Never leave town without supplies, which consists of at least one bag of oranges (great for desert snacks) and 3 naan per day…at least.
I rode out of Niya yesterday with a stack of 9 naan, but only 6 remained by the time I left the gas station from my email check.
I’ve been camping every night, since…heck, um, I’ve lost count. Haven’t had a rest day since Turpan, and I’ve got my thumb duct-taped it hopes to help that split tip heal. This is probably the 5th time my thumb tip has split like this, and it takes forever to heal…and just hurts.
Yesterday, I ate a lot in Niya then bought some supplies. When buying my raisins from a cute older Uyghur woman, something happened and we ended up laughing and she squeezed my face twice, Gramma style! She then grabbed my bare hands as if they were cold. My orange seller woman did the same. Sweet and amazing women.
After the market, a black VW Santana swoops in front of me and I think nothing of it. Then a man jumps out and is saying something…which I don’t understand (maybe Russian?). Then a woman runs after me and asks me for my passport as the man catches up and shoves his id in my face saying “POLICE!”
He wanted to know where I stayed the previous night. I bit my tongue before “tent” popped out. There had been a truck stop 180km back and said I stayed there. HA. Moron can’t do math because if I had stayed there I would of done 30km/hour to get to town.
Lesson for those cycling China: ALWAYS have an excuse when asked where you stayed. The safest response is “da che”…which means you hitched a ride. It’s easy because you just say it was a local and he dropped you off. Or a big rig driver…so there is no way to confirming it. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS…have a proper response. Foreigners are supposed to be at a registered place for foreigners every night. No straying about.
Earlier, I had seen make shift police walking around with black baseball bats. They looked like neighborhood Han that got to wear shitty “Police” vests over their civilian clothes.
Hey dumbasses!!! Tired of minorities uprising against the Han…why don’t you quit having them parade their superiority around! I don’t see a Uyghur or Tibetan given a baseball bat.
The black VW drives up to the edge of town and waits for me…then returns to the city. I also had a marked police car following me as well, which I didn’t know about until later.
At 7 pm, I saw 2 Uyghur praying on the side of the road…it’s not China down here. Two others gave me a bottle of tea.
Yesterday and today have been cold and overcast. Mittens and winter wear both days.
A little difficult to get ready in the morning, but I make do.
On the outskirts of Keriya, where I entered today…they are irrigating? the desert. On one hand I’m laughing, but also, the starry eyed hope filled gal I am, I want to shout BRAVO!
click the image to see a bigger image.
There must have been 100 Uyghurs pulling these black cables over the dunes. I’m saying, 1000’s of kms of this hosing.
China does 2 things well, canals/irrigation and preventing desertification…and ganging up on religious minorities.
I’ve noticed some things about the cities/towns down here.
City centers are very Chinese while the outskirts are Uyghur. But…all the Uyghur homes look as if they are being rebuilt.
Once in Keriya, it had the new city center, with Han police in green camo and guns around the perimeter. I stuck along the old, Uyghur part of town.
3 Uyghur men waved me over and I was treated to a good bowl of pulled noodles and lamb/veggies. I get treated to a lot of free meals from Muslims. When I was leaving, I even got a thumbs up from a group of men. I’m acclimating to things here…slowly.
It’s difficult for photos, just rushing through, and the fact I disrupt everything. I stopped at a small down on the outskirts of Keriya and all eyes were on me. Nothing to be fearful of, just curiosity. Lots of men…LOTS. So there are many things that really make me stand out…and then the bike. The bike is always a distraction.
Once I get to Hotan, I’ll rest my bike for a couple of days and do some real photo work. The word on the streets is I may be putting this project on Kickstarter to help afford fixers and to pay locals for help. I mean…it’s just a rumor right now.
Okay, signing off…as I’m in my tent under a bridge getting some rest from the storm I’ve been pushing through for the past 2 days.
