PedalledPennings
Pearly Jacob Joined: May 24th 2009
Logged in: January 30th 2012
Logged in: January 30th 2012
I have never cycled long distance before but I knew that was the way I had to make my journey. Apart from the sheer physical challenge of it, we are convinced cycling is one way of paying our ecological debt while also making the best of the places we pass. Cedric is a rather strong cyclist who's made rounds of both the Pyrenees and the Alps. A perfect coach for me when we faced our first steep climbs in the Northern Wilds of Thailand. We went through Thailand, Laos and were rerouted to Vietnam after a slight skirmish with guards at the Boten border who denied us entry despite our prefect visas. Finally in China we faced more obstacles like my bicycle getting stolen with all my bags attached in the town of Gejiu. The police were great and I did get some stuff back, the story which shall be narrated below along with more pennings of what happens along the road to Mongolia. Also these pages have shifted from blogger as the great firewall of China seem rather unkind to blogspot posts. Old posts available at www.muddyruts.blogspot.com.
All accounts and pictures from Cedric and Pearly
Travel Blog Posts
These pages have been empty for awhile and might be again. I'm deeply grieved to hear news that one of my dearest friends died in Dali, China while on a solo hike to the summit of the Changshan mountains that fringe the west of Dali Old Town. Arun was a dear friend. He was my senior from Christ College and has always been a bit of a lovable eccentric. We'd often meet and talk of travel, mountains and aspirations we had to get out of the city we were bound to and travel to remote corners of India and the Himalayan mountains. He was particularly interested in the North East of India and we had many talks about it, me being from there as was another close friend of his from Assam. Arun was the one ... read more
The crossing
A seven kilometer stretch of no man's land separated us from Mongolia. No man's land indeed for only fuel powered engine were allowed through - no walking, no cycling. We loaded our bikes onto an already packed jeep and scrambled in, me in a gentleman's lap, Cedric hanging on the door while steadying an inch of his butt on the tiny dashboard. The jeep was filled to capacity with boxes that held electric appliances - radiators, micro wave ovens, vacuum cleaners but mainly small assemble yourself radiators. It once again reminded us that winter was descending on the World's coldest capital and we would be in time to see it taxiing in. Outside the wind raged on, leftovers from the previous day that brought bitter cold winds and Gobi sands that swept through Ereen, upsetting public ... read more
South bound birds
The birds have been winging it southwards, the winds aiding them. We’ve been steadily pedaling north, against the wind. The mountains and high grasslands are an almost distant memory as all we’ve seen for the last month has been flat dry arid scrubland. The sun sets quicker and we can smell the changing season even in the bleak blandscapes of one of the driest parts of China. The roads are long and flat often converging in the distant horizon in a hazy point. Apart from headwinds cycling is a breeze after the peaks and passes of Sichuan. We left Langmusi to bump into another Chinese cyclist on the first slope out of town. Kevin had cycled in from the Qinghai Lake and seemed rather worn for it. Suffering from a strained muscle the slope wasn’t kind ... read more
Road S217. A slurp of the high road.
“Why risk getting into trouble with Tibet? Just head to Sichuan and you’ll see Tibet”, this sagacious piece of advice came from more than one of my expat friends, folks well inducted and customized to Chinese customs and places. I have to admit as a newbie to the country and still fresh with intrepid aspirations, the romantic lure of Tibet still clung strong. I am one among the many victims of the countless romantic stories spun around this distant mystical land. But my friends had a point and I’m glad I heeded their advice. I’ve read accounts of several cyclists who’ve made it through Tibet dodging sentry posts and patrols. There was a time when you could get a permit to travel independently through a few places as well. Check posts are few and there’re enough ... read more
Leaving Dali's Stone Paved Lanes
(It's been over 2 months since we started cycling again. We've crossed 6300km and are now at the the Northern Edge of Ningxia Province where the Tenger Desert begin...long due blog updates shall be uploaded while we wait for our final visa extention) Leaving Dali was far from an easy affair. It took days to bid our good-byes and share our next plans to the assortment of friends and acquaintances I’d met over the one and half month break I’d taken here. The last few days were a mad scramble to revisit favourite quiet time spots and little restaurants that I had made part of my routine in this lovely town. I wish I had time to make one last solo trip to the summit of Zhonghe peak which at 4012 m is one of the ... read more
Kanchenjunga Massif from Darjeeling
November 2006, I made my first big solo trip. All my savings and years of scheming were directed at one thing; to see...no to walk in the Himalayas. I chose to do it the grand way by joining the Himalayas Institute of Mountaineering. A 28 day course with lodging, food and the best guides possible and 10 days of roughing it out in the real mountains for Rs. 5000 (500USD for foreigners) is a deal hard to find. It was this trip that set the course to where I am now. I wrote a long piece about it for friends and family shortly after completing the piece but never posted it. So here it is now. Dug up from old dusty forgotten files. Nice to look back at my rather juvenile scribbles. Dali's been giving me ... read more
Furniture Movers!! Cheap and Best!
It took a good four hours uphill ride from our lovely camp on the Nam Noua to finally catch sight of the border check post through the thick foliage that covered the hills. So far this was the most exciting border crossing. The road again was terrible as always made worse by passing heavy trucks that caused mini dust storms each time they thundered past us engines rumbling from the effort. My lessons in geography have been enforced with exposure to the taste of dust from different places. Apart from passing trucks and the occasional dust streaked villager on his battered moped, we virtually saw no other sign of life. The forest lay thick around us but it was eerily silent. I guess the lethargic heat of Laos gets to the birds as well, already cautious ... read more
A little friend!!
Slurping up my bowl of ersi (rice noodles with spicy minced meat pronounced "er-suh"), the thoughts of a burger crossed my mind. It had been a long while since I'd had one. The last I had was from a little road side stall In Luang Prabhang with a board claiming to have "the best burgers in Laos". It wasn't the best I'd tasted but it wasn't a bad deal for the 15000 kip it costed. Then in struck me, was there a McDonald's in Laos? Turning to my well travelled friend I posted my doubt. Nick wondered for a bit and decided he hadn't crossed any, not even a KFC. "For that matter, I haven't seen one in Vietnam either", he added. "Guess it goes to show which the real communist countries are...". Murmuring a hmm! ... read more
Yuanyang City (Nansha)
I was not in the best of moods. Here we were, rattling along a rough cobble stone road with the damp mist bearing down on us obscuring every inch of what should have been gorgeous scenery. All that greeted our eyes were trees shrouded grey in the mist and glistening moist cobbles that seemingly stretched uphill without end. Considering we were cycling through an area famous for its spectacular rice terraces that stretch up to 1800m high, the foul mood wasn’t without reason. Misguided and illuminated Nestled high in the Ailao mountain range of South Western Yunnan in China, Yuanyang County remains a little left of the tourist trail. Upon crossing into China at the Heko border from Vietnam we knew we had to view the paddy terraces that had been deemed “supposedly the most spectacular ... read more
Descent from Xinjie, Yuanyang
I couldn't believe it. It really wasn't there. For a micro second I was convinced Ced was horsing around when he yelled out "Your bike's gone...". Stuffing the last dumpling in my mouth I ran out of the little restaurant we were in to see a blank empty spot where my bike had been. I could have choked if the jiaozi hadn't been so juicy. A little over 3600 kms of pedalling and the worst crisis so far brought about by our cyclist's greed that strikes each time we enter a large well stocked town. After 4 days of cycling around the rather remote rice terraces of Yuangyang and another day of hard pedalling through the tin mine zone of the Honghe perfecture we finally pulled into Gejiu to greet our first big Chinese city in ... read more
