11th of April until 12th of May 2015 - Kyrgyzstan, China, Laos
« Back to journal
« Back to journal
Scouting a motorbike tour for customers from Moscow to Bangkok later this year...
I arrived at 4:30h in the morning on Bishkek Airport, went through the immigration and looked for my Kyrgyz guide…but there was nobody waiting. Dark, grubby guys around asking me “Taxi”, “Taxi”, “where you want to go”…I guess I looked a little bit lost while I found out that my mobile SIM didn’t work. Another 15 minutes passed by when a friendly looking guy asked me if I am Holger…luckily my local tour guide arrived finally.
With his car we headed from the airport to downtown which looked for a Saturday night frightening calm. When we went out of town the first daylight was visible and after another hour driving we stopped at a cattle market in the middle of nowhere.
Azamat, my Kyrgyz guide.
horse for sale...
and horses not for sale
and later the donkey :-)
cattle and cattle...Kyrgyzstan
Actually I was a little bit afraid if we would be able to cross the pass with over 3.000m the next day into China
I didn't play chess for at least 25 years and I lost quickly :-)
The next day I arrived in China and landed in the "Arabian Nights". Kashgar is completely different from whatever I saw in China before.
The fan exhauster...blowing the smoke into the neighbours window :-)
...Tausendundeine Nacht in Kashgar
School drill the next morning
The Apak Hoja mausoleum
Our lunch stop on the road towards Aksu in Xinjiang province
My chinese tourguide "Wu Wei" or easier "Uwe" with a headstrong Tibetian Mastiff
This dog has its own head
What's that?
A hat store for Muslims
The old mosque in Kuqa
Want a shave?
Chinese transportation methods
Ayiding lake: The second lowest point on our continental earth with 154 m below sea level
Strong and hot wind...in summer it gets over 40°C down here
The flame mountains on the northern rim of the Taklamakan desert
His guitar strung with snake skin
Dunhuang, an oasis in the Taklamakan desert, the second biggest sand desert on our earth.
Actually this is the roof top view of our customer's hotel later this year :-)
Tibetian temple
It looks like a view into an Asian airplane but it is actually the barbeque street of Dunhuang with optimized seating in order to use every single square centimeter on the street :-))
We paid a visit to the Mogao caves close to Dunhuang
And later we had to climb the sand dunes of course
Remember: We are in China :-))
The fortress of Guangyuan protecting in ancient times the Hexi corridor. All caravans on the Silk Road had to pass this terrain.
...with the 4.000m range of mountains in the background
The last parts of the Great Wall. This last section was built from mud and clay brick.
Leaving the Great Wall...
and going deeper into the mountains passing rural areas.
It looks a little bit like the end of the world and it felt like it as well
A Tibetian temple in the mountains... and actually we ARE now on the northern rim of the Tibetian high plateau.
Our arrival in Quillian a "village" surrounded by 4.000 to 5.000 m high mountains. A village constructed on a Chinese drawing board...oversized at all costs.
The next morning we leave Quillian and make our way to the Qinghai lake one of the biggest salt lakes on earth
Crossing a pass with 4.120 m.
Tibetians on their pilgrimage around the lake
Maybe not on a pilgrimage :-)
Tibetian camps at the roadside
Friendly people cooking for us
Downthrow after every 3rd step...with kneepads and wooden hand protectors gliding over the road
The Qinghai lake on 3.200m, strange landscape with sand dunes and mountains
A mosque on the way to Xining
The prining house of the Tibetian monastery Ta'Er Si
An experience: Lanzhou with its metro construction and horrible traffic
Construction sites also in the countryside..
...and nobody can wait. Later it takes hours to undo the knot.
Another "habit" to put all private construction materials on the road. Who cares??
- to be continued -
I arrived at 4:30h in the morning on Bishkek Airport, went through the immigration and looked for my Kyrgyz guide…but there was nobody waiting. Dark, grubby guys around asking me “Taxi”, “Taxi”, “where you want to go”…I guess I looked a little bit lost while I found out that my mobile SIM didn’t work. Another 15 minutes passed by when a friendly looking guy asked me if I am Holger…luckily my local tour guide arrived finally.
With his car we headed from the airport to downtown which looked for a Saturday night frightening calm. When we went out of town the first daylight was visible and after another hour driving we stopped at a cattle market in the middle of nowhere.
Azamat, my Kyrgyz guide.
horse for sale...
and horses not for sale
and later the donkey :-)
cattle and cattle...Kyrgyzstan
Actually I was a little bit afraid if we would be able to cross the pass with over 3.000m the next day into China
I didn't play chess for at least 25 years and I lost quickly :-)
The next day I arrived in China and landed in the "Arabian Nights". Kashgar is completely different from whatever I saw in China before.
The fan exhauster...blowing the smoke into the neighbours window :-)
...Tausendundeine Nacht in Kashgar
School drill the next morning
The Apak Hoja mausoleum
Our lunch stop on the road towards Aksu in Xinjiang province
My chinese tourguide "Wu Wei" or easier "Uwe" with a headstrong Tibetian Mastiff
This dog has its own head
What's that?
A hat store for Muslims
The old mosque in Kuqa
Want a shave?
Chinese transportation methods
Ayiding lake: The second lowest point on our continental earth with 154 m below sea level
Strong and hot wind...in summer it gets over 40°C down here
The flame mountains on the northern rim of the Taklamakan desert
His guitar strung with snake skin
Dunhuang, an oasis in the Taklamakan desert, the second biggest sand desert on our earth.
Actually this is the roof top view of our customer's hotel later this year :-)
Tibetian temple
It looks like a view into an Asian airplane but it is actually the barbeque street of Dunhuang with optimized seating in order to use every single square centimeter on the street :-))
We paid a visit to the Mogao caves close to Dunhuang
And later we had to climb the sand dunes of course
Remember: We are in China :-))
The fortress of Guangyuan protecting in ancient times the Hexi corridor. All caravans on the Silk Road had to pass this terrain.
...with the 4.000m range of mountains in the background
The last parts of the Great Wall. This last section was built from mud and clay brick.
Leaving the Great Wall...
and going deeper into the mountains passing rural areas.
It looks a little bit like the end of the world and it felt like it as well
A Tibetian temple in the mountains... and actually we ARE now on the northern rim of the Tibetian high plateau.
Our arrival in Quillian a "village" surrounded by 4.000 to 5.000 m high mountains. A village constructed on a Chinese drawing board...oversized at all costs.
The next morning we leave Quillian and make our way to the Qinghai lake one of the biggest salt lakes on earth
Crossing a pass with 4.120 m.
Tibetians on their pilgrimage around the lake
Maybe not on a pilgrimage :-)
Tibetian camps at the roadside
Friendly people cooking for us
Downthrow after every 3rd step...with kneepads and wooden hand protectors gliding over the road
The Qinghai lake on 3.200m, strange landscape with sand dunes and mountains
A mosque on the way to Xining
The prining house of the Tibetian monastery Ta'Er Si
An experience: Lanzhou with its metro construction and horrible traffic
Construction sites also in the countryside..
...and nobody can wait. Later it takes hours to undo the knot.
Another "habit" to put all private construction materials on the road. Who cares??
- to be continued -
