China Day 21 - Zombie Mode Riding from Dunhuang to Hami

Today we crossed into Xinjiang province where everyday the average distance traveled would be 400km or more. For some reason, the ride from Dunhuang to Hami was very boring such that I barely took any photos along the way until I had reach Hami.

We were all exhausted either physically or mentally at this stage and some sacrifice had to be made. Today was my sacrifice I think. Near zombie like riding for the whole day to get to the next destination. A mental rest in a way for me.

Walking around randomly in Hami 

Walking around randomly in Hami 

Walking around randomly in Hami

There was one detour stop suggested which was the Hami Kings Mausoleum but as far as I knew, everyone skipped it. We reached Hami nice and early which means it was late afternoon. 

Local Bread Shop in Hami 

Street Food in Hami 

Street Food in Hami 

Food Street in Hami 

Hit the local food market and really ordered a feast everyone just chatting away with a pint of beer in hand enjoying the evening warm sun which was such a contrast after so many days in cold Tibet.

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 20 - Getting New Tires in Dunhuang & Visiting the Magao Buddhist Grottoes

Finally a second free day in China after riding continuously everyday since Lhasa. We only had three free days out of the twenty seven days travel through China which seams very precious now. 

Dunhuang was also another historical silk road city and almost all roads would intersect in Dunhuang if going from east to west or vice versa.

There were two main attraction that the locals would tell me to visit in Dunhuang. The must see while in Dunhuang as they say and it was the Cresent Moon Lake Oasis and Magao Caves or Buddhist Grottoes. 

Magao Caves - Dunhuang 

Magao Caves - Dunhuang 

I had to choose at this stage since half a day for each would leave me no time for critical errands. I made my way to the bike shop where my new back tires were already pre-ordered in advance. 

New Rear Tire & Ready for Off-roading in Central Asia 

Took the guys a few hours of delicate work as they carefully dismantle and fix up the new tires. I got new semi off-road tires now for the back but still retained the stock road tires in the front. 

This was in preparation for Central Asia soon but somehow was still too cheapskate to change up the front tires.

I message up the group and they were just finishing up the tour at Crescent Moon Lake. A quick ride looking for lunch and with some luck, I found a nice little family restaurant which serve me the famous delicacy of Dunhuang. Donkey noodles.

Dunhuang Delicacy - Donkey Noodles 

After lunch I joined up with the others at the Magao Buddhist Grottoes entrance booth. Mogao Caves are one of the greatest repository of Buddhist architecture in the world. 

They fell into disused after the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty and were largely forgotten until the early 20th century when they were rediscovered by a string of foreign explorers.

Intricate Buddhist Paintings inside Magao Caves 

Magao Grottoes were really massive and while the mandatory guided tour was to ensure crowd control, we notice very fast that each grottoes were locked behind a wooden door to preserve the wall painting that were crumbling. 

The guide would randomly choose a few grottoes, ushering us inside the dark and slowly explaining the uniqueness of each decorated grottoes.

Night time was free time and somehow I managed to find the Dunhuang tourist night market taking a long walk just admiring all the detailed artwork trinkets being sold.

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Night Market in Dunhuang 

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 19 – Riding from Golmund to Dunhuang

It was a new journey or rather new region now in China that we were to be riding. We had left Tibet a day before and while Golmund was in the Qinghai Province, today we would have a drastic change in landscape and riding condition.

I did not really realized how drastic the change would be although the guide did gave us some heads up. The day started simple and we all headed to the first detour stop which was Qarhan Salt Lake. 

Qarhan Salt Lake Visitor Center 

Qarhan Salt Lake 

The Ring Road Trip of the Northwest Marker - Qarhan Salt Lake

AAAA Tourist Attraction now require a ticket which includes a shuttle bus service. 

Qarhan Salt Lake natural formation used to be a free detour attraction but China was fast monetizing all the tourist scenic spot and this one was no exception.

Qarhan Salt Lake holds the distinction of being the largest salt lake in China and was also renowned as the second largest inland salt lake in the world earning its title of “King of Asian Salt Lakes”. 

The name Qarhan originates from the Mongolian Language meaning salt marsh or world of salt.

I tried to compare it to Salar De Uyuni in Bolivia but it was very different. Salt flats and salt lakes both very beautiful and very unique. Most of us did not venture deep into the salt lake attraction as the walk would take us at least 2 hours and we did not want to pay additional money for the trolley bus. 

Unique Salt Rock Weathering Formation REPLICA at Qarhan Salt Lake

The few that was wiling to fork out the money got to see the unique salt rock weathering formation that looked like alien mushroom. I only got the photo of a replica outside.

We hit the highway after that and it was a long journey. Vast empty land with dried out grass which I did not realized that we were now entering desert landscape until we came across wild camels just lazing around by the side of the road.

Jagged and rugged spiky mountain covered the views from the road and the empty land for hundreds of kilometers just never seam to end only to be broken by windmills farms along the way. 

Jagged and Spiky Rugged Mountain view along the road to Dunhuang 

Desert Land on the way to Dunhuang 

Just some Camels chilling by the roadside in the desert

Just before getting into Dunhuang, we passed by what seam like a weird structure that was so blazing bright that I thought was some kind of demonic tower from Lord of the Rings.

It was alluring in a way that I could not imagine what kinda of contraption this mega structure was suppose to be in the middle of the dessert. 

Later that night in Dunhuang, we all discussed and found out that it was a Molten Salt Solar Power Station. Such a rare sight and truly never expected to find. China was really going the extra mile in green energy technological advancement.

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 18 - G109 Tuotuohe to Golmund

Today we were leaving Tibet Region and crossing over to Qinghai Province of China. We were also going down rapidly from Tibet high altitude so weather was warming up fairly fast and for some of us much more oxygen to go around.

The journey through G109 in this stretch would bring us riding parallel with the famous Qinghai-Tibet railway line where tourist would wipe the window of the train to enjoy the view going to Tibet. 

Beautiful Rock Formation along G109 

Beautiful Rock Formation along G109 

We of course had the luxury of stopping whenever a truly interesting mountain formation looms up and just taking in the sights at our own pace.

The first scenic stop was Fenghuo Mountain pass at 5010m. Yep it was weird as we still had to climb a few mountain pass to get through. 

Fenghuo Mountain Pass is a branch of the Kunlun Mountains and stands at an elevation of over 5000m with its peak being perpetually covered in snow all year round. When I was riding through however, the weather was gloomy so not very picturesque.

A Glimpse of the Kunlun Mountains 

Fenghuo Mountain Pass Pitstop 

Second stop was Hoh Xil Tibetan Antelope Observation Deck. We saw absolutely nothing. No wildlife as far as the horizon and the only antelope I saw was a purpose built tourist reststop with a golden outline artwork of an antelope. 

It was truly remarkable that we saw the Tibetan Antelope when we did a few days back. Kunlun Mountain pass at 4767m was next and I was somehow more excited to see Kunlun mountains compared to Mount Everest. 

Tibetan Antelope Monument along G109 

Every mystic legend and Asian fiction stories of hidden power somehow always have Kunlun set at the backdrop instead. I look at the mountain and wonder where the hidden village is beyond the portal door.

After the pass there was a new pit-stop for Kunlun Geopark. Looking at the map it was huge and not surprisingly, Mt. Kunlun was also a UNESCO heritage. 

Kunlun Geopark Rest-Stop along G109 

Tourist Map of Mount Kunlun UNESCO Global Geopark 

Rock Formations along G109 

Nanshankou Thousand Layer Cliff Formation 

One could really spend weeks just exploring this part of China and I made a mental note that one day I would have to come back without the tour or bike and just slowly explore.

We rode all along Nanshankou thousand layer cliff formation all the way to Golmund and by the time I arrived it was already dark. 

It was a long day today travelling nearly 400km but with so many stops and scenic views, it felt like a fleeting moment where time passed so fast without knowing.

Traveled on: May 2024

China Day 17 - Nagqu to Tuotuohe a little Trucker Rest Town

Last few days in remote Tibet and it was time to go downhill from Nagqu but before that could happen we had to climb Tangula Mountain Pass at 5231m to exit Tibet region and cross over to Qinghai Province in China.

The pass was blanket white snow. So much so, that I thought I was going blind not able to see anything but white. Fortunately it was a short mountain pass crossing and soon we were going down altitude wise and the weather became slightly warmer.

Tangula Mountain Pass 

Bragge develop a Cold Beard going through the Mountain snowpass

Around an hour into the journey, we all joined back up to a road block which was rare now that we had left the busy construction works at G318. 

Turned out that the road block was due to windmills blades being transported through some narrow winding roads that required both lanes.

Windmill Blades being Transported along G109

Maybe it was leaving Tibet region but today felt like a whimsical day going through the roads barely registering much into memory. 

We reached Tuotuohe which was one of the least interesting place in our entire journey. A trucker village stop where mostly people use it as a base to break the long journey between Nagqu and Golmund.

G109 - Mountains after mountains 

G109 - A long ride through nothing 

Traveled on: May 2024