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The 3100 meter high Lowari pass was steep and after
my break after the Nepali bus accident, I could feel my legs. The
reward was the fantastic views from the top of the pass. |
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After ca 50 Swtichbacks on the north side of
the pass I lost count. The whole mountainside was like a big snake
of road going down into Chitral valley. |
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We made it down, but this truck didn't have the
same luck. It went over the ledge and somersaulted three sections
down. The driver and the passengers were really lucky and managed
to get out out before the truck went over the side. |
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Chitral's beautiful mosque with Tirich Mir, 7700m,
in the back round. |
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Stephan at the foot of the mountains before Shandur Pass. |
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The, for cyclists, famous "Z" before Shandur Pass.
Rough climbing on a wall of gravel. |
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In the end of the climb, we realized we had an
oncoming blizzard rapidly closing in from the west. |
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We had no other choice than camping on top of the
pass. - 19 C, inside the tent. The blizzard kept on palgueing us
the next day and it was really difficult to find the road in the
whiteout. |
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The next couple of days were cold, down to -20 C
and it wonderful to stop in the small villages to drink a cup of
steaming hot tea. |
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Finally, some clear weather. We welcomed the sun
and the ride become a more enjoyable. |
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Crystal clear skies and beautiful surroundings made
us forget the cold. |
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Downhill to warmer areas. |
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The locals in the area is pretty "macho".
The shepherd on the picture, refused to be photographed unless he
could pretend to shoot at the photographer. |
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Everything became so much easier when we hit
The Karakoram Highway. Good road conditions, almost no hills
and our progress towards Islamabad was a breeze after the cold and
hard route in the northwest of Pakistan. |
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It was depressing to visit the bombed out city of Kabul.
The people suffered from hunger and the draconic regime of the
Talibans had prohibited everything from music to kite flying. |
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The women suffered the most. They were not allowed
to work and couldn't even leave their homes without a male
"escort". Stories about women starving to death in homes
was frequently told. Those who took the change to go out anyway,
had to resort to begging in the streets. |
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The food situation was also pretty desperate, every
part of the animals were eaten, intestines, feet and brains. |
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Those who had anything to sell was very proud,
especially those who had fresh fruits or vegetables. |
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Those two men had learned English in school when
they were kids. They said hallo to me and were very surprised when
I answered. They had tried out their language skills, addressing
snobby aid workers and embassy personnel and been completely
ignored. Therefore they thought they had learned a dead language
and was very happy to practice their English. |
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The strict rules also applied for men. When the
Talibans took command of the country, the male population had 45
days to grow a beard. If they failed to do so, they risked being
whipped in public or getting stiff jail sentencies. I thought it
was better, not taking any risks... |
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We left the relative heat of Nepal behind us and
went into the intense cold of the Himalayas. Here on the way up to
the first 5000m passes. |
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Sometimes it was impossible to find water,
everything was frozen rock solid. At some occasions we cycled with
over 20kg of snow on our bikes, which we later melted. Ben and Cam
on the way up to the last 5000m pass before Saga.. |
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Cam suffered from Bronchitis and we had to take
some days off now and then. Ben trying to make chapatti in the
camp close to Xixabangma Feng. |
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We were not sure how to make it over to the other
side of the Tsangpo. Ben is trying out the Tibetan was to cross,
i.e. strap the feet together and pull yourself over. This proved
to be impossible due to our heavy gear and the bikes, which also
had to come over somehow. |
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Cam had an idea about how to make the project more
adventurous. With a modified back axle he intended to
"cycle" to the other side. The idea was to sit on the
handlebars and pedal with your hands. Unfortunately, the distance
between the frame and the pedals was too long and the tracton on
the cable was not good enough. |
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A close up of the
construction. |
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My bike almost ready for take off to the other
side. |
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Halfway over, some of the scrap metal we had found
along the way, started to creak and make ominous noises. Got a bit
wary about loosing all my gear or falling into the river. |
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I felt great relief when I finally reached the
other side. |
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A mid day break in the sun. After crossing the
Himalayan Range it got a little bit warmer. |
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After leaving the southern route (Lhatze-Shiquanhe)
it got more and more desolate and again colder. The crossing of
the Trans Himalayan range was bitterly cold and it didn't get
better entering the Changtang. No villages for hundreds of km,
two-three trucks a day. One of the few signs of human civilization
was the circles of rocks, where shepherds put their goats in the
warmer season. |
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Ben on a sunny
day. |
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On the way down from a 5300 m pass. |
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Sometimes I got the feeling of being very small on
the enormous plains. |
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On the journey we met two other cyclists who were
on their way to relatives approx. 400km away. You can do without
gear, if you're hard enough.... |
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Cam had had problems with his cheap Chinese bike
from the very first moments of the trip. This picture is taken
just before he had to give up the project and hitch the last
couple of days to Kashi |
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Sometimes we got visitors at the
campspot. |
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The at high altitude can be very strong, even in
midwinter. Completely messed up my face, during a day of intense
cycle repair. Too focused on grinding sprockets and splitting the
cassette to fix up my screwed up drive train. |
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I also had some problems with the back wheel spokes.
If you're desperate, everything is a good solution and this
"twinning" maneuver worked all the way to Kashi. Had to
stop and tighten them up a bit now and then... |
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Palgon Lake after Rutog. Finally it started to get
a bit warmer. |
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I had very mixed feelings when I looked at the
lowlands far below. Of course it would be nice to enjoy
civilization and warm weather again, but on the other hand it felt
strange that our journey was about to end. This picture is from
the last pass before entering the Taklamakan desert. |
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The first encounter with the Uighir people in
Xinjiang province. |
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It was fantastic to once again be able to drink
warm water. |
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The yaks were all of a sudden gone and camels took
their place as pack animals. |
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It was a difficult transition in many ways, we were
not used of crowds of people... Ben in an desperate attempt to fix
his bike in Yecheng. "I've never suffered from claustrophobia
before, but...". |
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An old Uighir in
Shiache. |
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Many of the Uighir women wore veils, in Kashi it
was sometimes 45 C.... |
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What a leg can look like after 72 days without a
shower, not taking of the bicycle tights one single time. The hair
and skin was coming off and was stuck inside the tights.... |
