Blogs

Back into the forest

29/07/2010 Day 6

Our first 40 km, back out into the open meadows, horses, cows, and sheep could be seen grazing on pastures around and about. Small wooden houses and the occasional yurt could be seen as we rode between small villages. The road was small and winding with virtually no traffic. As we rode along one straight, I spotted a large dog it was looking inside one of the houses in barking. We rode past the dog and the wind blew our sent, without looking round I knew suddenly the dog was following us. It did not bark, they say in china if a dog does not bark, that is the dangerous ones. As they say a dog who barks will not bite. I shouted to Xiaoshuang, "ride fast, there's a dog". She swerved left and right across the road but seemed unable to pick up the pace. I rode on ahead, looking back, seeing the dog following Xiaoshuang and put my brakes on hard. Xiaoshuang came past me and we carried on riding as normal. The dog left us alone after that and the rest of our day was clear and uneventful.

30/07/2010 Day 7
Today was all in the forest, the road was more interesting with some up and down. The sky was filled with scattered clouds and it was not hot or cold. We arrived at our destination at about 2:30. It was starting to rain so we stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. The local people told us we should stay here as the next place we could stay was more then 70 Km ride away! So we took it easy, waited for the rain to stop and then set off to find somewhere to stay, do our washing, etc. 

The Start of our ride

24/07/2010 Day 1
We got up at 5:30 packed our things and ate breakfast. We did not hurry and by seven we started riding. It was really hot and the sun climbed higher and higher through the clear cloudless blue sky. Riding on a long flat road with the odd truck, a few cars and some motorbikes. The road stretched out in lengths of about 5K at a time reaching into a hazy horizon. Not many people live here but the road got busier throughout the day.

Xiaoshuang was tired still from the train ride and overwhelmed by the distance. The ride was hard for her and the heat of the sun was almost too much. After riding about 70 kilometres we stopped under a bridge, we talked a little about the ride so far. I asked her how important it was, do you really want to do this? She said it wasn't so important, but she wanted to complete it anyway.
We passed the hundred K mark, rested drank and ate the last bits of food and water and set off on what we thought were still 30 km to ride. A hundred metres further on we went round the corner and found ourselves at our destination! Checking into the small guesthouse and talking to local people, they asked us if we wanted to go to swim with them in the river. Xiaoshuang said she wanted to rest and stay here. But I jumped on the back of a motorbike with the owner of the hotel. And went to the River for a swim. The guesthouse has no showers and this was the perfect way to get clean after a long hot day. Another early night as we plan to get up the next morning at 4:30.

25/07/2010 Day 2
This ride was meant to be 60 km to a small town called bo ke tu. But we did an extra 20 km more to a small village giving us a shorter day the day after. The weather was great, we rested for two hours at lunch and still arrived at the end of our ride by three o'clock! Today we were both high-spirited and both found the riding quite easy. This was despite the large amount of up and down. The roads were not flat and straight like yesterday.

Inner Mongolia to Heilongjiang

10 days 1000 kilometres

Aron Qi （阿荣旗） to Beijicun （北极村）

We took a train from Shanghai （上海）to Qiqihar （齐齐哈尔）and a bus to Aron Qi where we started our ride. A journey that would test us and reward us as we rode through one of China's least inhabited areas.

17/08/2010
I just arrived in Shanghai having spent 22 hours on a train from Guilin. I had brought a hard seat ticket! And the train was full to bursting, like the week before Chinese New Year. People filled the Isles, the lobby, the space between the carriages, and every seat that was grouped into three had four people sitting on it. Despite this there was a lot more tolerance and high spirits than if it had been an English train. It helps that people here are not so concerned about personal space.
I arrived in Shanghai, Xiaoshuang came to meet me but she forgot her phone! She found me in the end, then we went back to the outdoor shop where she was working.

 Eben and Xiyangyangs travels, part 4, back to fengshan.

Day 15
In the morning we worked on the internet and at 1:00 we got a small local bus to take us back to fengshan. It toke about 4 hours to make the journey on dirt roads. We were hot and tired on arrival and went to the new ice cream shop in fengshan. It was very good and much needed. After that longxiang and Jean came to meet us and also eat ice cream. They toke us to dinner and we all got very drunk on baijiu, wine and red bull!

 Eben and Xiyangyang's trip in Guangxi, stop 3, Leye.

Day 12

Got up at 7:30 and eat noodles for breakfast. We carried our bags to the bus station and waited for the bus. We were traveling to Leye over 100 k drive and over 1000m up into the karst mountains. The journey toke 4 and a half hours on the bumpy and steep road from Baise to Leye. The bus stopped at every small village on the way as local people got on and off with there things. On arriving in Leye we found our selves at a brand new state of the art bus station in the small mountain village. We walked to the back of the bus to get our bags only to find that the same space had been used for transporting fish! The back was full of very fishy smelling water and it was all over our bags! I left xiyangyang to look after the bags and when to see where in Leye to go. I got back to find her and our bags awash with flies! They could smell the fish, and liked it!

Me and Xiyangyang are traveling around Guangxi and making rock climbs. Baise was he second place on our tore after Fengshan.

Day 10
We left fengshan for beise, a 5 hour bus ride. We found somewhere to stay and then went for a walk. We when to get something to eat and then walked around the town. The food was interesting and we found out that there was going to be a dragon boat race the next day.

This was my first trip back to Fengshan since last summer. The weather was hot, only to be broken by short spells of rain. I was with a friend, Xiyangyang a competition climber and sports studies student from Chengdu. We traveled from Yangshuo vier Guilin and Heche arriving in Fengshan at about 7:00. We were met by my friend Jean from France who toke us to our hotel and then to dinner. Our first two days were spent traveling around, taking photos and looking at places to make new climbs. Jean lent me his drill and I found the bolts I had left in fengshan the year before.

Driving about 2 hours out of Chengdu, takes you into green country side, with small mountains and hills all around. Green trees and tiny farms nestled into the hill sides cover this, and most days hanging thick over the top lies a blanket of clouds.
This was my second visit, I had been invited by a local outdoor company who provided free bolts, drill and equipment to me for helping them make routes. When we arrived it was cold and damp, we sat around drank tea and eat lunch. By the time we walked in the weather had got better and we did a few climbs and relaxed in the sunshine. After that I climbed an existing route. Traversed to the right and bolted on repel a short and easy route about F4-5. This took most of the afternoon.

I have been to two local organised climbing competitions near Chengdu recently. Both of them were publicity stunts not really competitions. I was a guest so they could have foreign faces in there photos.  The first one was in Chengdu on an artificial wall. They had a small top rope climbing competition. One route that may as well have been a ladder for a speed competition and another hard route for difficulty. There was know prizes, it was just to demonstrate climbing. Also there was a small orienteering comp with challenges, like tent pitching and first aid questions. There were several stands with information on outdoor sports including, mountain biking, skiing and power gliding. The whole event was carried off in typical local style, with lots of guest speakers, music, some ti-chi and yoga demoes and other performances.

The second competition was about 4 hours drive out of Chengdu. We got on a coach at about 8.00am and after waiting in a service station for 2 hours for another vehicle that had got lost! we made it to a small town just after 3.00. This small town is famous for one thing only. Tofu! We were fed it for every meal for the next 2 and a half days!