August 20th, 2006 | categorizilation: all categories,China
Today’s Distance / 今日の走行距離：64.63km
Time on bike / 走行時間：5h 24m
Average speed / 平均速度：11.9km/h
Total distance to date / 現在までの積算距離：1189km
Well, I guess I was going to have to cross this pass, even if I did have a more detailed map, but it would have been nice to have known about it before time! The bad road continued up and over the pass that did not exist.
From my diary:
Freaking noodles again for breakfast. Need to get some rolled oats or something for breakfasts. Don’t care about the weight. Cold, two pairs of woollen socks to avoid cold toes. Crawl up to open fields, and I am certain I am at the top of the pass. Meet a group of eight motorbikers while I am pumping up my tyres in preparation for the downhill that would not apear until two hours later.
I was very happy to find a store near the top of the pass that stocked biscuits and pears. A great change after a few days of only noodles. The road I was on today was really half built. Those going this way in another two years time may find a beautiful sealed road. I would thoroughly recommend it, when it is sealed.
Lunch is instant noodles. I tried to mash them into a paste so that I could just gulp them down, but I had no luck. The same plain noodles that I have to chew. Ugh. The road after lunch continues to be very bad. Many potholes and rough tracks for detours where they are building bridges.
The scenery however is magnificent. MASSIVE steppe with huge mountains on either side of the huge valley. A town I stop in at dinner time has a store with rice, so I am very happy to order a double helping. I can’t believe it when the owner refuses to let me pay.
Camp site is in the middle of the massive steppe. Beautiful quietness.
China is such a huge country! You can see the vastness in the photos. One wonders why most of China lives in Beiging! The countryside looks very barren, but is that because it is coming to winter. What do people do there? Are they farmers, and if so, what kind?
Have you tried Baldrick's secret spices to add to your noodles? They come from such places as under arms and would otherwise be known as dandruff or spittle.
Anything for a bit of variety!!
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