Bends, views, fresh tarmac.... and bloody taxis.

The hotel did not do breakfast, so Abdul took us to a local cafe ... Noodles, noodles, or noodles ?

And then it was like the opening the cage door ... we found the G213 turned into this Monte Carlo style racetrack, with mostly virgin tarmac.  Nobody wanted to be tail-end Charlie that day, and off we all shot like demons...

But it wasn't long before we just had to stop for pics

... and poses.

Crowded mountain village ...

 ...had my first very close call here,.. we were entering the village, and a taxi shot from a road on the right without stopping.  Clearly his vehicle had clutch problems, or he was just too frigging lazy to do a hill-start on the junction... anyway, seconds later and he would have T-boned me.  Fortunately the Trannies brakes are pretty good and I pulled up in time.... but was so tempted to ease off the last few meters of braking and put a crease in his door ... but I didn't.  Swear words and some internationally understood signs had to suffice.

Yes this was one of the best days to date, and we were all pretty exhilarated.  Treated to bike to a wash as we had plenty of time to kill waiting for the Swiss lads !

But in Xiahe, the hotel again was not where it should have been, so we waited for Abdul to send us the correct co-ordinates.  He had now mastered to art of retrieving them from his mobile phone, so we were making progress.

With the altitude, comes the rain & cold.

Walking out, at 3000 mts, you notice the lack of oxygen, but at a steady pace, its not an issue.  I eat with the lads tonight, and we found a "Tibetan Restaurant", with an English menu.  Got offered a welcome cup of tea ... not yer regular PG Tips I have to add...

But the food was really nice, and identifiable....

No night-clubs to discover at this altitude ....to go dancing here, you would need an oxygen mask !

Keep searching.

Seems like during the night, Max's bike got attacked by a yellow bear ...

I know the culprit .... but my lips are sealed.

Heading out we teased by the information that we are finally shaking the desert off, and after 10 days, I'm not sorry to see it go.

Nice entrance to a town... beats a simple sign.

The roads were mixed ... we started on the Jingzhang Expressway, but then after 2 hours, we wove through Xigùqu, being a polluted dirty smelly city, before starting to climb the G213 into some better scenery.  But, the road was strewn with gravel on all the bends, so had to be a little careful taking pics while riding !

I took the lead, and by now, clearly the three of us (John, Jeremy & Me) had formed this alliance and pretty much rode as a group of three for the rest of the tour.  Arriving at our destination city, I confidently followed my GPS to our waypoint .... to find the actual spot balancing on a cliff over this lake.

It was clearly in the wrong place again.  So then the frustrating hour of calls to the guide, poor explanations of where the hotel should be, and then simply waiting for him to arrive.  I'm determined to sort this out and try to provide a correction factor.

Yes, the hotel ... which we drove past about 5 times before the guide arrived. Grrrr,

So after a quick walk, we opted for an evening meal ... coincidentally, there were just two cushions, matching the nationalities perfectly....

I was chuffed to find a Chinese beer that tasted good ... but on closer examination, it was only 2.5% abv.  Maybe I'll keep searching.

This was the largest glass they had !

The evening's routine was one where we eat early ... John & Jeremy would then retire, while I would continue on a quest for night-life, action, company, ... well anything really.... just not bed.

Seems like since the discovery of "cheap" LED lighting, every building has to have some...

China has hundreds of Karaoke bars, but you find that when you walk in, you are presented with an array of private rooms each with ear splitting karaoke machines.  You rent the room, buy some beer, (and a lady to serve it), then sing to your hearts content.  With a voice like mine, hardly conducive to an entertaining experience.

Well, after 2 hours walking, was about to head back when my eyes caught a sign - "Midi Music Bar".  That'll do.  No karaoke at least.

Sat down and was brought 5 cans of Budweiser !  Do they know me ??  There was some music, but it died quickly.  Then came some sunflower seeds, then some biscuits ? Then more Budweiser !

Then the attempts to talk with me, from five friendly guys and the owner/manager.  Oh it was difficult, but after 4 beers and a lot of smiles, I asked for the bill... it wasn't the ride that killed me, it was that bloody 2 hour walk.

And then the surprise ... they would not let me pay for anything. That bit I understood OK.  So with more smiles and handshakes, I departed.

Midi music bar, Wuwei : N35.9390 E103.3079 ..... and tell them the Crazy Welshman sent you.

The shortest post yet

Woke, eat, rode 480 km, eat again, then went to bed !

Leaving Jiayuguan...

... arriving Wuwei.

Yup, nothing of any note happened today, as my sum total of just 2 pics suggests.

Rest day in Jiayaguan...& sorry, Mr. Honda

Nice to get a lay in ... with a visit to the Great Wall of China scheduled for mid-day...

They say you can see it from space - I could not see it from here !

Found it.

Being stupid.

And this was the walk back down.

Looking back.

Hard to see but there a man welding the steel posts half way up, with about 500 mts of extension cable, joined by twisting the wires together, and running back to this shed.... the voltage drop must have been pretty major.

Oops, I only scratched the wall a bit and it crumbled in my hand ... bloody vandal, I know.

Poser.

And two of the lads decided to take a Microlight flight over the wall.

Thats Max, up there.

Down safely.

Then onto this Tourist place.

Renovated so much, it just looked new.

Although this bit of wall is evidently original.

Camel rides on offer.

And then back to the hotel to work on the bike... about 3 days prior, after a fuel stop, it just refused to start on the button.  Couldn't see anything obvious, but by shorting the solenoid (starter relay), it would fire.

So in order not to hold the group up, I removed the side panel to give easy access to the relay, and carried a screwdriver to short the terminals, in my tank bag.  It worked fine, but clearly had to be sorted, and today was the day.

Well after a lot of head scratching and tracing circuits, I was about to say "so Mr Honda, not so reliable now, eh", when I happened to notice the headlight was not on either.  Hmmm, checked the fuse marked Headlight, and it had blown.  Checked the bulb, which was one of those after-market "white-light" ones.... it had shorted out, causing the fuse to blow, and that was also the same fuse used for the starter.

New bulb, new fuse, and job done ... Yes, apologies Mr Honda, ...it was an "e-bay-made-in-china-special" that failed, not the bike, (but I have to say a better description on the fuse box would have helped).

Lavender Oil, oh, so sweet.

Leaving Hami, we did the now routine, Toll booth tango, and pushed further East.  Wasn't long before I came across this strange couple...

 
Well, two blokes actually !

They could not have dodged the toll gate barrier, so maybe with three wheels, they were classed as a car and allowed on. Chinese mentality, I suppose.   Then before long, another Police check....

The forced stop gives us a chance to chat with the strange couple.  They seemed quite normal, and were riding a Chinese made 400cc outfit, on a 3 week tour of China.  Yes, two decent bikers I thought, until they insisted on giving me a gift of Lavender Massage Oil.  Hmmmm.

With all these stops, the longer you stay, the more you attract attention... some unwanted..

and some more than welcome !

No idea where this chap came from, but it was the only other big bike I had seen in China since arriving, so it was worth a pic.

And back to mountains on the left, desert ... u got it yet  ?

Finally arriving at Jiayuguan, where we had our first rest day planned.

 ....so time for some laundry.

Then an evening meal while we were all still friends !

The background to the above comment is that inevitably in a group of 7, people take a few days to align themselves with others of similar abilities.  Myself, Jeremy & Big John, found that on the fast toll roads, we were constantly in the lead, riding at around 90-110 kmph  (60-65 mph).  The Swiss lads on the older BMW's and an Africa Twin, tended to fall to the back, happier at much slower speeds.  Alan, the older chap in the pic, sort of swapped positions on a random basis.

Meanwhile, Abdul our guide, was getting frustrated as he wanted to keep the group together as part of the Permit conditions.

The Swiss lads & Alan were also voicing concerns about the long straight roads, which were not what they signed up for, and emails started to fly to and from the UK with the tour organiser, Motoexplorers.

The 3 of us at the front accepted the route had to be changed because flooding in Tibet, had caused bridges to collapse and the Government to close roads.  We didn't blame anyone for changing the route.

However, the seeds of discontent had now been sown !