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The Portraits of Eastern Tibet
A silent post today. Pics .. but no words.
All the pictures were taken in the Eastern Tibet. We were not allowed to cycle the Western Tibet and that’s all we could see about this People. We didn’t like the monks but we love the “common people” and the nomads.
The monks were mostly interested in selling us tickets to the monasteries (not always in nice way, not always a polite one) but the others were just as friendly as you can see on those photos …
well . .enjoy :-)
Take care and take a chance to go there and meet hem .. before they will disappear :/
R+A
Posted in from the bike, Silk Road
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Silk Road in 6 mins
here we go :-)
ps. you can translate the title as “The Cycling Joy of Life”
tell us if you like it :-)
music by The Verve
Posted in from the bike, Silk Road, vimeo
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The Deserts
here we go ;-) one day I’ll work on the subs for all of you … one day .. ok ? ;-)
A Different China
ok .. it has been a loooong looong time since the last update .. I know .. BUT .. we are travelling ok ? ;-)
and we have only few more days left before they will kick us out of China … and only 200 Euro left …
(we have a ticket home .. don’t worry ;-)
so .. quick update now … more from Laos .. ok ?
so we are in Yunnan .. amazing Yunnan ..
no . .once again .. AMAZING Yunnan. Mountains, food, people … everything … even weather is ok ;-)
we have few pictures for You today .. more writing once we are home .,.. in 3 weeks ;-(
and .. wow .. if you like kms and all this statistics …
here we go ;-)
that’s all folks
sorry …
Posted in from the bike, Silk Road
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too early winter
After skeeping the great, stony, cold, windy and booooring Takla Makan Desert (one train, one bus – 2500 km in 3 days) we end up by the end-beginning of the Great Wall. Oficialy .. it’s the end, but like always .. every wall has two ends ;-) so for us .. it was the baginning :-)
And it was boring :-) At least for us :-) But well … we are in China right? Have to see some things you have to see . .right ? :-)
And … finnaly . .we left for the mountains .. and paid a great toll straight away. It’s just too high or to o late. One or another but at the end – it’s tooooo cold. Snow storms, frost, fog. You name it. At least the mood is good and the views are stunning.
One of the greatest things about the Chinese people is .. their smile. But … you don’t get it for free :-) Oh now. First .. they look at you .. cold, stone, ice faced and you don’t know if they are ok about you or not. NOT A CHANCE :-) .. so you wave .. smile, say “nin hao” and wait … “Did I make an idiot of myself again?” …
But .. most of the time, once you say hello .. you get an explosion of great, warm, happy emotions on this chinese faces.
And you feel great.
And you feel “in good place”
Just perfect :-)
ok .. it’s a time for your photostory again ;-)
so here we go …
and fog .. and frost .. and no good mood .. just before another 3700+ m pass …
And after all this struggle ;-) we arrived to Xining … full of chinese restaurants ;-)
So . .as you see .. everything is good … even cycling ;-)
Greets from Xining
Posted in Silk Road
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It has to be gooood
well .. if it’s not . .and we know it is (!) they .. wouldn’t fake it right ?
well .. :-)
Posted in Silk Road
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Postcards from Wachan Corridore
Yeah … the plan was to go also to the afghani Wachan .. but the floods and deep fords convinced us to take it easy. As easy as possible on the non-tarmac roads but surrounded by beauty and good people again. The Good People Thing was almost boring :-)
No chances to complain, only smile, shake hands, share food, time and good words. Yes – speaking Russian always helps in this place but make no mistake – you don’t need to speak any language here to feel like guest and (maybe) along Friends.
From Ishkashim to the asphalt again (across 4300m pass – Google Maps said there is no road! ) took us over a week. 300 km :-)
———-the road to and through the Khargush Pass——
And . .as we though the pass, and snow will be hard .. we met two boys taking care of a huge herd of cows and sheep. And they didn’t really have shoes! We gave them some socks as we were wearing 2 Smart Wools … oh yeah … you are born somewhere else and wearing merino .. or plastic … a lottery .. nothing else :/
a potem .. and after that ? there was a 25 km of “downhill” and asphalt .. loooovely asphalt and coffee … hard to believe but we are on … holidays ;-))))
—————–Saturday Market in Ishkashim——-
Welcome to the No Mans Land Market. On the Afghani side – the men are ruling the stalls. On the Tajiki – women ofcourse :-)
Posted in Silk Road, Tajikistan
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Life on 4000 meters
Ok .. Friends :-)
We are late with our latest stories … shame shame shame .. but .. there is no Internet in Pamir. Thank you God and everyone else :-)
It was cold, simple, honest, super-friendly and one of the most beautiful place in the world.
And now .. instead of typical blah blah blah .. the pictures from cycling some bad roads, great passes and meeting Good People.
Life on 4000 meters isn’t easy. Everything goes suddenly in slow-fast motion.
You are soooo slow but your heart goes fast like crazy.
You walk very slow but get tired very fast.
The Summer arrives slow, but is gone in no time.
Pamir is someting more than only (just) great mountains. It’s another proof of the old rule Less Friendly The Place – More Friendly The People :-)
Here we go. Especially for You :-)
Posted in Silk Road, Tajikistan
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Toshkient .. while waiting for visas
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Samarkand Bazar
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Portraits of Turkmenistan
Here we are again :-)
5 days in Turkmenistan isn’t much BUT since you don’t need “a guide” (a guard!) if you have a transit visa .. you have more fun, more contact with the people. Just more Turkmenistan really.
Ok… here we go … some pictures for you.
Posted in Silk Road
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