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'Sony's Last Stand!' | |
Paksho to Zogong Towards the forbidden part of Tibet. 27th April |
Its strange how although we would all refer to Tibet as the most
incredible place we have ever been, we would barely be interested in
staying more than a half day in most of the towns that we pass through.
Paksho is no exception - and so we depart not long after completion of
our bike maintenance routine. The sight of a goat being taken to the
gallows just across the courtyard does nothing to enamor the place to us
- it has his horns, skin, and hooves removed before being skillfully
butchered into pieces. The artist concerned looks very much as a
suburban male from the UK might look as he proudly washes his car on a
Sunday morning. I wonder however as he relaxes into his after slaughter
cigarette - his hands with fresh blood on them mmmm!
Our road follows a small tributary river in the early part of the day - a good sign temporarily - we follow the waters as they crash between the steep sides of the valley - and we descend steadily. It is certainly a sign of the times that we actually dread these huge descents in a way - we know very well it means only one thing - monster climbing on the other side! For the time being though we enjoy a most amazing ride through the dizzying gorge and beneath the wide overhangs that shade us from the burning sun overhead. It seems strange that Sony, Jimmy, and Torjee lend barely a second thought to their most spectacular surroundings. Clearly familiarity breeds contempt - and they seem to find little of interest here. I wonder whether they might find postcards of English country villages more engaging - maybe on my return I might send them a book of rural England!! The midday sun is scorching and we shelter in the shade of the support vehicle for drink and yet another supplement of Ritz biscuits. Tim and Nick packed a 24 x 3 box of Ritz for our journey out through Tibet - and we have rationed ourselves to one pack of 3 per day. Amazingly even after 48 tubes of the things we are still as excited when it comes to opening the 'Ritzers'! The packs conveniently contain 13 biscuits - however, it seems that we were all except Tim under the illusion that there were only 12 until just a couple of day's ago - now, where could those extras have gone? maybe that's unfair..but quite amusing nevertheless! Our road makes a dramatic right angle to our right, and we sweep out above the most beautiful sight. Quite unexpectedly we meet the Gyamo Nushu River - one of the 4 mighty rivers that descend to the East of the Tibetan plateau down into India, Burma, Laos and Yunnan (South West China). These rivers between them carry a flow of meltwater from the Tibetan and Himalayan snows too large to comprehend - they water and irrigate lands far and wide - The Brahmaputra into India and Bangladesh, The Gyamo Nushu into Burma, The Mekong into Laos and Vietnam, and the Yangtse probably most significantly turning violently on its southward journey - to return into the Chinese Heartlands to feed the most populous nation on earth. We are now entering the most erratic land - the end of the Tibetan plateau - where these rivers cut deep swathes through the highlands to create huge undulations - visible from far out in space - and a clear and foreboding sight to any prospective traveller to this part of the world. Its time to knuckle down - the days ahead will be hard ones! For now though we marvel at our new companion - 'The Chocolate River'. It seems the most obvious comparison as the deep brown viscous liquid slurps its way through the valley. This is no normal river - the colour and consistency is a phenomenon! We edge alongside - clinging to the edge of the canal - the cutting the river has made through the rock is sheer - and there is barely space for the road. We round another bend and we find ourselves entering a tunnel - strange we think - where can we be going? Amazingly the tunnel emerges directly on to a bridge that spans the river - The Chinese have surpassed themselves here - temporarily they have mastered the landscape - surely though this bridge can only be a temporary structure amongst these powerful and ever moving surroundings. After bottoming out at around 2200m we once again begin to climb - slowly but methodically - a climb which will take us most of tomorrow - we seem to have acclimitised mentally to this battering - multi day hills are part of our lives! The afternoon sees my first puncture return. I kept it quiet - but my amazing unbroken run in Tibet - of no punctures over some 1500km of off road - was broken yesterday - and I was less than happy - and today I am even less amused when the glue fails to hold the patch on - and I hear the sharp hissing that signifies a blown patch. Tim also encounters similar problems and this slows our progress a little - but gives a good excuse for a prolonged rest. We turn away from the chocolate River just before dinner - and head up one of its tributary valleys. We find a pitch precariously wedged at the end of a switchback on the road - and are visited by the entire population of the nearby Chinese road building camp. This is all very funny until Sony hears them whispering that they shall return in the night to pinch the bikes...we'll see about that! Our climb tackles the legendary road of 180 bends today. The Kama La rises sharply and proves a worthy challenge - the road winds up through a muddy valley - swamped with roadworkers tackling the thorny issue of how to build a road on a mountain that refuses to stay still - and each year slips down into the Gyano Nushu River. The hundreds of workers however, are evidence to the perseverence that characterises the Chinese self belief - they will not be beaten - this road will be built - even through this the most inhospitable road building terrain. The workers themselves are delighted to see us - and stop work whenever we pass - downing tools, waving excitedly and screeching out in inimitable Chinese fashion 'Aylloo' - something that approximates very roughly to 'Good Morning!' Above the river valley we cut across open hillside and the gradient intensifies - we have to work hard just to maintain forward motion. Each bend looks like it must yield the top - but sadly we keep climbing - unsure as to the exact altitude that we are aiming for. Finally though it seems that the road is flattening - and we must be nearly there. The welcome sight of the Pass and its celebratory Prayer Flags greets us as we round a bend at 4850m - we've made it! Each one of these passes - even though we have topped more than we can remember - is a special moment - the Prayer Flags and their whispers in the wind are enough to send a shiver down the spine. At each one we spend a few moments savoring the achievement, a few snaps, and then off to enjoy the prospect of another mad Tibetan descent. Today we are certainly not disappointed - from the snowy crest of the hill we enter a new realm - a high and rolling land. We coast past grasslands and into a high flat valley - a spectrum of greens and browns greets us - and it feels somehow homely - like the moorlands of England and Scotland - or maybe we've just been away a little too long and our memories play games with us. I shortcut directly across the short grass and down directly towards Bamda - we can see our stop for tonight just a little way away - but plenty of bends between here and there makes for a slightly longer ride down. We pass yet another convoy of some 40 army vehicles on our ride down. We enter the town at a canter - and skid to a halt before the support vehicle - all alive with the adrenaline of the descent. The truck stop of Bamda soon brings us down with a bump. We look around and see a huge empty and dusty town square with ramshackle huts lining the edges. The people look at us strangely clearly wondering what has brought us to this East Tibetan outpost. It is somehow characteristic of a crossroads town that has sprung up purely as a function of the split in the road - without spirit or soul - and the people here only to exploit the hapless travellers. Nevertheless it has a somehow glamourous Central Asian feel to it - the special feeling of being somewhere that few others have trodden - and certainly even less Westerners have taken a rest day! We pause here to re-gather our energies. The next days are to be some of our hardest and we shall also be leaving the support vehicle - so we prepare ourselves - identifying those items that we shall not be using - and may be left with Sony. Andrew unfortunately is taken ill and confined to bed - a brief lived bug - but annoying all the same. From our wind down overlooking the square I watch the Chinese Army roll in and out of town - they fill the square with row upon row of trucks, they refill, feed, restock their supply of biscuits and cigarettes and then leave once again. More interesting though is the odd bus that arrives and spills its contents out into the square. I wonder where on earth these people have travelled from and whither are they bound - we're at least 4 days from Lhasa - hard drive and maybe 5 from Chengdu. It doesn't really bear thinking about - we're so far from any kind of civilisation - I'm not sure if we have realised this collectively - but we should take care!!! We huddle behind the door of the hotel in the semi darkness - readying ourselves for the off. The door opens and we file out and silently away - one directly behind the other in military precision - down the forbidden road. Our permit doesn't allow for travel past Bamda - and so Sony is petrified that we shall be observed heading down towards Zogong a forbidden town for us. We ride silently - its 6.30am and its freezing - and we're hungry - no breakfast. When we finally meet up with the support vehicle we find that Sony has unceremoniously dumped all of our bags out on to the grass. It seems he thinks we are leaving him!!! We explain in no uncertain terms that today is only day 16 of 20 that we have paid for and so he will be with us until tomorrow morning - he's not happy! The ride soon takes us to a medium sized village and horror of horrors we find a red and white barrier across the road. As calmly as we can manage we ride beneath - and ignore any calls from the roadside - it can't be a post for us. Gladly we are ignored and we ride on. Our next treat is a more pleasant one - as we pause to give the prayer wheels by the roadside a spin. As I make the clockwise circuit of the Stupa the entire population of the village descends to join us - we are all as fascinated and happy to see each other; Tibetans and Englishmen. We try our pidgin Tibetan - and smile as much as we possibly can - to try and keep up with the smiles that greet us. This is an undisturbed Tibetan Village - what a treat after all the Chinese interference we have witnessed to now. Our ride for the afternoon includes some tarmac - but is relatively easy - we are on a gentle descent - but gladly we maintain our altitude more or less. At our campsite - just 8km short of Zogong according to Sony - we strike camp - gladly we are still at above 4000m - hopefully this will help us tomorrow. We eat and wash in the afternoon sunshine - the anticipation of the craziness of what we are about to undertake is immense. We are about to run 3 check posts - each of which is intended to catch and fine westerners travelling illegally through forbidden areas of Tibet. We shall also be out of sight of civilisation for at least the next few days - travelling wild and we hope undetected. Strangely enough this crazy stretch of our journey also corresponds to the most remote, steep and tough part of the journey. This is the perfect recipe for a great adventure..keep reading!!! |