the city has kept a very strong Uighur identity, thanks to its old town and its bazar.

In the Urumqi-Kashgar train with Yusuf (center) and his friends

Before crossing to Kyrgyzstan, we decide to ride the Tashkorgan-Kashgar part of the Karakoram Highway, mythical road that links China to Pakistan. Since we are not sure whether foreigners are allowed to travel on this road, we try to obtain a travel permit in Kashgar. After one good hour of queue in a local police station, we are told some instructions in Chinese that we don't understand. Fortunately, an Australian (former Chinese) man also happens to be at the station and helps us in our quest. We are sent from one office to an other in different areas of the town. Finally, at the fourth office, a soldier tells us that we don't need any special authorization. We're clear to go!

On the next morning, we show up at the bus terminal with our bicycles. Unfortunately, the bus is too small and they won't fit inside. An employee of the terminal then makes a few phone calls and drives me on his scooter to an informal taxi station. Once a pickup truck is hired, we load our bicycles together with cement bags and the 4-hour journey begins.

We start from Tashkorgan on July 13.

Exiting Tashkorgan

Grasslands are everywhere

On the way, we meet Zhao Shu-Qiang, a Chinese cyclist who is travelling on the outermost roads of China. So far, he rode over 10'000 km from his hometown in Hebei province, passing through regions closed to foreigners like Tibet. He doesn't speak English but we somehow manage to communicate and decide to ride together to Kashgar.

Zhao Shu-Qiang or how to travel with almost nothing

The road goes all the way up to a pass above 4'000 m and it feels tiring to be back at such heights. Still the breathtaking scenery is a nice reward!

Shu-Qiang and Akira

All the way down to the lake Kara-Kul

Fluffy Pamir Dzo (cross-breeding of a yak with a cow)

At the end of the day, we arrive at the Lake Kara-Kul, bordered with a couple of summits peaking above 7'000 m. Great news: we have reached 10'000 km of riding since Geneva!

The Mustagh Ata, 7'546 m

A little "portage" (lifting our bikes) to celebrate

Lake Kara-Kul

The area is populated with Chinese Kyrgyzs that dwell in yurts and make a living out of tourism. After asking permission, we set up our camp by the lake, next to the yurt of a family of five. The parents as well as the children are very welcoming and curious, inviting us for a chat around a traditional tea with yak milk.

Our yurts

Chatting around a milk tea

Staying by this lake is so relaxing that we rest there for one day. We have a good time discussing with locals, exchanging our bikes for their horses and playing around with the children.

He rides our bicycles...

... while we ride his horses!

Jumping around with (from left to right) Strecdin, Ovdin and Dinara

Dinara peeking in a tent

The following two days are a long downhill ride to Kashgar. The further we get from the  Mustagh Ata, the more impressive it becomes.

Riding back to Kashgar

Some dusty and bumpy part of the route

Road signs are also written in Uighur

Encounter with a group of four Americans, doing a bike loop from Bishkek 

The team

Once back in Kashgar, we rest and prepare ourselves for the ride out of China. On July 18, we reach the border checkpoint at 140 km from the Irkeshtam pass, which is the physical border between China and Kyrgyzstan. The offices are already closed but thanks to the janitor, we can sleep in an under-construction duty-free shop.

The border checkpoint

On the next morning, troubles start: we are not allowed to cycle to the pass "for your safety" (oh, we've already heard this one) because the road is being rebuilt and in a bad condition. Still, from what we've seen later that day, it didn't seem worse than in South Lipez, except for the truck traffic. Anyway, that's an order from above and even if we try to convince the officers to let us ride, they can't change a thing. If we want the exit stamp, we have to show up with one of the numerous taxi drivers, waiting next to the checkpoint. The clock is ticking: it's Friday and the border will be closed for the weekend in a few hours. We finally hire a 4WD that can carry our bikes on the roof and get our exit stamps. The customs officer directly gives our passport to the driver and we will get them back at the pass. Two soldiers then observe us while we load our bags and bicycles in the vehicle.

Ready for the ride!

After four hours of bad road in a car with closed windows, breathing buckets of dust that was even coming up from the floor, we arrive at the pass. The second check of our passports goes as expected and we can ride to the Kyrgyz side. We see the border gate, next to a last Chinese outpost. When we are about to exit this police state, we are yelled at by Chinese soldiers. Fortunately, they just wanted to check our passports and at the same time sell us Kyrgyz soms (local currency) before letting us go.

The gate to Kyrgyz grasslands

We're finally out of China! What a load of difficulties to exit a country! No more special foreigner rules, no more omnipresent soldiers and police. Now it's just a nice road in the Kyrgyz grasslands with its nomads and horses!