John & Mick's BIG AdventureTurning South
Day 38 – 407kms. (11,111 kms total)
We decided that we were going carry on with our trip our own way, but due to our delays at the Chinese border, we need to amend our route slightly. We will go directly to Kashgar and call the agent when we get there. Our big problem is that he has the import docs for the bike. The only card we hold is that he paid the 10,000 RMB deposit that is now required for imported vehicles. It’s supposed to be returned on exit. Yeah, right.
He will probably be interested in reclaiming that.
We left the hotel early to avoid attention but the inevitable crowd gathered, even at 6am. So much for discretion!
The roads on the map do not seem to bear much resemblance to reality but as the scale is so large, its hard to be sure.
We finally find a sign that isn’t only in Chinese and follow the G216 towards Korla, which although it’s a big red road on the map, is a bit dodgy in reality with “Y” junctions with no obvious direction to take. Picking the better looking of the two roads led us astray more than once!
The route between the mountains is along skinny, lumpy roads, with lorries to dodge as well as more herds of goats, sheep and cattle.
Factories loom up at one point, filling the valley with so much smoke and smog there is no view of anything. Probably the sort of place they don’t want tourists to see, but we did and we have the photos.
The road climbs steadily and soon we see snowy peaks ahead. We are soon speeding toward a glacier on the mountainside and eventually reach it, at which point the road takes a sharp turn upwards and we climb steeply for over 1000 metres along sandy, gravel roads with hairpin bends.
At the top we are over 4200 meters, and as well as being quite chilly, the air is noticeably thin. This is the Shengi Pass, although you can find it on Google as Bingdaban. A new hight record for us.
On the south side of the pass,the descent is much gentler, but all on dirt road, so the oncoming lorries cover us in sand and dust.
50km later we join the road south which is tarmac, yippee. We stop here for lunch but there is only Urghian cuisine, so our request for Chicken and noodles, gets us a chicken, chopped up and stewed, no bones removed, still with head and feet etc. Just some spuds and onion added. Crap.
The noodles did not arrive until we finished so we leave them and move off after being ripped of on the cost of the “meal”.
20km later we dropped out of hills onto a stony plain and soon the road is transformed again to the old gravel and stone trail. Tarmac was limited from that point on.
For the next 100km, about 30% was tarmac. The rest was desert – sand, stones, dirt and gravel, most of it.
John hit a big patch of loose gravel in the hard packed sand at about 65 kph. After a couple of fishtails, he was high-sided and landed on his head and shoulders (no hairdresser jokes pleeeze). No damage there then. Only a lump missing from the left leg. Probably taken out by our toothed footrests. Various bits of the bike were bent or broken but nothing major. “quite impressive from behind” said Mick.
So, we didn’t reach Korla until 7pm – a very long, hard twelve hour day in temperatures up to 46c in the desert .
After a quick wash, we wandered into town, got John’s new phone sorted at the China mobile shop, so he can use text and then popped into a Chinese restaurant where we had a chilli fondue with beef, potatoes and tofu. Hot & messy and most entertaining for the staff
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