going home overland: russia

August 2016

Our time in Russia was mostly spent on trains as we only had a transit visa to cross the country. Not a bad thing though.

We absolutely loved spending all that time on the train. The beds were comfy, the people friendly and I just loved the feeling of slowly meandering through our surroundings. We made friends with a few kids and this awesome guy. They taught us a bit of Russian but he wouldn’t tell us his name, saying that it didn’t matter. I won’t forget his gentle nature and generousness though.

Arriving in Moscow was a bit of a shock to the system. We couldn’t get over how posh everything was!

After accidentally spending 10 Euros for breakfast and quickly finding that Moscow might just be the most expensive city I’ve ever been to we took the metro to the center.

We spent our one day in the city walking around and marvelling at all the fancy buildings…

Then we spontaneously joined a free walking tour and walked around some more.

I guess it is beautiful in a way but somehow I much rather feel at home in simpler surroundings. From my very shallow first impression a lot seems to focus on luxury and spending money. But we’ll come back on our way back to Asia, so maybe we get some different impressions next time.

For no we happily whiled away the rest of the sunny afternoon in the areas leading to Gorki Park.

And then it was just another train ride separating us from Kiev, Ukraine. A bit more sleeping…

… lots of teas and coffees with hot water from the Samowar…

…and that just leaves some dirty laundry in the end.

More on Kiev and some fantastic warmshowers hosts next time!

going home overland: Kazakhstan

August 2016

I fell head over heels for Kazakhstan right after crossing the border. It was already quite late and getting dark as we were waiting for our shared taxi to fill up. We were sitting at the taxi stop in this tiny village with nothing to do. And ffter the border ordeal we were actually quite hungry. So we looked around and saw a small store. Surely they would have at least some food? We walked in and were in for a big surprise. They didn’t only have some unhealthy snacks from the likes we were used to from small stores in South East Asia. They had real food! Dark rye bread, cheese, a huge jar of pickles and we were set for the evening. I can’t even begin to describe to you how happy I was in that moment. I had felt homesick for a while now and missing familiar food was a part of that. And to actually find that kind of food in a small village in Kazakhstan – well, I sure had not expected that.

Our taxi did eventually fill up and we arrived in Almaty in the middle of the night. In the next few days we reveled in all the fantastic new 7 old food we found. There were supermarkets which had such a great variety of grains and simple ingredients to cook. Close by you could usually find stores selling fruit and vegetables.

And as it was harvest season we really lucked out. Close to the Russian embassy where we applied for our Transit Visa…

…we found this guy…

selling the absolute best strawberries and rasberries I have ever eaten in my entire life. The intensity of this taste goes beyond anything and we would buy kilos and kilos of fruit and not stop before the bag was empty.

While we were waiting for our Transit Visa we got to appreciate the mountains close to Almaty. The city bus nr. 12 will take you to some fantastic hiking opportunities starting from Medeu in about 30 minutes. We went to Peak Furmanov with our new friends Eva and Leo.

At the peak Torsten suggested to take a different route back. Quite eager to linger a bit longer in these beautiful mountains we agreed. We saw the sun and clouds, glaciers and rocks. We walked along the ridge for a while and scrambled down lots of rocky fields.

As we didn’t want to go over a particular steep rocky ridge we went down a different valley and had our work cut out for us. Getting back down was not easy and very steep most of the time. Add that to my fear of heights and falling from high places and I was beyond exhausted way before the end.

We did make it down eventually. And I couldn’t walk for four days after. My legs felt like jelly and would often just give away while walking.

Luckily we did have some time to hang around and our hostel (Essentai Hostel) was a fantastic place to do just that.

When my legs were a bit better we took a cable car to the city hill and enjoyed the sun setting.

Underground train stations often have beautiful ornaments…

And here are some more impressions from above the ground:

Yes, Torsten went for another hike. Not me, I was busy wobbling around slowly.

After about a week we got our Russian Visa and took a bus to Astana.

We stayed with Sigrid and Ben through Trustroots and loved hearing about their life in Astana. They had just moved to a fancy new appartment- wow! Thanks so much for lending us your bicycles – it was amazing to ride around for a bit. And when we got to this river we just had to go for a swim!

Since starting this overland journey two weeks ago I already felt so much better than before. For once I absolutely enjoyed leaving the tropics after about 12 months. I was overjoyed not constantly being sweaty and feeling the effects of a shower last longer than 5 minutes. For the past year we haven’t been able to sleep without a fan and the few nights we tried to camp were rather miserable. I had completely forgotten how relaxing it is for my body to sleep at 20 degrees Celsius or under.

Also, ffter more than a year of cycling it was fantastic being without the constant physical challenge and give my body a longer break for once. I still loved being outside and go for hikes and walks and cycle around for fun. But all at a slightly slower pace for now.

going home overland: China

August 2016

After almost two years of being on the road it was time for a break. Physically, mentally, high time. So we ditched the bicycles, did a lot of research on trains and buses and went on a wholly different adventure!

As we have been going so slowly these past years we didn’t just want to fly home. So all in all it took as about a month to get from China to Germany. That includes time spent riding trains, buses, shared taxis, some breaks with fabulous hosts and about 10 days in Almaty, Kazakhstan to apply for our Russian Transit Visa.

While I did feel a bit sad leaving the bicycles and thus our independent mode of transport behind, I was also tremendously relieved right from the start. For a while there I would get to relax, take it easy and travel differently. Our first train ride took us from Kunming to Chengdu and lasted about 18 hours. Let me just say it was an experience, not necessarily the most enjoyable one. There are different categories in Chinese trains. To save money we had booked hard seats for an overnight train which is still okay. Once the hard seats run out they do however sell standing tickets which leads to trains being seriously crowded at times. I could hardly move for most of the ride as there were people or luggage everywhere. Still, at least we had a seat, the people with standing tickets were far worse off – especially given that they paid the same price.

In Chengdu we stayed with Peter, a fellow cycle tourer and now warmshowers host. Funnily he had stayed with a lot of the same hosts back in Australia when he was always a little bit ahead of us. Now, as he was experiencing similar travel fatigue symptoms as me he decided to stay put in Chengdu for a while and teach English. We had fun exchanging stories, eating together and going for a Chinese massage.

I also loved spending time in some of the bigger Chinese supermarkets with their lovely bulk section.

After two days we took a bus to Lanzhou as all the cheap train tickets were sold out. Not bad in comparison, no standing tickets there and only about 10 hours.

In Lanzhou we boarded another train to Urumqui. Maybe a tiny bit less crowded this time but not that much of a difference. The views were so so beautiful though and while I was content of being in a train at that time I also would have loved to actually feel the landscape change from the tropics to desert more gradually.

There is one absolutely fantastic invention in trains across China and later on also Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia…: a samowar! You can bring your own tea or coffee and have hot drinks all the way. Seriously awesome!

Apart from that I wasn’t a big fan of the (self) catering on Chinese trains. Most people bring huge bags full of instant noodle soup and other snacks, all packed in layers and layers of plastic. Only a handful of people take fresh food or eat the rice and meat offered on the train. There are people at the stations selling things like corn, baked potatoes, bread and such but it seemed to me that junk food is the go to option on trains. That’s a stark contrast to the absolutely fantastic food we had everywhere else in China.

As our Chinese Visa was coming to a rapid end we didn’t stop in Urumqi and took the next bus to Yining.

We drove on some fantastically engineered roads and this time I really missed not being able to get off the bus at any time and just take in the scenery. I have never really seen landscapes like these and will come back here one day, for sure.

Arriving in Yining was a bit of a letdown though. It took us about two hours to find any sort of accommodation that would accept foreigners. In Xinjiang province hotels and guest houses need to have special permits to accept foreigners and it can be a bit of a hassle finding one. Without the bicycles we were reduced to walking around a lot and ended up taking a taxi to a youth hostel. After travelling straight for a few days we were just dead tired. In the youth hostel we got another surprise as we were only allowed to take the expensive double room. They weren’t even allowed to let foreigners into the dormitory. Add that to the expansive vehicle and other security checks in this area and it sure felt different from Yunnan.

We loved the change in food though, the bread and Laghman, so many new tastes!

The next morning we took a shared taxi to the border, walked there to see if we could cross on foot and were denied. Why? Because ferrying people over there seems to be too good a business to pass that opportunity up. Well, that’s my guess anyhow.

The next hours were a bit of a blur. We managed to buy a ticket for the bus to cross the border. The first bus that took us over the Chinese border was rather empty. But after the actual border crossing we found this: Two buses, one locked and empty. And about a hundred Kazakhs trying to fit themselves and all the cheap wares from China into the one open bus. That went on for about an hour. There was no driver and we weren’t really sure what to do. Should we try and board the bus? Would it eventually take off? Should we wait for the second bus? Was our ticket specific for one of the buses?

We waited, we asked some people, got confusing answers, got yelled at, pushed off the bus, ushered onto the same bus… and in the end figured we just have to push to actually get on the bus. This is not South East Asia anymore where politeness and staying calm tends to get you further in general.

We did get across that Kazakh border. Made some friends in the process who helped us with explaining everything. We saw some money change hands where it shouldn’t and discussed with the border guards to let our friends leave with us. In return they helped us find a shared taxi to Almaty. Man, what a day!!

About an hour later we couldn’t have been more happy. I will tell you next time why!

Cycling and not so much cycling in Yunnan

July 2016

China was never very high on my list of places I wanted to go. Why I couldn’t even say. What I can say though, is that I was blown away by what we found: the roads, the mountains, the people and oh, once again, the food!!

But let me start from the beginning: After one last meal in Vietnam, we cycled to the Chinese border. It was all quiet enough and so the border guards found time to ask us about our trip and if Torsten was my special someone *winkwink*. We all had a laugh and they helped us fill out the forms. One of our easier border crossings!

Afterwards we found a place to stay and stay we did. In spite of the friendly welcome I was still tired of it all and preferred staying in places to moving forward. So we spent a few days in Hekou, the border town. We learned a few words of Mandarin, tried different kinds of foods, walked around town and took it slow. And after four nights we finally set off towards Kunming.

Cycling along the Red River was beautiful. As you can see in the picture above, China very often has built a new highway close to an old road. And these old roads are perfect for cycling. Sure, a bit more up and down than the perfectly graded highways but for that you get little traffic and awesome views.

Food places were easy to find and so we dove right into our Chinese food heaven. Contrary to my beliefs it was absolutely easy to find vegetarian food and just about every meal we had was soo delicious! In this region most eateries sported big fridges with two thirds vegetables and mushrooms and one third meat / fish. As we didn’t know the Mandarin names for any vegetables we would just point at whatever we fancied and they would prepare a dish out of that. A bit confusing the first time as we thought we chose the ingredients for a fry up but were instead presented with three single dishes and heaps and heaps of rice. Oh well, so we had dinner sorted already :).

As it got dark we were torn between camping and looking for accommodation. We weren’t really prepared for camping though and ended up staying here:

Dinner was fantastic again. I loved the concept of ordering dishes for the whole table and then sharing the food.

Breakfast was generally not so easy to find, at least if you want more than some fried bread. In Xinjie we were in luck though, this woman made fantastic fried veggies!

And again we ended up staying another day. I am incredibly thankful to Torsten for trying to understand and accept my burn out and taking it slow together.

We continued along the Red River to Yuanyang. A tiny city on the map which turned out to be huge in reality.

While it was still warm enough we did encounter some light rain and it got a bit colder overall. A development that couldn’t have been more welcome after a year in the tropics.

As you might have figured we again stayed for two days in Yuangyang. Walking around, drinking instant coffee and enjoying all the trees in the city.

It was good that our bodies were well rested because the next day was a bit of a challenge. A beautiful one at that.

From Yuanyang we rode up into the mountains looking back on the Red River.

The climb couldn’t have been more perfect. A nice 5% gradient, a relatively quiet road and nice views all along.

We had noticed the clouds all along, so the rain wasn’t exactly a surprise. What we hadn’t really factored in was the cold though. About a 1000m higher than before the rain suddenly wasn’t so refreshing anymore but downright cold. So we frantically searched for the rain gear which we couldn’t remember using once over the past year.

At our next food stop the owner gave us some hot herbal tea and again: we had a hard time figuring out when we last really appreciated a hot drink.

After some more ups and downs and about 2500m climbing in total we reached Jianshui. We had messaged a warmshowers contact butĀ  in spite our three maps had a hard time finding the address. Finally, in the dark, with the help of several locals we made it to Kun’s place. He welcomed us with the biggest smile in his face and I immediately forgot all the climbing and cold.

Jianshui is a lovely town and after joking around with Kun that his last warmshowers guest Peter stayed for 10 (!) days we kind of ended up staying exactly 10 days as well. What can I say, we had fun walking in town…

… eating spicy Chinese fast food…

…listening to people playing music together on the big public square…

… going to the market and buying lots of spices…

… but the real reason was this guy and his bunch of friends: Kun, our host was running a hostel with his friend. And they always reservedĀ  some beds for touring cyclists. One day he proposed us a deal: He would prepare Chinese pasta from scratch if we would make the sauce. Easy as!

And yum!

Over the course of the 10 days we were always invited to join the group for evening dinners. And we also cooked a bigger meal for everyone. We tried to make it extra spicy to accommodate the tastes and most of it was finished afterwards :).

A fellow coffee enthusiast shared her stash with me *inlove*!

Some hostel impressions:

Staying in Jianshui was once again just what I needed. Long talks with Kun and friends about life and work in China and his refreshing ideas about choosing to work less and actually being able to enjoy life – awesome! And so the days passed and we didn’t cycle further but I will always think back of that time when we stayed in that small town in China and I just felt so very comfortable.

We did cycle a bit more in the end. We had arranged a place for our bicycles to stay in Kunming while we would go home for my sister’s wedding. Three more days to go…

My highlight was definitely Fu Xian Lake. Being one of the last clean lakes in China it is a major tourist attraction and I can see why.

We even got to camp on it’s shores and oh my, it was finally cool enough to enjoy camping.

One last breakfast outside…

… one more rainy mountain pass…

… and we got to Kunming.

In the following day we occupied just about every inch of space in our wonderful host Ifan’s house. We cleaned, reorganized…

… and finally brought the bikes and gear to their new home for the next months. Thank you Anne and Olaf for keeping them safe!

After leaving the bikes we were a bit lost at first. Not we had to figure out public transport all of a sudden and the backpack weighed heavy on our shoulders. But oh, it was good to finally get that break I was longing for.

We enjoyed our stay with Ifan a lot. He showed us to a fantastic vegetarian restaurant, we had lots of interesting conversations and maybe, just maybe, we will see him in Poland some day?

But for now, we have to go, trains and busses are waiting!