Oh, were it that simple to cross by land. Our trip across the frontier at Khorgos took most of the day and a most of my patience.

When we initially showed up at midday, we were informed that the border was closed for lunch and wouldn’t reopen until 3PM. Yes, apparently international trade plays second fiddle to the stomachs of the Immigration and Customs Service.

So we retired to a nearby park, well away from the hawkers and money-changers, and waited for the reopening of the border.

At 3:00 we were finally allowed to proceed through the security gate, though it was a further 30 minutes before the actual border opened. It must have been a hell of a good lunch.

As we lined up, an official approached and asked for our passports. We obliged and were directed to some nearby benches, where we waited for over an hour while dozens of other people -Chinese, Kazakh, Russian et all,- passed by. Occasionally one of the officers would come and ask a random question, – why did we have stamp X for country Y, – all of it entirely unrelated to our stay in China or any country that China might have a problem with. “God,” I thought. “I’m trying to leave, not sneak in.”

Eventually Jared got inquisitive about all this random inquisition and went for a wander. We could see right into the office where the immigration officials were working, and he noticed that one of the officials was not just inspecting our papers but was making hi-resolution scans of Katie’s Connecticut drivers license, and also of the security holograms on our passports. Most unusual.

“Well done, Katie,“I quipped. “Your attempt at being a good sport has just compromised national security.”

From what we could gather, the bored officials had been using our passports and the license, all exotic and unfamiliar to them in this lonely corner of China, as a teaching tool while we sat and twiddled our thumbs.

After a polite but firm protest from Ms. Tibbetts and veiled threats of calls to embassies if we were detained much longer without explanation, our passports were returned – without explanation – and we were allowed to line up at the ACTUAL immigration check, where they were verified by computer in less than 30 seconds. Goodbye, Chinese officialdom.

The next problem was crossing no-man’s-land. Apparently this was not permitted by bicycle.

“Can’t we just ride across?” I inquired of one of the officials, a rather helpful gent who’d been chatting to us while the earlier farce played out.

Without a trace of a smile, he replied” Eh, if you try this, I think Chinese or Kazakh soldiers may shoot you. ”

I was still rather keen to give it a shot, but as I’d neglected to pack my Kevlar jacket, I consented to try it his way.

None of the minibus drivers would entertain the thought of four bikes and riders, at least not at the regular 20 RMB (2 pounds) rate. One stetson-clad Dallas reject ( I kid thee not) wanted over 100 RMB each, a rather steep fare for a measly 1km drive.

Thankfully, we had an ally in our friendly Chinese official. He asked around and found a long-distance bus driver who not only agreed to take us across, but absolutely refused to accept a solitary cent in payment. A true gentleman.

Bikes, riders and bags were somehow squeezed aboard the already heaving interior of the sleeper bus and the official bade us farewell, minding us to be wary of both police and thieves in Kazakhstan. As he stepped off the bus, he gave us a final poker-faced warning, “Remember, you must watch out for wolves. In this, I am very serious.”

I regretted my earlier decision not to buy a high powered slingshot from the hawkers outside.

We weren’t done with complications. As the bus left immigration and pulled up to the first of several checkpoints, a guard in a medical mask hopped aboard and did a headcount of the passengers. The total displeased him somewhat. Whatever the problem, he wasn’t happy and recounted three times before storming off. Either there was an extra passenger or one too few – I’m still unsure which- but we were ordered to reverse to the customs post and disembark.

This, for some bizarre reason, took five attempts and a lot of corralling by the conductor and driver. At the fifth count, the missing/extra person was located. Then everyone crammed aboard again and we repeated the process, this time getting a favorable response from the border guard.

On the Kazakh side, things passed rather more smoothly. We got off the bus, loaded the bikes, and were quickly ushered through and passed though customs within 20 minutes. Welcome to post-Soviet freedom.

[mediaplayer src="http://www.brakingboundaries.org/wp-content/uploads/video/holeinfence.wmv"]

To watch movies on the Braking Boundaries site you need to install Microsoft Silverlight. This only takes a couple of minutes.

Windows Media Video (WMV) format available here.
Riding the Expressway

David Breaks a Spoke

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now the Weather

Click here to view the embedded video.

David Gets Dirty

Click here to view the embedded video.

Getting on the Road

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dark Tunnels

Click here to view the embedded video.

Avoiding Traffic

Click here to view the embedded video.

So on behalf of the BB team I wanted to take the chance to thank you for following our trip, whether it be here on our website, via Facebook or email. Your kind words, comments and support have made the trip even better than we could have imagined and we often chuckle at the remarks made.

It is also a chance to thank those of you who have jumped on board with our promotion of KIVA the micro-lending charity. There have been 26 loans made since the inception of our KIVA lending team helping entrepreneurs from countries such as Peru, Tajikistan, Lebanon, Honduras, Pakistan and more.

The great thing is that some of these loans have already been paid back meaning that the money is available to be lent to another person.

Nancy Corcino Paredes is one such person who has benefited and paid back her KIVA loan. With her first loan she invested materials to decorate different events. Currently, she works in the municipality as the boss of the Civil Registration and at the same time she is decorator for different events like weddings, quincieañeras, etc. The current loan of $975 that she has just repaid bought 10 meters of different colored poly silk fabric (blue, red, white, gold, yellow, etc.).

You can read more about the other people who have received loans from members of our lending team here :

http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeamLoans/?team_id=1199

With that said keep the support coming. We read all Facebook messages and blog comments and really appreciate them.

Thanks,
The BB Team

The day started off as your typical cycle touring day. Wake up and peer out your tent at the beautiful view of Sayram-Hu Lake 2000 meters above sea level in the Tian-Shan mountains.

Jiao chills at Sayram-Hu Lake

Camp was packed, a little later than usual after a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal as we had decided to sleep-in as Tom had a bad case of food poisoning the day before and we didn’t want him to rush.

Plus today would be a day of downhill!

As we started off Tom, Katie and I felt the urge to get fleeced by the locals one more time as we needed water before making the decent. Yes, I argued over 6 cents extra a bottle of water. It’s not the cost, it’s the principle.

The day before Jiao had been talking to truck drivers about the road ahead and their reply was that they hoped we had very good brakes as the road was very steep and bad. Turns out they were spot on. We were greeted with dusty dirt roads for 40 km down one of the most spectacular valleys we have been in yet and today the usual strong headwind that we have come to know and love actually helped slow our decent on the dodgy ripped up roads.

Looking at the road ahead

Our spirits were high but our stomachs were empty as we cruised another 20k or so soaking through beautiful green fields that had greeted us at the end of valley. Time for our last lunch break in China so we pulled in to a local trucking town.

Nothing says goodbye Xinjiang province like Da-Pan-Ji (Big Pan Chicken) so I took the opportunity to watch one last time as our cook chopped a whole frozen chicken into bite sized pieces and then fried it all up with vegetables.

The whole chicken

For those wondering, we feed the head and feet to Jiao as he loves them and says they are the best part.

Our last lunch in China

With 37km left to the town of Korgos and the wind actually in our favor surely we would be there in less than a couple of hours. Ah, but this is China and that would be boring.

The sky was starting to get very dark ahead but we were making good time on the nice highway, we would be there very soon and even a quick stop as a police car pulled us over to tell us to stay on the shoulder or they would kick us off the road wasn’t going to stop us.

That’s when Tom and I heard thump, thump, thump, bang, bang, bang. At first we all thought it was thunder in the distance, but the sounds continued and seemed to be in regular pattern. What could it be? No rain yet though, maybe, as with our previous desert experiences the big black clouds would simply pass over.

A few minutes later and the first few drops of rain started to fall. I was so overjoyed as it was hot and we hadn’t seen rain for over a month that I yelled out at the top of my lungs

“Is that all you’ve got China!”

Then it started. The rain came down, but it wasn’t the rain that bothered anyone. All of a sudden the rain turned into hail and when you are on a bike in shorts and a shirt that tends to hurt a little.

But it didn’t stop there. 30 seconds later the all visibility had gone and the hail had turned into marble sized pieces of ice pelting us from every direction hurting with every strike. I yelled over the roar of the storm to Tom “take cover!” and the two of us dropped our bikes and jumped into the ditch on the side of the road and curled up into the fetal position. We had no clue where Jiao and Dave (ahead) or Katie (behind) were.

I don’t know how long I stayed curled up for but the damn hail was hitting me hard and the only cover around was an over-bridge 800 meters ahead, so I jumped on my bike and decided to make a “run” for it. As I sped off down the road in search of shelter trying not to get hit in the face I passed David and Jiao who had also gotten caught and were cowering under their bikes. No one had found cover and where was Katie?

Just before the bridge I spotted an abandoned gas station and quickly veered off the road to find some Chinese also taking shelter. By now the ice storm had turned into hail again and I couldn’t help but crack up laughing and running back out in the storm (much to the dismay of the Chinese onlookers as they signaled me to take shelter).

Right behind me a soaked Tom, Jiao and Dave pulled in as well.

Katie pulled in a couple of minutes later with a story of having to get under her bike as the ice had been too painful. It didn’t help that she had been wearing a tank top, but at least a passing van saw her and stopped to give her shelter for a few minutes.

Soaked to the bone Tom made the comment

“You just had to open your mouth didn’t you Jared.”

David turned around and looked at Katie.

“What are those marks.”

Katie’s back was covered in welts from the ice.

Dave took his shirt off too and sure enough it looked as if both him and Katie had stood in front of a paintball firing squad.

Katie’s back

Rewind a minute and remember the thump, thump, bang bang. Jiao asked the locals what it was. It turns out that in this area they were cloud seeding. They were actually intentionally making it rain on us!

You’d think that would be it for our last day but no. Now a our familiar friend the headwind had picked up again making us slog out the last 10km to the town.

Ah, the border at last and a place to stay at last. Nope.

After checking into a hostel the “foreigners can’t stay here” (after we unpack) song and dance began yet again with Jiao and I heading down to the local police station. After chatting for a while he directed us to another hostel which was kind enough to charge us the same as the one we had originally found. So with a quick pack/unpack of the gear we had finally made it!

Our last hostel in China

I have to give it to China. There has rarely been a dull moment in our 74 days across one of the biggest countries in the world.

What will Kazakhstan bring?

This is where we had the opportunity to meet two other cyclists (brothers) Ben and Nils Koons, Kiwi’s who now live in the USA. They had just finished a month and a half of cycling in Tibet.

The brothers about to leave Urumqi

For those who don’t know the political situation on this side of the world, in order to go to Tibet you must apply for a permit and go on a guided tour. Cycling for foreigners (legally) is a no no. This doesn’t stop the avid cycle tourist though and that included the brothers.

As we sat around trading China stories they proceeded to tell us about having to avoid the 20 or so military check points on the way into Tibet by hiding in ditches at 4am, walking around river banks in the early hours of the morning, or simply cycling through the armed check points on dusk with the hopes that the guards wouldn’t see or stop them.

Apparently towns were the same with police cars driving around specifically looking for people to check, so for most of their trip the only time they went into a town was for supplies before heading out into the wilderness to sleep under the stars.

Yes, they were arrested once and forced to leave the Tibetan area, at which time they turned around and simply cycled back in again.

A picture from their Tibet trip

Their photos of Tibet are absolutely amazing and I would suggest checking them out if you have the time.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bmkoons

Also very interesting was the use of their schooling in engineering. Instead of paying the $400 or so dollars it costs for pannier rack holders they “borrowed” some supplies from their school back in the States and built their own.

Homemade pannier racks

It was a pleasure hanging out with Ben and Nils and wish them the best for any adventure they choose to do in the future.

[mediaplayer src="http://www.brakingboundaries.org/wp-content/uploads/video/traffic-jam.wmv"]

To watch movies on the Braking Boundaries site you need to install Microsoft Silverlight. This only takes a couple of minutes.

Windows Media Video (WMV) format available here.
Traffic Jam

So when your biking along in 40 degree heat with a hot, dry headwind making every turn of the pedal twice as hard as it should be and you see a truck pull over ahead and the driver jump out with bottles of water a real sense of gratefulness comes over you.

David is given 2 bottles of water by a passing truck driver

This happened again the next day when a gentleman driving an Audi pulled up ahead of Tom, Jiao, Katie and myself, popped his boot/trunk and proceeded to give us 2 bottles each which was pretty much all his water supply.

When we caught up with David he said that an Audi driver had also pulled over and given him a bottle.

Our kind Audi driver with Tom and Jiao

It’s simple acts like this that have really made my experience here in China a great one and from now on I will definitely be carrying spare water and a couple of snacks in the back of my car just for the chance to make another cycle tourists day.

I encourage you to do the same.

This thoughtful pampering of our readership has an unfortunate and unintended consequence. With 1-2 weeks of videos in the pipeline, friends and family may fail to notice our disappearance for a painfully long time. We could be stuck down a ravine in rural Kazakhstan without any hint of alarm until the witty online banter dries up, by which time our emaciated selves would have resorted to a degree of cannibalism not seen since you last rented the movie Alive. Our theoretical kidnapping by roving mujaheddin biker bandits would be overlooked until well after we’d succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome and become part of their international jihad against ignorant truck drivers and their incessant horn-blaring.

This is all slightly worrying, Please remember -a BB cyclist is for life, not just for Christmas. Keep reading, and keep watching. Our lives may depend on it!

[This post was written on June 16th. The author is still alive and well... probably. This is an automated message. This is an automated message.This is an automated message. Error: checksum 13. Communication ends]