out with Uncle Shen

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I got back on the long red line going west today:

gas station in the distance

There was some pretty crappy weather out there – strong winds and rainfall – and the distance to the next town seemed somewhat overwhelming, but I had Uncle Shen with me, who was slowly riding his bike along…

Uncle Shen

…so at least it didn’t get too lonely.

I thought it was very weird that we passed so many little shops and food places from the Chinese northeast in that particular area:

restaurants

I couldn’t make any sense of it.

We got on a stretch of brand-new highway that went parallel to G312 and had not been completely finished yet:

new highway being built

What a nice road to walk on – the asphalt perfectly smooth, and not a single car around:

pulling the Caboose

The landscapes in the north were absolutely stunning…

mountains

…and while I was taking a picture of a pretty white horse I had to think of my little sister who loves horses:

horse

I don’t know anything about horses. But maybe she would like this one?

I enjoyed thinking about that question for some time while we were silently moving along, when suddenly a bunch of motorbikes appeared from out of nowhere and stopped right in front of us:

These Uyghur motocross dudes stopped in the middle of the desert for a chat and a picture

Hey, I knew those dudes from the check-point just a few days ago (sabotage)!

These three young Uyghurs had been on the way to a motocross meet in Turpan when traffic police had pulled them off the road because their bikes apparently weren’t allowed in public traffic. Well if you ask me there’s a bunch of other stuff on these roads out here that shouldn’t be allowed ANYWHERE, but what do I know…

The three were very friendly and eloquent, and when I asked them if they had eventually made it to the competition that day, they smiled and said they had taken 4th place and barely missed 3rd.

You’ll take 1st place next year!!

The rest of the way was quiet and peaceful…

sheep

…the weather had cleared up as well…

ruins

…and we made it to a small settlement on the roadside before sundown:

service station

The owners were a friendly family from the northwest. They gave us a small room, and then we took a seat in the dining hall and watched some Charlie Chaplin flicks with their kids.

There was lots of laughter – some massive & deep (Uncle Shen) and some high & giggling (the kids).

I liked being there.



  • Hermann

    weiterhin gute Reise, Christoph, ich bin für 'ne Woche auf der Insel, tschüss

    Reply

  • Sonja

    Hey Christoph!
    Alles gut bei Dir?
    Hab ne Vermutung, weshalb es da soviele Dongbei-Restaurants gibt. Vielleicht weißt Du es ja schon besser, ansonsten frag mal, ob das stimmt. Im Provinzmuseum von Xinjiang in Urümqi gibt es eine Ausstellung zu allen Minderheiten, die in Xinjiang leben. Und ich meine mich erinnern zu können, dass während der Qing-Zeit eine Gruppe der Mandschus aus dem Nordosten des Landes nach Xinjiang umgesiedelt wurde. Ob das aber genau das Gebiet ist, durch das Du Dich gerade bewegst und der Grund für die Restaurants ist….? Naja, ich weiß ja nicht, ob Du große Lust hast, Dir auf Deinem Weg Museen anzusehen, aber wenn das Wetter mal schlecht sein sollte, wenn Du in Urümqi bist: Das Provinzmuseum war wirklich gut und aufschlussreich!
    Achja, und Deine Bilder sind sooooo super! Ich will auch wieder dahin!
    Schöne Grüße aus München,
    Sonja

    Reply

  • Patrick

    what can i say? awesome pics again. damn i got "fernweh"……

    Reply

  • Barry aka Ba Lli

    Man, diese Bilder und diese Gegend. Ich will auch wieder los. OK, ich geb zu dass ich gerade erst zurück bin, aber da bin ich ja wenigstens im Training.
    Mal sehen ob ich den Flo Li Anh für das nächste Wochenende heiß machen kann.

    Reply

  • Florian (Flo Li Anh,

    In der Tat, die Bilder würden auch auf einem 70 km Tagesmarsch die Schmerzen wett machen 😉

    Reply

  • Christoph

    Hermann: Viel Spaß.
    Sonja: Hey, ich frage nochmal wegen den Dongbei-Restaurants, aber meine Vermutung geht eher dahin, dass die früher mal hier Straßen gebaut haben oder sonstwie zu Erschließung des Landes nach den 50ern beigetragen haben. Aber wie gesagt, ich frage nochmal! Die Landschaften sind natürlich toll, wann warst du denn hier? Und wo und wie lange? Tipps für den Sino-Kollega?

    Reply

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