Done with the (Chinese) dessert, there are the mountains again.....

The last couple of days were just great!


I had a plan!

That evening in Tikanlik I checked the weather forecast which did not look very promising for the next day. Winds of 30km/h, gusting to 40km/h at 8 am. in the morning and coming from the North-West.
And where do I have to go? ....right: North/North-West!
Towards noon time the wind should drop to 10km/h coming from the North-East.

So, this weather forecast gave me a very good excuse not to wake up early.



Sandstorm near Korla

I started as planned around 1pm. with some tailwind. Along the way that little tailwind became a "nice" tailwind, ending in a sandstorm, this time in my favor.





My plan worked out and I did that day over 200 km. thanks to slightly (read opposite) wind conditions.....

I arrived in Korla which seems to be another Sinopec Oil city.

May 1st. is labor day, also for the CrazyBelgiumBiker, so no ride that day...

The "military secrets" of  Balguntay

 

I decided not to go via Urumqi as  I had enough of big cities for a while. Instead, the plan was to go via the G218 to Yining/Ili.
This route turned out just wonderful.





My next planned stop supposed to be Balguntay. Beside passing some copper (or iron) mines it was an uneventful day, except...... 



I am not a geologist but I think this is a copper mine (sister, please help me out...)



........arriving at Balguntay and looking for a place to stay there seemed to be an issue. I was again in a "no foreigner" zone.

Balguntay, I was told by the police, has a lot of "military secrets". Discussing and negotiating to stay did not work this time....I had to go back to the previous town, Heijing, 60 km South.
My bike could stay at the police station where I could pick it up the next morning...

The police was already "arranging" my deportation. This goes like this:

• Police man and me jump in car
• Police car chase random passing car in town
• Police car block road and car
• Police man ask if car goes to Heijing
• Police man arranges fee (20 RMB ~ 2.5 Euro)

On the way to Heijing it was a deja-vu.....seeing the road for the second and the next morning third time.....

That morning, the policeman already was waiting for me and we went together for breakfast.
Curious about the Balguntay military secrets he told me: there is a tank division and some IT intelligence operations.
Waaaaooohw......I was really impressed!
He must have pity me because he paid for my breakfast.

Wild horses, wild cows and.....wild women


The following 2 days were again great and the cherry on the Chinese cake: Perfect roads, almost no traffic, nice weather & beautiful scenery!
And it seems that Aeolus, the God of the wind, must be in a good mood as well as he also rewarded me for these last couple of days....


Wild horses...
 



Wild cows....
 

and (a little) wild women.....

 

 

 

 

 

In camping mode

Camping near the Gongnaisi river

I know that there is a blog fan (F-ke.D from 'Yellow' City...) who is concerned about my light weight tent but with all these nice landscapes, favorable temperature, a lot of wild horses and sheep as potential "military secret" and a perfect place to stay, it was the right time not to stay in a hotel but instead to deflower my tent, going into camping mode.



The next day, the initial plan was to stop at Gongliu but because the sun sets late (9:40 pm), temperatures still around 25°C and it went all well, I decided to continue to Yining.

Along the road: Nomad shepherds with their typical yurt

 

The honey road. As mostly in China: where you have one, there are others

With again more then 200 km. that day I was tired but was treated with a very nice sun-set.

 

JIT

I am in Yining now and preparing to cross the border.

As my Kazakh Visa is only valid starting May 8th., it went all as planned and JIT, Just In Time.....
Let's cross fingers and hope all goes well.

Talk to you next time when on Kazakh soil......


For the once who like biking or hiking and still don't have holiday plans for the next year, I can recommend: do the G218 route from Korla to Yining during April-May time......it is just amazing!!!!