I’m on My Way Home…

Unlike yesterday, today simply wasn’t my day. Everything felt heavy and exhausting. I was just somehow too tired. Maybe I really do need another rest day. In any case, it quickly became clear that I wouldn’t manage the 170 or perhaps even 180 kilometers to Taraz in a single day. I had also started far too late, since it was already 10:30 when I got on the bike. On top of that came all the elevation gain, the headwind, and at least initially the high temperatures.

After about 33 kilometers of constant ups and downs, I sat down on a bench at a bus stop and took a long break — much longer than I normally would. But even afterward, I still didn’t feel much better. Barely five kilometers later, I spotted a heavily loaded cyclist. He too was sitting on the bench of a bus stop, completely focused on his phone. But as soon as I made myself noticed, he happily jumped up, crossed over the barrier in the middle of the road to my side, and we sat down together.

Yecheng, or by his nickname Ahun — you can probably guess from the name — comes from China. He said it was too hot to ride right now, and although I had only recently taken a long break, I was happy about another pause. Ahun has been traveling for four years already and has covered countless kilometers through China and other Asian countries. Now he is on his way to Europe. His family home is in Xinjiang, a region I will also pass through later on my route, and Ahun immediately said that I could stay with his parents there — since he himself isn’t home, his bed would be free. I’m really looking forward to China more and more. Because he knows the region extremely well and has cycled many of the routes himself, he was also able to give me valuable advice about planning my route through Xinjiang. According to him, getting to his hometown Hami should not be a problem, but after that comes a stretch of around 400 kilometers of desert until reaching Gansu Province. How I will handle that part remains to be seen. Maybe time will become too tight to cycle all the way to Shanghai anyway, and in that case that section might be perfect for taking the train.

But why do I say that I’m already on my way home? As of today, I have traveled a little more than 7,000 kilometers, and according to my current plan there are just under 7,000 kilometers left to Shanghai if I continue entirely by bicycle. Since the final part will involve a flight and some train travel, the total distance will actually end up being a bit shorter than originally planned. That means I have already completed more than half of the journey. So in a way, I’m now truly on my way home — because there is less distance ahead of me than behind me. Even so, the way home is still planned via Shanghai.

After the long exchange with Ahun — I think we spent almost two hours together — I eventually continued riding. The temperature had become much more pleasant now because the air had turned hazy and thin clouds decorated the sky. But at the same time, there were now very strong gusts of wind, naturally straight against me, slowing my progress considerably.

The scenery, however, was beautiful: snowy mountains on the right side and green meadows full of flowers. But the road gradually stopped going up and down and instead simply kept climbing higher and higher. My goal was a hotel I had seen on Google Maps but couldn’t find on any booking platform. In the end, today still turned into a long day — after all, I ended up cycling almost six hours. Not that many kilometers, but quite a lot of elevation gain, up to nearly 1,000 meters above sea level. When I arrived at the place where the hotel was marked on the map, all I found was a green meadow. I already thought I might once again have to pitch my tent in the end. And I really didn’t feel like doing that at all, especially since the forecast predicted rain during the night and throughout the entire next day. But in the distance, I spotted a building and continued toward it. And indeed, the building had “Motel” written on it. I went to the entrance door only to find it locked. Through the window, I also couldn’t see anyone inside. I tried another door, and finally a man appeared and motioned for me to return to the previous entrance. Lucky me — the hotel was indeed still operating. At that moment, I was really very relieved. The price wasn’t exactly cheap, but it was fair, so in the end everything turned out perfectly fine. Thus, I finished today’s stage at around 7:20 p.m. Now it’s time to recover well, and tomorrow things will probably go better again. Even if it rains. Or maybe I’ll simply take my rest day here. After all, I don’t have to decide that right now.