Dunhuang to Zhangye

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Thursday 26 June - Dunhuang to Anxi, 122 km
We had good road all the way today. I somehow managed to leave last in the morning, but Claude and Christian stayed behind with me, which was nice of them. My back tyre was soft and I pumped it up but over 20 km or so it went down again. However, it lasted all day in this manner.
Lunch was at a toll point at 98 km, there were shelters and ladies selling melons. I bought one and shared it round at breakfast next day. Until this point there was no shade at all - just desert and occasional irrigation channels. There was one of these just behind the lunch stop and some people bathed in it. I just put my feet in.
We reached a big town we concluded must be Anxi but there was no sign of a re-grouping. Marie and Jean-Paul suggested stopping for a beer, and Marcel joined us, and the shop ladies and their friends gathered round and we took photos and explained the trip with the help of an official leaflet in Chinese. It was fun.
We continued out of town and some local people directed us to the camp site. There are buildings and yurts and a long concrete path with trees, and a bit of woodland. Some people pitched tents and some just put up beds. I put my bed up in the woods and put on lots of insect repellent against the local mosquitoes.
Marcel had a look at my back tyre and found a 1” long thin nail in it. The head had more or less blocked the hole which is why it kept going down slowly. He kindly mended it for me. This was my 9th puncture.
Friday 27 June - Anxi to Yumenzhen, 146 km
I slept well - I don’t think I have ever slept outdoors before - except around 3 am it got cool and I got into my sleeping bag.
Today we had a head wind all day, which was very strong in the morning. I set out with the slow group but somehow lost them and was alone a lot of the morning, which was hard work with no companions to shelter me from the wind. The road was a small road that paralleled the motorway, sometimes crossing over it on a bridge. The surface was mostly reasonable, but late morning there were some bad bits.
Lunch was at 85 km in a sort of industrial yard. I was late and very tired and hungry. They offered me dry b read that had been left in the sun, biscuits, tinned spaghetti Bolognese, and watermelon. I was very disappointed as I had very little food with me, not having had a shopping opportunity the day before. I made a meal of Kazakh smoked cheese, dry bread, a few handfuls of muesli and some watermelon.
After lunch I set off with Paul who offered to help me along for a while - in fact we did the whole afternoon together. It was very hot indeed and the road tar was melted in a lot of places. The road continued parallel to the motorway but we came into a nice green agricultural area with lots of irrigation streams. The road humped up and down over the streams and also up to the bridges over the motorway - but did not cross it.
When at last we arrived at the town we were directed to a hotel where some of the group are staying - I am at a different hotel not far away. I am sharing with Francoise who was not feeling well so I showered quietly and left. Had a drink for Andre Giroux’s birthday, then a good dinner at a self-service restaurant next door. Found a bakery and got some bread and cakes. Back to the room very quietly.
Saturday 28June - Yumenzhen to Jiayughan, 145 km plus 850m climb
It was a cool grey morning, which we were glad of till it started to rain. It’s not supposed to rain in the desert! It rained all morning and got quite cold as we climbed gradually to the town where there was a lunch stop. On the way up I had my 10th puncture - in the front tyre. Fortunately the blue van was nearby and I got the spare front wheel to change - much quicker than changing the inner tube. I did that later, in the evening.
I was late and tired at the lunch stop, but the slow group were even later. They were having a meal in a restaurant so I left them to it and continued on the way. It stopped raining and the road went downhill on a lovely smooth straight road. I met up with a group of about 10 people re-grouping at a service station, and continued with them. It was a good road with a tail wind for a very fast 20 km till we got stopped for an official re-grouping and police escort into town - the first time for this in China.
On arrival I got a new front tyre from Claude as the one with the puncture had a visible hole in it, put a tube in and put it on the bike. There were buses to a reception and dinner at 6 pm, but I was too late for this. I went to a supermarket and got some much-needed supplies - bread and cheese and yoghurt. I met Karl and Claudia and went out with them for a beer. We got beers in a market where there were lots of people cooking food outdoors, Karl investigated for me and I got a bowl of home-made noodles and vegetables, very nice but too much and I was very slow eating it with chopsticks.
On return to the room Liliane was asleep so I went down to the lobby and chatted with some people from another cycling group. There are 20 of them and they are organized byBalticycle which is Lithuanian. They left from Olympus in Greece in February and are going to Beijing like us. Their organization is much looser than ours, it sounds more fun.
Sunday 29 June - Jiayughan to Quingshui, 96 km
A very nice ride today. It was mostly through agricultural areas, with lots of buildings and markets along the road for the first part of the day. The crops are all grown in small fields irrigated with water brought down from the mountains, ever-present to the south of us. There was new snow on the mountains today, the same as yesterday’s rain in the plain. I saw crops of maize, barley, onions, peppers, tomatoes, French beans and runner beans, big lettuces and a strange red plant. Later there were hop fields. Then it went back to desert.
A bunch of us stopped for a beer in the village before going on to the camp site, which is a school playing field. We arrived at lunchtime and I just lay around all afternoon, bored, and finished my book. I got another one from Pierre but it is a 1939 French classic which I don’t think I shall like.
My bed is set up in a corner of the school yard, with a ledge beside it where I can put all my luggage. The loos are horrendous - 20 holes - took a picture.
Monday 30 June - Quingshui to Gaotai, 96 km
Not a bad aay. A lot of desert and mountains. The planned itinerary was short (80 km) so no-one was in a hurry. A lot of people stopped for drinks and for a while I was in front. There was a fine descent between spectacular hills.
Lunch was at a school near the town, we were able to sit in the shade. There were tinned rations, but I had my own picnic as usual. After lunch we all set off together but missed a turning and did 8 km down the wrong road. A pity, because it was very hot.
We arrived at 2.30 or so and were accommodatedin 3 separate hotels. Ours is pretty tatty, dirty carpets, bathroom door won’t shut and has a hole where the handle should be, most of the lights don’t work, the beds are hard as iron (though this is general in China). After the usual shower and washing clothes rested a while, then went out and bought fruit and yoghurt. Could not find a bakery.
At dinner we had wine provided by the Spanish couple because Spain beat Germany in the European Cup.
Tuesday 1 July - Gaotai to Zanghye, 89 km
A fairly uneventful day. I cycled alone much of the time. There was are-group at 79 km; since my cycle computer was re-set yesterday by Jean-Paul it now registers correctly and the distances were spot on.
In Zanghye (or Zhangye) we have a decent hotel and at last I have a room on my own. This is good as tomorrow is a rest day, so I have it for two days. Had a shower and went out in search of supplies. There is a bakery opposite and a supermarket next door to it, so no problem. They have yoghurt and even cheese, but no pure fruit juice. This is almost unobtainable in China; there are lots of fruit drinks which are not particularly good. I went and had a look for a restaurant but couldn’t find anything remotely interesting so went to dinner. This was not very good, boring and tasteless like Chinese restaurant food in London. I think the boring French complained the food was too spicy and the organization have had it toned down. After dinner walked round town a bit but found nothing of interest.
Wednesday 2 July - Zanghye
Did some more washing before breakfast. Went to the hotel’s internet café and did my email. Didn’t bother with the hotel lunch, had a cheese and tomato sandwich and yoghurt and coffee in my room. Had a siesta and did some more typing.
Tried my inte4rnet dongle but it still wouldn’t work so I phoned their help line in England and found the device had been blocked when I used it in Serbia as they assumed it had been stolen! Why sell a machine designed to work internationally, then panic when someone uses it abroad? Anyway, they unblocked it and I did some updates on my blog at last. I also did my email and had lots of news from home - the most important being a huge rise in fuel prices, airlines flying slower, and consumer goods prices going up.
Dinner was boring. I bought a few bits of food - bivouac tomorrow - and looked at the programme of tours when we reach Beijing, which looks excellent.

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