Day 57_to_58

Today is a BIG DAY, finally we did it!!!! It seemed impossible after the accident, but WE DID IT!!!!!!! Today we will cross the border between Kirgistan and China!

Gerry and Tony will drive me to the border, but then, I should ride with Tià (bureaucratic things). Yesterday was the first day that I could use the boot (yasssss!), but today the ankle is hurting, so it’s better if I rest as much as I can.

Ready for the Rock’n roll…

Sary-Tash:

The way to the border is incredibly beautiful… this road… it’s heaven in earth!

We have some minor issues at the Kirgis border, so we spend there a bit more time than expected. We arrive to the Chinese border around midday, if you want an advice, don’t do that! We have been waiting to someone to come more than 2 hours under the sun (that’s a great lunch break!). At least the landscape is nice…

Here starts the process to enter to China. It’s incredibly tedious and slow; they check our luggagge more than once, we have to pass through two or three X-Ray machines, they control our corporal temperature with a therm-cam, they make an X-Ray of the motorbike, we have to pass a facial recognition machine, and one little last thing… they take our phones for a while. When we get them back they have a brand new app installed! That’s insane! I don’t know how many hours do we spend there.

After that, we have to go to customs (around 30 km away), so we drive there. However, it’s too late to finish the process… The officials are gone!!! At least, after more passport’s checkpoints and facial-recognition machines we get our stamp in the passport. Welcome to China! The only little problem is that the vehicles are not clear yet, so tomorrow the drivers/riders should come back and continue with the process.

Driving to the Chinese customs…

At this point we are crazy desperate (and starving). We haven’t eaten anything during the whole day (just breakfast early in the morning). It’s around 21:00, and Kashgar is at least one hour away! Now a bit more fun… As we cannot move the vehicles, we are going to Kashgar with a bus! That’s just crazy. We are allowed to take some things from our luggage with us, but not everything. Tomorrow it’ll be checked again.

Finally we can rest a bit in the bus… or that’s what we thought, because every few kilometers we have to stop, get off the bs, show our passports and give our phone number at the check-points.

We just want to eat something and rest when we reach Kashgar. Luckily we find a fast food restaurant opened (it’s really late and everything it’s closed) and we can eat some noodles. They are spicy, but I don’t care, I’m starving!!!

The drivers/riders must go back with the bus to the customs next day; meanwhile Tony and I can have a day off in Kashgar.

Our Chinese guide is a bit a disaster! First, there was a misunderstanding with when where we meeting… it was not sufficiently clear that it was in Chinese-time, not in Kashi-time, so our colleagues where a bit late. Second, the meeting time was too late, because they reach the custom’s center (guess when…) during the lunch break! So they had to wait some hours under the sun again.

Meanwhile we start exploring Kashgar. I’m not able to walk a lot, but I’m too curious to just stay at the hotel. Come on! I’m in China!!!! Kashgar is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. With a population of over 500,000, Kashgar has served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe for over 2,000 years… how can I not visit it?!

Some views from Kashgar… Here, you can see one of the largest statues of Mao in China (18m)

The “old city” (sorry, but it’s not old anymore, almost everything was demolished due to political as well as economic goals).

Id Kah mosque, the largest mosque in China.

Pics from the streets

By the way, we were the only two occidentals around the streets!!! Later I’m going alone for a short walk and to search some supplies (yep alone without map, and with my orientation sense!!!), and it was a bit overwhelming … I attract so much attention here! Every single person is looking at me! Then, it just happens. My first selfie request ever!!! The sensation is extremely weird … Why would someone want a selfie with me?!

In the evening Tony and I start being worried, we haven’t heard a word about the others, and they have been gone for at least 10 hours. That doesn’t seem right. Tony tries to track Gerry’s car, and it seems they are near the city, but they are not arriving. After two hours more we know why. They were trying to obtain gas for the motorbikes, and that’s not something easy in this region of China.

Now a bit of Tià’s day. During the morning they had to wait 3 HOURS due to the lunch break. Then, more nonsense paperwork and waiting. Finally, they got all the motorbikes and the car back. Tià needs gas, but he doesn’t want to use the one in the canisters because the next riding day will be long, and through the mountains… So, he asks the guide for a gas station; the guide says that until Kashgar it would be impossible to refill. Finally, Tià needs to use one of our canisters.

On their way to Kashgar, they ride through a nice highway. But at some point just before a checkpoint, the guide stops and says to them that the motorbikes are not allowed there!!! He says that they should split for a while and just play dumb when the police stops them!!!! When they are stopped (because of course they are) they just pretend not to speak English or anything, and after 10 minutes the police just give up, and allow them to continue.

Then, when they are already in Kashgar they try to refill in a gas station for foreigners (just the idea is insane), but they just have 92. They want 95, so they try in 4 more gas stations. Every time they get a no for answer, just because they are foreigners riding motorbikes… The gas stations seem bunkers here, they are protected by the police and they have high walls and barbed wired fences. Before entering they have to ask permit to the police. Everybody has to identify himself and explain why the gas is needed. Then, if it’s OK, they can get benzine, yet for foreigners is even more difficult. Finally they give up, and they fill with the 92 benzine … But Tià is not allowed to refill the canister again.

Finally they arrive, a bit pissed, but fine!!! We have dinner all together, and well.. you can judge the raw ingredients…

I swear, we had delicious dishes with chicken, beef and octopus (and beer!!!).