Korle

It has been hot and the northern hemisphere boys have been suffering.   Jim has never ridden in thirty degree heat let alone forty degree heat.  I suspect most are in the same situation.

When the group was organising the route and camping in the desert was being voted on there were two persons who voted in the negative.  Both happen to come from the southern hemisphere and a hot climate.  Camping in a desert in the middle of summer - not a good idea.  A couple admitted that they had romantic notions of camping by an oasis with stars shining bright in the sky.

The reality was searing heat, gritty sand sand storms and no romantic oasis.

Reality having landed hard into the consciousness of all we headed off this morning while it was still dark and reasonably cool.  Jim pointed out that it was twenty six point five degrees Celsius at 5.45 am which would be an absolute scorcher summer day in Wales.

The distance from Tazhong to Korle is just under five hundred kilometres.  We twisted the throttles just a little bit harder and made it to Korle by lunch time.

The scenery was similar to the previous day - sand dune after sand dune.

 

Korle is the oasis the boys have been looking for.  Nice hotel and we will explore the city later this afternoon and tonight.

Minfeng and Tazhong ( Taklamakan Desert )

The ride from Hotan to Minfeng was totally uninspiring with dry and hot conditions doing nothing to help.  All the bike riders were not looking forward to pitching their tents on the dirt.  Nobody is coping with the forty degree Celsius heat.  Decision made - no camping is there other accommodation available?  Lun managed to get us rooms in the Minfeng 'government' hotel.

Jon, Vaughan and Kimberley had their vehicles so they parked just out of town for the night.

Up early next morning and we headed north straight through the center of the desert.  Until now we had been skirting the southern edge.  The road was surprisingly good with a good sealed surface and hardy shrubs growing along both sides.  It soon became obvious how the plants were surviving.  The Chinese have sunk wells at regular intervals along the entire roadway - all six hundred kilometers.  Each well and pumping station is manned and well maintained.

Arrived at Tazhong which is a bit less than the mid-way point through the desert.  It is more of a large desert 'roadhouse' complex rather than a town.  Again the bikers decided not to camp - we accepted the alternative of rooms in a guest house.  It is to bloody hot to be pitching tents.  The other rooms in the guest house were taken up by road construction workers.

Hotan

Out of the desert and into the 'oasis' respite of Hotan.  I suspect that we are in the best hotel available.  It has all the amenities provided in 'western' hotels.  What we needed was the hot shower to wash off the sand that penetrated everything.

Once we were watered and fed Lun organised a local 'taxi' to take us to the bazaar and to the 'Jade' market.  The taxi ride was a hoot but not entirely safe.  Road rules just don't apply.

Good choice guys sitting at the back.  Yeah right hand turn from the left lane - why not - it is across three lanes of traffic - of course they will give way.

Jade market on the banks of the river from which most of the Jade is mined.  I thought Jade was green but it comes all sorts of colours.  The traders gather, inspect, sell and purchase these 'rocks'.  Don't have a clue what a good stone looks like.

Amazing what these rock are turned into.

The guys who crave the rock are artists.  The prices asked are huge and I suspect by the time the finished product hits markets such as Hong Kong the prices have increased many times over.

These traders appeared to doing the small time selling and buying.

Don't know one rock from another - but we enjoyed looking.

The police are present keeping good order.

Back to the bazaar - after the spectacular bazaars we have seen this one was bit of a disappointment.

The Linseed oil press caught my eye.  Looks like it works similar to a morter? and pestle. 

Scooters and small motorcycles are everywhere and they are the main means of travel.

Taklamakan Desert

Our guide Lun is restricted in what he can allow us to do but he is trying very hard to ensure everyone has an enjoyable experience here in China.  He has allowed the six motorcycles some leeway.  He provides us with maps and rendezvous points and we head off on our own.  The two trucks are slower.

Jon has Lun with him in his Toyota Land Cruiser.  Jon has taken on the role of liaison and spokesperson.  Thank you Jon - it makes sense as he has all day with Lun and the opportunity to discuss things.  Vaughan and Kimberley have an ex-army Iveco truck converted into a camper.

Departing Kashgar was simple enough as there is only one road that goes into the Taklamakan desert.  For much of the way there was nothing to draw my attention but occasionally there would be an adobe village where people farm.  Tough life I can only imagine.  Plenty of camels roaming free.

It was very hot initially but then the wind picked up and before long we were in a think dust storm.  It was like riding in a blast furnace.  The bikes travelling in line were unable to see one another once the storm hit us full force.  I got seriously sand blasted without a windscreen.  Needed the dermal-abrasion treatment - look so much younger.

We have two days camping in the Taklamakan - hope conditions improve because I don't know that I will be able to anchor the tent to the sand.




 

Who is a happy man?

 

Whistling into the wind as I fly down the road. 

 

 

 Come on it is good to be happy - right.

Hiccups along the way

Hiccup number one -

My trailer - oh bugger.

No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't find tyres that could both do the speed and take the rough stuff.  I even tried to get tyres sent from England.  Greg, the engineer who made the trailer, even offered to arrange delivery of the tyres for me but the cost of freight was ridiculous.   The cheapest quote was from DHL at three hundred and eighty pounds ($608) plus the tyre costs - ouch.

The trailer itself was as strong as the day I towed it out of England but tyres were always a problem.

Plenty of agricultural tyres at the correct size but they couldn't handle the speed.  Other light weight tyres disintegrated after a few kilometres.

I tried to keep it going but in the end I admitted defeat.  The trailer went to another home in Kyrgyzstan.

Memories of one of the better roads the poor thing had to negotiate -

 

 

Hiccup numbers two and three - ( all on the same day )

 

Windscreen - oh bugger again.

 

Bike parked on it's side stand at the Torugat Pass.  It was windy but not so windy that I was worried but I should have been.  While standing in a group with the others chatting when we heard the sound of two bikes falling.  Sure enough one was mine and the windscreen smashed.  Shit, shit, shit.

 

Same day my passport was misplaced for a short time just when it was needed by the Chinese authorities.  Mad panic and all hands on deck scrambling to find the thing.  Well done Clive for finding it.  Clive has decided to call me 'CD' which stands for 'Calamity Dave' apparently.  Hope that is the end of my run of misfortune.

 

 



 

Map of route so far.

 Please double click link - it will take you to Google Maps

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=218394844954211932906.0004dad0ae1226c50260f

Kashgar - new city

Like most cities Kashgar is big, noisy, smelly, with to many vehicles and not for me. 

Thousands of motor scooters, agricultural motorcycle transport 'thingees'.  Motor scooters are ridden on footpaths, on roadways ( not always on the correct side of the road ) and pretty much anywhere they will fit.  It is not unusual to find one or more scooters coming straight at you on the wrong side of the road.  Took a few photos to give you an idea.

There does not appear to be an age barrier.