Eurasian Adventure Bike Trip |
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Planned
Route
Part
one: E.U. The
departure point: My present living place & the location of my school -
Midhurst, West Sussex, England. Route:
Midhurst - London - Dover - Calais (Fr.) - Dunkerque - Belgium - Amstandam
( Holland)- Boxeemer (see one family adopted one Chinese girl) -
Hamburg (Germany) - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Goteborg (Sweden) - Stockholm -
Turku(Finland) - Espoo - Helsinki Distance:
2,500 KM around, will take 1 and ½ months (start on 20th April and
be in Espoo on 1st June) *1.
Borders. As the holder of the Chinese passport, I need one Schengen visa
to travel in E.U. countries. There are many borders in this part
of Europe, but it’s not difficult to cross. Cross Finland-Russian
border from Hamina - Viipuri. *2.
I need to take ferry to cross English Channel between Dover and Calais,
cross Helsingor of Denmark to Helsingborg of Sweden, and cross Baltic Sea
from Stockholm and Turku. (Ferry Companies www.cross-channel-ferries-france.co.uk,
www.scandlines.dk, www.vikingline.se
www.silja.com ) Denmark
is consisted by three islands. The good news is that bridges have
connected them. So I just need to take ferry from island of Zealand
to Sweden. (Ferry companies: Scandlines, Sundbusserne, HH
Ferries) *3. I
need to be Espoo (Finland) on 1st June and meet another bike partner -
Jukka Karvonen ( www.kolumbus.fi/jukka.karvonen).
This part is the so-called safest developed Europe, the most expensive
place and the most difficult beginning of this whole trip.
Part
Two: Russian Federation and Kazakhstan Russian Route: St. Petersburg - Moscow (See Mathias, Baggio ) - Nizhniy Novgorod - Kazan - Ural Mountains - Yekatermburg - Tumen - Omsk Kazakhstan Route: Paylodar - Semipalatinsk - Dostyk or Khorgos Pass to Xinjiang China Distance:
5,000km around, will allow 2 and a half months (start in the beginning of
June and be in Xinjiang in the middle of August) I
will apply for 3 months visa for Russia and 2 months visa for Kazakhstan.
There are many borders to cross between the line of these two countries.
I will choose the border crossing according to the expiry date of my
visas. *1. The experienced cyclist Finnish Jukka knows more about the roads in Russian than I do. So I will mostly rely on Jukka to choose the roads. *2.
Russian-Kaza borders: A. Astrakham - Atyrau, B. Samara - Oral, C.
Chelyabinsk - Kostanay, D. Krgan - Petropaviovsk, E. Omsk - Pavlodar, F.
Rubtsovsk - Semey. Which way I will enter in Kazakhstan depends on
the valid of my visas for Russian and Kazakhstan. The passes D &
E sounds much chance. *3.
Friends warn me the disadvantages of traveling in these two countries,
like traffic, road gangs. "I will die if I live".
Everywhere could be dangerous for every people. I will watch out for
the drunken drivers, the people said road gangs. Anyway I will be
alert always. Actually
Mathias told me his good impressions of the Russian hospitalities.
(http://biphome.spray.se/mgranqvist/apt2002/index.htm) *4.
Most of the roads are OK. They are not extremely bad. Friends
told me that I need to take more than one day’s water and food with me
cause some uninhabited area in Kazakhstan. (Coraz around the world
by cycle : www3.utsidan.se/corax-e,
World on wheels : www.worldonwheels.info.
)
Part
Three: China!
Route:
Shihezi - Urumqi - Turpan - Dunhuang - Hami - Yumen - ZhangYe - Yingchuan
- Baotou - Hohhot - Beijing Distance
4,000km, need 2 months more (start in the end of August and be in Beijing
in the beginning of November) *1.
Borders: A. Torugart Pass (Central Asia's most exciting but unpredictable
pass), B. Zharkent - Korgas - Yining, C. Dostyk, (Pass B & C
open year-round and easy to pass) D. Bakhty - Tacheng, E.
Maykapchigay - Burqin F. Chita - Manzhouli (The guards at Pass D & E
have not used to see foreigners.) As a Chinese passport
holder, I will be OK for most of passes (there are 13 passes in
Xingjiang). I would prefer Pass B & C, D,
which will be easy for my international bike friends to pass. If I
could not get Kaza's visa, I will choose Pass F via Lake Baikal, and avoid
entering Mongolia. *2.
China is a huge land. The west China is amazing and mysterious to
me. One relative in Shihezi can supply a shower for me. I plan to
take a week to see some places in Xinjiang. I want my steps to be
everywhere, the hostile and shifting Taklamakan desert
(Go-in-and-you-won't-come-out), the remote salt lake of Lop Nur, the
Jungar basin, Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Kashgar Market
(Technicolor sea of people, animals and pony carts), Kashgar Old Town (the
exotic eastern feel of the fabled Silk Road oasis), Turpan (a desert
oasis, the lowest and hottest spot in China), Sayram Lake (beautiful lake
set on the grasslands between Yining and Urumqi), Heavenl Lake (alpine
scenery that looks like a Swiss postcard), Hotan (traditional Uyghur old
town), Karakul (stunning turquoise lake), Hanas Lake (gorgeous in the
autumn and inhabited by semi nomadic Kazaks) etc. *3.
The road is quite well in China. Near Dunhuang, I will come cross
the west end of 5,000 km long the Great Wall. Cycling with part of
the Great Wall to Beijing will be another highlight of this bike trip. *.
Thanks the Lonely Planet tourist books for information and www.lib.utexas.edu/maps
for maps.
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