Olympic bicycle ride 2008

Wind erosion creates bizarre landforms

Uyghur graveyard. 1906 or 2008 - difficult to tell the difference

180 km and two more days to go until Kashgar. This part of the world's most populous country is almost completely uninhabited, but there are some small settlements consisting of low one-storey mudbrick buildings. Other signs of a cultural landscape are the Muslim graveyards with their burial mounds and mausoleums. Everything looks really like on Mannerheim's photos from 1906.
The road is in excellent condition, practically no private vehicles but every now and then a truck that "helps" lazy cyclists - like me - up the still frequent uphills by allowing to hook on. Only 50 km before Kashgar we descend below the 2000 m line and the scenery turns green, agricultural and populated.
The final day of travelling is thus a fast one, the last twenty kilometres on a six-lane motorway that connects China's westernmost city with the rest of the country.
After an adventurous and exhausting eight days in the mountains we are there. Checking in at Hotel Seman, located in the former Russian consulate, where also Mannerheim stayed after his three month expedition on the same route from Osh. It takes us a while to figure out, when and where we were the previous time in a place with a hot shower - it must have been weeks ago...

Like in Helsinki, all sign-posting is in two languages. But where to go?

For GPS and photos between Uluggchat and Kashgar: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=25118

To see the entire route from Osh to Kashgar, go to: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=25841

The most exciting, though not the most difficult border crossing of this journey. (That honor remains with entering Turkmenistan in Turkmenbashy.) After 97 days of travelling from Olympia we enter China by bicycle!
After going through the various Kyrgyz control points - including a "health check" - about 7 km of nomansland have to be crossed' the one and only time with full gear on bicycle because we are leaving our car and Adam, one of our two drivers - behind and expect a new car to be waiting for us on the Chinese side. A giant flag mosaic on the slope and a fence indicate that we have entered Chinese territory! A few moments for having some very private feelings after 6300 km of cycling and the customs drag everyone into a small shack and search evrery of our bags rather carefully, paying special attention to books, notes and cameras. Arriving at the modern border terminal building for final passport control and health declaration (avian flu!) we meet our new van, driver and tour guide until Kashgar. And because entering China takes away another two hours of our day and puts us into Beijing time, we start cycling rather late in the afternoon after the very first encounter with Chinese food on Chinese soil.
Still this afternoon is probably one of the most memorable of the entire journey, as we seem to be seeing now the completely different side of the Tien-Shan mountains. An apocalyptic landscape of bare wind-eroded towering cliffs taking the most bizarre forms and presenting themselves to us in a beautiful bright afternoon sunshine. I can't remember any other day or place where taking photos was so easy and enjoyable.

First nighstay in China: a yurt, a few kilometres from the village of Uluqchat. We have entered the Kyrgyz autonomous region within Xinjiang, where the majority of the poulation adhere to Islam. So: same, same, but in China different...

Here our car has to turn around. Good bye to Adam! Chinese border officials are actually very helpful in carrying the extra gear to the border terminal.

Entering Chinese territory, a moving moment

Incredible landforms in the Tien-Shan

Yes, it's China!

Track and photos of this exciting first day in China on http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=25065. Definitely worth watching in Google Earth!