| Xi'an, China |
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Jul 30 2008 |
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Danae goes on a tour with Mark, Monica, Carlotta, Nijole, Daumantas, and two Chinese university students, Rhett and Ernest (English names of course). They visited the Grand Mosque, which blends traditional Chinese and Islamic architecture. It’s situated in a magnificent old garden which is full of bird sounds and intense fragrances of antique wood. They also went to the Wild Goose Pagoda and played around under
We now have about two weeks and
BLOG ENTRY XIAN,
We have decided to take a different route than that of our group because we want to visit a certain mountainous region further south. We will part for the next 9 days until we meet again in Xian. Before leaving
We are happy to leave the urban area behind and ride once again in more peaceful surroundings. Even though we are typically not allowed to enter the highway we frequently do so – the police doesn’t seem to mind and often cheer us on – to quickly cover distances. We stop at a village for lunch and Monica, who has been riding with a group of Germans – they are riding from
A quick stop at our campsite for her to repack – we witness Carlotta’s unpitched tent being blown by the wind into a small reservoir below – and we continue our route late in the evening. The same night we are hosted at a toll booth officers’ building next to the highway. Amazing hospitality!!! (day 142)
We are given breakfast by the officers before leaving in the morning. The weather has been cloudy, occasionally rainy, for the past couple of days, and we continue on the highway to get closer to our destination. We ask at a rest area gas station if we can take a short nap, and they give us a room to sleep in – obviously on their beds.
The weather is by far optimum, yet the landscape compensates for everything. Terraced slopes with patchworks of colors create an ideal atmosphere for cycling. The highway has now given way to a much narrower two-direction road that winds itself up and down through the green mountains offering us panoramic views of the small villages in the valleys around us.
This perfect scene is intermittently disrupted when towns make their appearance, fortunately once every
The children’s voices saying hello outside our tent wake us up around
Our laziness is evident since we don’t leave until noon. This happens every time we stay at a hotel overnight, almost unconsciously, even though we always wish to be on the road early on. The next few days will be amazing despite the rainy and, at times, torrential weather. We ride
Occasional rain forces us to take shelter and wait for it to subside. We manage to visit the grottoes before dark and ride our bikes up a hill to a luxurious hotel, where the German group is staying overnight. Monica will stay with her boyfriend in a cabin, while we sleep with workers in a large tent that houses about 20 people (day 145).
We do lots of hiking around the hills on old, unused trails away from the most visited ones. We visit a holy cave on the side of a steep rocky face that rises hundreds of meters up from its base, an artificial lake and wander around the picturesque trails between streams, cliffs, and lush hills. Occasional downpour makes us wet and cold, but the scenery is so amazingly worth the trouble.
We end up sleeping in an annex of a private house that is being used as a guesthouse for 1 Euro per person. We are reluctant to leave this national park, but we must move on... (day 146)
We decide to ride on dirt road with areas of deep sandy mud for 10 or so km to visit the local
The road gradually descends, and we are soon below 1000m of altitude. It’s interesting to note that we have been riding for several thousands of kms at high altitude – always above 1300m - since
Monica wishes to visit her boyfriend in Xian and leaves the hotel early in the morning. We decide to relax since we are not in a rush and leave around noon. We quickly cover the distance on the highway. We stop at a rest area, where a bunch of truck drivers pay for our lunch. Before dark we exit the highway looking for a place to sleep. We have reached the outskirts of Xian and enter the city of
An early start to enter the historic city of
Vasilios has acute diarrhea and needs to stay inside. Danae goes on a tour with Mark, Monica, Carlotta, Nijole, Daumantas, and two Chinese university students, Rhett and Ernest (English names of course). They visited the Grand Mosque, which blends traditional Chinese and Islamic architecture. It’s situated in a magnificent old garden which is full of bird sounds and intense fragrances of antique wood. They also went to the Wild Goose Pagoda and played around under
have Western habits (day 151).
We now have about two weeks and
Tags: China Xian terraced slopes Tianshui Maijishan Mt. Maiji Meixian Xianyang Wild Goose Pagoda fountains
3.21 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved." |
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