Lars Goes Australia's

[lars de wit]

Hello,

Long time ago and a lot has happened ...

Left Shiraz to go to Persepolis which was a true highlight of my iranian trip.
Had to cycle 2000 km for that but what the heck, it was really amazing to see the remains of this more than 2000 years old buildings, gates and palaces.
Also went to see the tomb of Darius the Great, Xerxes, Artaxerxes and Darius the second, dating 500 BC. Tombs carved out in the mountains, also very interesting !

Further east I went, sometimes a nice long gravel road but most of the time asphalt.
It is getting hotter and hotter and every day sun, yeah !!!!

I cycled to Sirjan, last couple of km followed by irritating police, they wanted to escort me to hotel which I really didn't like so time for something completely different ....

In the busy streets of Sirjan I cycled into a street, the other side was stuck with cars waiting for traffic lights. I made a quick U-turn, rode through the red lights and speeded up.
First street on my right I drove in and I had lost police
But not for long ...

Found a hotel, checked in and when I wanted to take a shower there they were again, not many hotels in Sirjan and also, Maybe the heared me asking for this hotel when they were following me...
So they wanted to see my passport, everything ok.
But then they wanted me to come to police station !
No way I said, everything is fine so NO police station, I am going to take a shower !
And so I did but when I returned to my room there was another policecar and they told me I had to come....
Very pissed I did and what I was afraid of became true ...

In the police station I was immediately brought to the highest man in charge and ....
he only wanted to say welcome, escort me next day or whenever I left out of town and take a picture of me...can you believe that ?!?
So a wasted half hour but the story was to be continued ...

Sirjan wasn't nice at all, in fact, after getting three things thrown at my head ( maybe they think is funny, I do not ) I decide to leave town as soon as possible, meaning no resting day here.

So next day I left, cycling out of town.
After 20 km a police car, following me ...
And offering me a ride, ' no thanks I said, I rather cycle '
But when I had my second breakfast there was this enormous wind coming up, headwind ...
And in my head, leaving Sirjan as soon and fast as possible...
Also the landscape wasn't that nice so I said, okay, lets put the bike in the pick up and bring me out of here !
And so we did.
But it turned out to be an adventure as well...
Changing 5 or 6 times the police car, at every district wasn't that nice.
I cycled that day 50 km and did 200 by car, in the end they would.t let me cycle anymore, too dangerous they said.
But I wasn't that sad because now I wanted to get to Bam as soon as possible and also a little tired from Iran sometimes, looking forward to Pakistan !
So police dropped me in this town, 120 km before Bam.
I said I was going to a hotel which I ofcourse didn't.
Made camp outside town near a house and next day I had this great ride on a good gravel road, 60 km long following a railroad, wind in the back and scenery nice again, great mountains.

Bam was really strange, in 2003 there was this strong earthquake here costing 30.000 people their live.
Now, 4 years later half the city was still chaos, collapsed houses.
Streets full of containers which they changed into these little stores.
But also mant palm trees, they survived the earthquake.

In Bam I met Tescha again, Natascha and I met here in Dogubayazit.
She is cycling also to Pakistan and there she want to ride the Karakoram Highway into China, I am going into India and nepal and from there into China.
So we decided to travel together, from Bam to Zahedan it could be a little dangerous we heard.
But as many times we didn't have any trouble at all, well, nothing .....

Tescha is from Danmark, when she rode to Bam she made that day 200 km ...
Also she likes to leave early, real early, at 04.00 hours !
That means getting up at 02.30 ...
And we had to ride through the desert, strong winds and temperatures up to 53 degrees ( in the sun but hey. that's where we were ....)

We rode from bam to Zahedan in three crazy days, doing over a 106, 116 and 116 km a day. Drinking water was a problem also, not that we hadn't any but with these temperatures dring hot water, jakkie ! So we stopped many cars asking for water, one of the good things abour Iran is that every drive has iced water in his car, they all have these cooling boxes.
But after exactly 20 mintus that water was also hot as hell.
One thing that helped was bying these huge bottles of Mirinda ( fanta ) and mix that with the hot water, then it was drinkable again.

First day we stopped at 1230 hour opposite this police checkpoint marked as a city on our maps. There we asked for water and made camp under some trees. Going to bed real early and next day get up at 0230 hours again.

Also, tescha cycles not that fast but she never seems to get tired, on and on she goes...
Making it sometimes hard for me to follow, first day I was so tired ...

But we made it to Zahedan, no danger at all, all these cowboy stories.
If for one time somebody gets robbed or worse, murdered the road stays unsafe for like 10 years, even if the killer is behind bars.

So tomorrow we go Pakistan, if we are allowed to cycle to the border, maybe ' they ' think it is unsafe too and we have to ride with police escort or worse, take a bus.
Border tows can be a little more dangerous indeed so if we have to take a bus, so be it.

But we are still unsure what to do with the ride from the border to Quetta in Pakistan.
South of Afganistan, close to its borders it maybe is a little, evry little unsafe too ...
I think we decide or it is decided for us in Taftan, just over the border.
Alternative is a busride, 15 - 20 hours long ...( 640 km )
Also, it will be hot as hell again in this desert...
Well we'll see if we want or may ride.

I'll tell you later, inshallah.

Greetings

[bert sitters]

Ha die Lars,
Leuk weer van je horen. Er komen nog flink wat wereldfietsers achter je aan.
Een vrouw die 200 kilometer per dag doet!!! Dat is 50 kilometer meer dan de mininum-dagafstand die Freek ooit stelde, maar volgens mij heeft Freek die limiet nu drastisch bijgesteld naar beneden.

[lars de wit]

Hoi Bert !

Wie is dat dan die vrouw die 200 km per dag doet ?
En ik heb het gehoord van freek, leuk ! ( ja ja, de wereld is zo klein

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Palmtrees are waving, a cool ocean wind is blowing.
I take another drink, drinking this nice ice cold cocktail, laying in my hammock, watching the fisherman on the ocean ...
Temperature is nice, 25 degrees and the woman are so beautifull, dancing around in their short colourfull skirts.
We sleep in this great airco hotel, right on the beach and every morning take a dive into the ocean.
The food is also great, big steaks, potato chips and lots of


BIEP BIEP BIEP !!!

Half sleepy I look at my alarm clock, 03.55 ...
Pff, another increadible hot night, luckily not as hot as one day ago when it was 41 degrees when we tried to sleep in this shitty ' room ' without fan in the middle of the desert, after 124 km of biking this was the only place. 41 degrees, I was sweating so much, it was hotter than in a sauna. For two hours I tried to sleep but this was crazy, I was so wet from sweating, my pillow and matress soaked . I went outside where was a litlle wind, much better ! So I put my matress out of the room and layed it outside, Tescha was staying inside, more safe for her. I was lying for 10 minutes and then this very loud generator was started but I slept in a minute, so tired I was !

We left Bam in Iran at first light, 0530 as we do now every day because of the heat in the desert. First day my temperature meter reached 51 degrees ... That day we made camp at 1230 hour just outside a police post where we asked for water, no problem. Also there was this nice truck driver who gave us also ice cold water, so good ....
Next day it was even hotter, 53 degrees...man man, these were the hardest days I ever cycled, so glad I was not alone, I really do not know what I have done when I was here in this desert all alone, should I have cycled also ?
Every day around 1030 the wind starts to blow, ofcourse in our face.
And it is sometimes so hard, we ride behind each other and change every 5 km.
After three days we reach Zahedan, we crossed our first desert !
From Zahedan to the border we are escorted by police although we do not want.
But they do a nice job, riding 100 meters behind us.

And the we are in Pakistan !

Just over the border this man says, bus to Quetta is here, buy a ticket.
We laugh and say, no thank you, we rather cycle !
And after paying the customs aslo a visit that is what we do !

First to Taftan were we have this not too bad hotel.
We like Pakistan immediately, not so much staring, they leave us more alone.

And so we cycle next moring further eastwards, towards the rising sun ...
No police, no checkpoints sofar.
But later there is our first one, we have to fill in our names in a book, thats all !
No talking about police escort or whatsoever ...
So we cycle on.

I Iran we stopped cars every half our to ask for cold water, they all had.
Here in Pakistan they do not have so we started to mix our water with Mirinda, a sort of fanta. Then it tastes not too bad when it is 40 degrees or hotter. Later we also put a sock over the bottle and make it wet. The water vapourizes and cooles the water, works great !

We sleep in shitty hotel rooms, accompanied by cockroaches ...
In an old school and yesterday in a police station.
One time we slept in a circle of trees, 7 meters wide. In the middle an open space.
This was near a pool were we stayed all afternoon, swimming and drinking tea. Tescha had to wait untill we had the place for ourselves which was quite late, it was a popular stopover for many drivers.
We waited untill it was dark, rolled out our matresses and slept under the stars.

11 days of cycling brought us here in Quetta, 1100 km from Bam.
It was hard, sometimes crazy hot but we both are happy we did it !
It was a route not easy to forget !
And almost all of it without police escort, only the second last day for maybe 25 km ( when we slept in the police station )

Even with the cockroaches, the heat and sandstorms ( we saw 2, luckily in the afternoon when we finished cycling ), the hot water to drink and old bread we ate, 11 days of cycling without one resting day I rather do this than above mentioned nice palmtree beach ...

I can always do that when I am seventy, right

Greetings

[lars de wit]

Salaam !

So we are now in Quetta not knowing what to do...
O yes, the coming our eat as much as we can, it's my 40 birthday and we are in this fancy hotel with a nice chinese restaurant in it.
Tescha bought me this chocolate birtdaycake, with candles and a 4 and a 0 to put on the cake, how sweet !
So that's gonna be our desert.

But what do we do tomorrow ?
We read and heared about these landslides due to heavy rainfall here in Baluchistan.
Roads blocked, bridges are gone and more of that stuff.
Our first plan was to cycle to Loralai and from there to Dera Ghazi Khan, but if is possible, we do not know ...

Also we went this day to the home and tribal affairs office to ask if we need a permit for that road and we did. So we filled in this more than nice application form, went 5 times to see another chief and the highest chief, after an hour we thought that everything was settled but than the man siad : so, you have to come back tomorrrow at 11 o clock. We said, but we want to leave at 0530 ! He said, no, come here first...
No way we are going to do that, we cycled also from taftan to Quetta, also without permit !

So tomorrow we go to the beginnig of the road we want to take and stop there some cars to find out the road and bridgecondition, see if we can cycle...
Otherwise we have to take a much busier road which we dodnot like so much...

Probably you find out which road we took when we are in Dera Ghazi Khan, after 500 km, so be patient my friends and cross some fingers for us huh !

All the best, greetings from Pakistan

[lars de wit]

Salaam, salaam !

Oftwel, hoi hoi !

We are now in Heaven, named Lahore in Pakistan.
Heaven because we escaped out of ' Hell ' , also
called pakistani police.

But lets start with the beginning.

This morning we had this luxuary buffet breakfast in
the most luxuary hotel in Lahore.
And it was really heaven ...
We ate and ate and ate, drank coffee and all these
cold fruit drinks.
I saw bread again, it was more than 3 months ago.
So we spend 2 hours here, eating as much as we could,
most of you know how much I can eat so when I say I
filled like 5 plates you aren't too surprised ?
It was so good ...

But I said I start at the beginning, right ?

That was 7 days ago, when we left Quetta.
We wanted to ride this nice small road, leading us via
Loralai through the mountains to Dhera Ghazi Khan.
Tescha heared from a french cyclist it wasn't
possible, why we didn't know ( then ).
So we left Quetta at 0530, as usual, riding most hours
in the cool, read 25 or 30 degrees, morning hours.
After 60 km we turned right. right into the mountains
again, great !
It's so much better than the desert which is a little
boring after a couple of hundred km's.
First night we slept under apple trees, how nice.
Second night when we reached Loralai we were spotted
by police and yes, escorted again.
We do not want escort we explained for the thousandst
time but without luck. They took us too the wrong
hotel of course, but we could camp in the garden, for
free
There was this nice pakistani family who gave us a
bottle of cold pepsi cola.
2 minutes late the bottle was empty ...
If I say that I am drinking 10 to 12 liters a day,
sometimes 1 1/2 liter of cold ' mountain dew ' ( sort
of 7 up ) within 5 minutes, can you believe ?
It is so hot here but we are doing so fine if I may
say.
The heat isn't really bothering us, 40 degrees is
nothing !
If it is 25 degrees on a ' cold ' morning we find it a
little chilly, our bodies adjusted to the
circumstances ? Must be huh !
But our minds not adjusted to police and their stupid,
insane thoughts about security and giving us police
escort, meaning NOT leaving us alone, meaning we
cannot camp ...
Meaning we cannot stay where we like...

So after 5 days we reached Dhera Ghazi Kan, from a
pass 80 km back to 5 km before town escorted by
police, two old man on a motor cycle ha ha.
But laughing was over when we looked after 95 km for a
hotel in D G Khan.
Spotted by police they wanted us to leave town ...
We knew forreigners were not allowed to stay but we
wanted to give it a try anyway.
But no, we had to leave.
We talked for like half an hour, standing in the sun,
it was so hot ...
But police offiver was a real nazi, very unpleasant
man.
Tescha was not feeling well, feeling dizzy.
So I said, look man, my wife is not feeling well ( it
is much more easier pretending we are married when we
answer the 20 th same question every day ...) may we
please sit down in the shadow for a while and drink
something ? With the mercy of God we were allowed, how
nice ...
But than we had to leave and the chain of lies began
...
Only 11 km to the district border, police told us.
I told Tescha, ' Yeah, if we drop dead there it's not
their problem ! '
How true this was ...
And how much lies we would hear the next 5 hours ...
It turned out to be 20 km ...
No resthouse there as promised ...
Not allowed to camp at petrol station ...
So we were fucked, really fucked.
We couldn't camp, we wouldn't take a ride in police
car.
We could's cycle anymore to next big town, too far and
it was allready 1700 hours .
So after 2 hours of talking, cursing, listening to
bullshit how dangerous it was to camp ( we told them
we were camping for 3 months now, I told them I camped
on allmost every continent, without problems ) they
wouldn't leave ...
So we had to take this ride, to next hotel they
promised... only 4 km ...you feel it ?
They were so full of lies, we rode for many km's,
changing 5 times from police car to another police car
in neighboring district, no sir, this is really the
last police car ...
Yes sir, we are going to Jarfarrabad, only 20 km's
away ...
Yes sir, you can sleep at government building, 500
meters back ...
All lies ...

We rode for 4 hours, we were so tired form cycling,
changing police cars in the dark, trying not to forget
one of our 11 bags which lay everytime on the ground
in the dark, changing cars again. But most tired we
were from all these lies. No we did'n make friends.
Actually, realizing now what we called them at that
time, it's a wonder we were not thrown in jail...
But they were so unfair to us, we only told them the
truth, that they all were a bunch of fucking liers ...

So we ended up in Multan ( no sir, we are not going to
Multan ... )
It took us another hour to find hotel who would let us
stay, it's not good when you show up at reception with
a couple of police officers next to you ; ' no sir we
don't have room ' ( keybord was full of keys ... ' )
So after second hotel we said, ' look, it's better if
we check in alone '
Oke they said. Lie nr 238 that night ...
But finally we found hotel, in the 5 seconds without
police the receptionist said ' yeah, we have room '
So tired we fell asleep witin minutes ...

Next morning there was ....

POLICE again !

' Wait ' they said when we wanted to leave, ' .
off ' we thought and drove away.
But within a minute they were behind us, escorting us
again.

Thoughts about how to loose them run through our
brains, best option was in mine to take a train to
Lahore and maybe jump of at next station. So after 60
km we bought a train ticket to Lahore, Police looking
over our shoulder and not leaving us untill we checked
our bicycles in at parcel department on train station.

Our plan to jump off at next station vaporised every
hour more and more ( we had to wait 3 hours before
train arrived ).
Lahore with a nice hotel, real supermarkets and all
the nice food sounded so good ....
And when we were on the train we didn't want too leave
it, in our minds also with the risk of having the same
trouble as last night ...

So now we are in Lahore !
Close to India
Close to say goodbye ( Tescha is going up north,
cycling the Karakoram Highway and then to Lhasa, I
want to stick to my plan to enter Tibet from Nepal,
also going to Lhasa )
It was good to cycle the most deserted, hot and windy
1000 km's not alone.
Having company again, someone to talk to if it was so
hot or hard or to cycle behind.

Maybe for another 30 km, when we cycle to the border
with India.
Watching the border ceremony, Tescha from pakistani
side, I from the Indian side.

Seperated by border, different roads to ride .

It shall be good again,

Lars

[lars de wit]

Hello, salaam, namasted

Straight from India, not so many so mention.
Golden temple in amritsar was amazing ...
It is good to be back in India again, beer everywere haha, no I like these people and the relaxed atmosphere. People also stare at you but not with their mouth open, tonque 5 cm out and for half an hour if they have to ... oh, preferable 50 cm from your face ... pakistan was in more ways a hard country ...
Invited for an indian wedding which was great !
They served 4 times food, nice buffet, all you can eat
And a hidden bar, drank for the first time whiskey in my life and made a good start, straight with ice, 6 glasses ... Hey, if you do something, do it good huh !
Hahaha it was a great party !

Sometimes its difficult finding a sleeping place, so many people here to camp ...
One night I cycled in tropical forest mountains and I saw this nice small flat piece of grass downhill. I walked 3 times down with all my stuff over slippery rocks.
But the reward was great, in the middle of this jungle in the mountains, all alone .
Well, not all alone ...

Roots, roots !
What was that ?
In the trees, 60 meters from me.
Loud noice for an hour long, were there monkeys ?
I thought so, saw something...
So better close my tent tonight, do not want uninvited gasts in my tent in the middle of the night !

My map sucks.
Km distances are so wrong.
So Ithought it were only 285 km to Shimla, where I am now.
Turned out to be over 370, very nice if your plan was to cycle it in 3 days ...
Every day I wanted to reach some place, counted on 90 km.
And every day it was more, many more.
Especially the last day when I though of riding ' only ' 60 km to Shimla. Butt all going up, that I knew. I was at 1000 meters and had to go to 2200.
So the 60 turned out to be a 100 I learned that day. No way I could do that, 100 km of only climbing...So another day more or ....

A lift.
It turned out to be the last. I cycled 50 km, than I was so tired I stood at the side of the road, thumbs up ( what is a nice indan drink by the way and along the way

Tomorrow on my way to Dhera Dun, Rishikesh and Haridwar.
John & Gudy, according to my map there is a temple just nort of haridwar, ever been there and can you recommend ?
From there to Nepal which I am looking forward to.

So forward I go

Hasta la vista

[lars de wit]

Namasted !

I left Shimla in a hurry, not because I wanted to but the road was only going down, down and down ! Super start of a super day, first 60 km were a piece of cake ! And these nice temperatures belof 30, ow how good !
That night I made camp on top of a hill, 1600 meters high.
A vieuw all over the surrounding mountains, so great !
As was the night temperature, I even needed my sleeping bag, that was a long time ago !
I rememberred that night in Pakistan, Nok kundi ; my bicycle parked outside our room, temperature meter read 60 degrees ....

Oh, oaky, I am now in India, not in Pakistan anymore.

The second day was also very nice, coming out of the mountains in the lowlands again. Flat roads and everything so green. Saw many nice coloured birds ( wielewaal en 2 ijsvogels ! )
That night also slept in my tent, 31 degrees , no wind ...
It was just okay, no sweat

Now in Haridwar, at the Ganges.
I am going to watch the evening ceremony, light a candle as well and let it float over the great Ganges river !

Via kotdwar, ramnagar, haldwani and banbassa to mahendra at the indian/nepalese border

Nepal within reach, a new country !
New roads to explore, new people to meet ...

Yeah I am looking forward to it !

As I also do to the ceremony so I go now, okay ? ( 1830 here, 3 1/2 hour later than in holland )

Bye bye

[Peter_K]

wielewaal en 2 ijsvogels

I guess you mean an oriole and two kingfishers.

For following bird reports see: http://www.billmaas.nl/birds.html

Have fun,

Peter

[lars de wit]

Hello,

Long time ago !
Many has happened, almost too many to write but I'll try.
In India I had chosen this route on my map, through 2 nice wild parks ...
Asking in this city were the route began people directed me into wrong direction, to the south but my route went eastwards. No I said, that cannot be good, I want to ride this way and pointed it out on my map.
Not possible they said.
Why not ? I asked.
Dangerous.
Why ?
Because of robberies !
Oh, really ?
Yeah, very dangerous, you must go other route.
But I do not want other route, this route seems so nice ! When was last robbery ?
Last year they said.
So dangerous huh, 7 months now and nothing happened, so not too dangerous huh ?
Yeah but there is also very dangerous wildlife !
It sounded better and better !
Really I asked, like what ?
Tigers and elephants !
Oh boy, how nice I thought.
Look I said, I cycled also in very dangerous Africa and survived so I really want to ride this route, please show me ?

And so 3 nice guys on a motorcycle did.
The route was very, very beautifull, so glad I did what I want !

That night I camped just in front of the gate of Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary.
The morning wasn't that good, it started with this official from the park telling me he wouldn't allow me in the park.
But I see many other people, also on bicycle, why not me ?
I wasn't allowed, asking why was to a dead mans ear ...
So there I was, just awake with this bad news.
Walking back to my tent i saw this other ' road ' going into the park as well, only not through the gate. A new idea popped into my head, why not pretending I choose the other route outside the park, after a kn turn into the park and then find the original wat again ?
Happy I drank my coffee and ate some food.
I drove away, waved goodbye to the park officials, drove 800 meters south, then I saw this path on my left, followed it for 1 kilometer to the east and then again left, to the north. This action should take me to the original way through the park. Almost lost in jungle I finally found the road, yeah !!!!

I beat those park officials hahaha.
I saw many other people, working on the road, cutting fire wood, riding their bicycle. I waved to everybody, everybody waved and smiled back, sofar not too dangerous
I passed another ' gate ' , official said stop but I drove of full speed, shouting, no problem, bye !!! Haha, this repeated two other times, one time this man came after me and try to stop me, grabbing my arm. I shouted let go of me ! I am cycling to Nepal, everybody cycles here so let me go ! No sir, not allowed. F...k .. with not allowed I thought and just rode away.

I saw many elephant tracks, footprints and shit, one of those still warm ...
So I looked very good all day, watching for elephants or a tiger !

I saw something grey on my right side in the bush, I rode carefully back to see ....
A buffalo, grrr, I thought it was an elephant !

Very nice green mountains, covered with jungle. Only the road was very bad, they were working on it on like 15 places all the way.

Suddenly something on my right, loud noices in the bushes ! I looked and saw this large black animal who looked very angry at me before flying away ...
This huge black chicken scared the hell out of me, making lots of noice !!!
Now do not laugh, chicken can be really dangerous and hurt you, I know

After a short stop I drove off again and had this vision of this tiger coming after me ...
Quick I looked over my shoulder but only sand on the road, pfff.
I Had to laugh a little bit because of me !

So I made it through the other park, Corbett Tiger Reserve, as well.
I did not see one elephant or tiger, maybe better ?
But is were two great days, on my way to Nepal ...

First day's in Nepal were great, I love this country from the beginning !
people are so nice and its so green and beautifull, all the little rice fields and nice little houses ...

Yeay, really good !

Now, tomorrow will follow another mail, for those who are only interested in nice, positive stories....do not read tomorrow's ....

Cheers

[renaw]

Hi Lars,

Alles heeft zijn ups en downs.

Wie geen dal doorwaad, zal geen top beklimmen.

Wie alleen het positieve van je wilt horen, daarvan hebben de oren nooit naar behoeven gewerkt.

Leven is ervaren en ervaren doet leven!!

Groet, Rena

[lars de wit]

Hai rena, wat ben je toch een schat he.....dank je wel, ook voor je mail(s)

So,

I changed my mind.
This is not going to be an email full of misery, saying how bad the weather was, raining every day, sometimes 24 hours long... How wet I was every day, soken wet, untill my underwear ...
I am not going to write that I started every morning with wet socks and underwear, no way.
That I changed 15 euro at the border with nepal, got 14 euro in nepalese rupees back and had to do 7 days with it ( actually that was quite fun, even bought a bottle of beer (1.10 euro) and took one day a hotel from this money ) and managed to do so !
I am not writing how badmy bike is, not in englisch anyway ...
Mijn cranks zijn versleten daar waar ze op de trapas zitten, de trapas geeft al 5000 km geluiden die niet horen. Het schroefdraad in de trapas is dol. Mijn achterwiel stond op instorten, gelukkigheeft een plaatselijke fietsenmaker wat kunnen verhelpen.
So.....
I am not writing that I cannot cycle anymore, that there were so many clouds around me, so close also they even entered my head, no I am not.
Instead ...

I take tomorrow bus to Kathmandu where I am going to find new stuf to repair my bike.
Even i I have to wait for new stuff from Holland, so be it !
But I want to go on, now I am so close to my dream....Tibet !
And more, cycling the friendships highway the other way around, 160 km uphill, climbing from 600 to 5200 meters in 160 km !!!
What a challenge !
If chinese immigration in kathmandu can be fooled, if I can be dropped just after the border in Tibet I AM GOING TO DO IT !!!!
I want it so badly !

Oh, for my dad, route is going to be : Kathmandu, bhaktapur,dolalghta,barahbise,kodari (border), Nyalam, tingri,Lhatse,xigaze and ....Lhasa !

Now you cross some fingers for me huh, and for my bike

Wit love, from nepal

[Froggy]

Good luck Lars!!
Keep going!

Jimbo

[lars de wit]

So, here's the deal :

Hai by the way !

Almost on my way, again ...
Again with a bike in tip top condition !
As we speak, ehh, as I typ my rear wheel is made better, it was so sick the poor thing !
All the spokes are checked.
Bought for 200 euro a new : bottom bracket, cranks, 2 new chaines, new blades front and rear, new derailleur, all very high shimano quality, so I am High from happiness also ( Nepalese stuff also helps a little bit
Bought also nice Teva shoes, for all the rivers I may have to cross ...
So, what are you doing Lars, cycle into Tibet ?
Sorry, not possible !
Visited many tour operators, the answers were all the same : only possible with group.
It took me several days to get used to the idea my original plan wasn't going to work ( I have one very small option, tell you later ).
Before that I went to the chinese ambassy to get my chinese visa, THATS not the problem.
Problem is entering Tibet, officially part of China ( stolen ...)
You need a different visa for entering Tibet. As you can have only one visa for a country my 30 USD costing chinese visa will be cancelled the moment I apply for tibet visa.
I have to back to chinese ambassy to get my passport with chinese visa ( I shouldn't have done it but at that time I was still following my original plan : to enter Tibet by bike.
Just ride to the border and hope you get in, without a visa for tibet.
Now I realise it's not going to work, costed me a few days and 30 USD.

So I booked a 7 days tour to Lhasa in Tibet, 350 USD
When I am in Lhasa I take a bus back to Lhatse ( so 650 km back in nepalese direction, the road I came with tour group)
From Lhatse I will cycle to Mount Everest Base Camp at 5000 meters.
From MEBC I will cycle back to Lhasa.
So I can cycle the greatest part of the Friendships Highway !
Only the first part I miss but the highest passes ( over 5000 meters ) I will cycle !

You are reading words, typed by a happy man.
Happy my bike will be good again.
Happy to be out of the rain.
Happy with the tour I booked, also very nice I think, we leave coming saturday.
I will leave Kathmandu on wednesday because I want to cycle to the border.
From the border it is 4 days to Lhasa with the jeep.
And happy with the idea of cycling in Tibet will be possible, after all.

Kathmandu is a very nice place, although I liked Pokhara better.
After spending the first week in Nepal only 14 USD, this second week I spend 150 euro, NOT including my bike and NOT including the tour to Lhasa.
But it's like heaven, all the nice restaurants, cocktails, beers, wine and good food, cheese, bread ...

So I greet you from heaven, in 10 days from the top af the world, Tibet, close to heaven as well ...

[lars de wit]

Hai,

So, back in Kathmandu ...
Cycled in 1 1/2 day to the border, Kodari with only a chinese visa.
Chinese wouldn't let me in, I tried like hell, convincing them there was a group WITH a guide and a jeep waiting for me in Zhangmu. Even managed to talk with a higher officer but very polite they said I couldn't entry without a group and special visa for Tibet.
So I cycled back to KTM.
After 8600 km my first flat tyre, not bad I thought, untill ...
I saw that my marathon XR was torn for like 7 mm.
Repared it with some plastic and other stuff but after 2 km, another leak !
On a different place ! And on that place my tyre was also torn.
8600 km and my tyre was no good anymore, no good at all/.
But, I had a spare one with me so I got that one out of my bags.
While I brought it back in shape I noticed a piece of iron sticking out my tyre, where it touches the rim. My eyes two times as big as normal, 1000 toughts a second going to my brain ... this was not possible, o no ... !!!
Two marathon XR and both useless ...
After fixing my bike for 200 euro now this ?
Ok I thought, I go back to KTM anyway, there is this great bike shop, hope we can fix my spare tyres, cut the iron and repair it somehow.

So I repaired my old tyre and cycled another 40 km before another bulb in my tyre showed up. I just loosed so much air that I cycled the last 26 km on half the air pressure which was just enough.
Next day we fixed indeed my new tyre, this great shop even had a foldable marathon xr, seconh hand but almost like new ! So I bought that one to use as spare one.

Yesterday I went rafting !
Now that was great fun with all this rain for the last days !
River was really wild, xxxx to xxxxx the guide said.
I never was so wet, water was crawling in my underpants but how great it was !
Nepal is so beautifull, the mountains covered with never touched forest, say jungle, amazing !

I do not know if I mentioned that my last tour to Lhasa was cancelled ?
Well, I was booked for a tour on the 11 th but that one weas cancelled, some problems in Tibet so the permits weren't issued anymore.
Now I am on next tour, saturday the 18 th I WILL enter Tibet, okay, with a jeep but once in Lhasa ( 22-08 ) I am free to go, they promissed ...
So my plan, is it wise to make plans, they change so often , is when I am free in Lhasa to take a bus back direction Nepal, get out in Shigatse, CYCLE to Everest Base Camp ( 5000 meters high ) , then take a bus back to Shigatse and CYCLE again back to Lhasa.
THat way I cycle almost entire Friendships Highway, including the highest passes ( over 5000 meters ).

From Lhasa all the way east to Bayi, Markam, Deqen,Zhongdian and Dali futher south, on my way to cross the equator, somewhere, sometimes ...

Untill then I send you all my love

Lars

[Marco Meijerink]

Hoi Lars,
Jij aan de ene kant van de grens met Tibet, wij aan de andere kant.....
Eens kijken wie er het eerst in Saga is.......We fietsen van Kashgar (Kashi) naar Kathmandu. Maar 2500 kilometer Lijkt me leuk om elkaar ergens onderweg te ontmoeten maar ik denk dat jij toch wat sneller in Tibet bent. Wat ga je na Tibet doen? Verder China in?
Groetjes,
Marco

[lars de wit]

Hoi Marco en Lisette,

Ja, jammer he dat we elkaar niet treffen kunnen ergens.
De route die jullie fietsen is veel langer.
Ik ga proberen om van Lhasa met de trein naar Golmud te gaan en daar een chinees visum te krijgen of een verlenging van 30 dagen van mijn tibetaanse visum. Dan weer terug treinen naar Lhasa om vervolgens oostwaards te gaan.
Voor jullie : de weg vanaf Zhangmu naar Kodari ( grens met Nepal ) is zooooo slecht ! Toen wij er waren ook nog eens zeiknat en modderig. Keien zo groot als een voetbal en aardig steil, dat gaat wat worden voor jullie ....

Heel veel succes met jullie verdere tocht, ik hoop dat jullie wind mee hebben, dan heb ik het ook

Groetjes

[lars de wit]

Nihau !

So, I am eating with wooden sticks again ...
And seeing snow capped mountains again ...
And between 4000 and 5000 meters, for the first time !
Meaning : I AM IN TIBET !!!
Not ( yet ) biking but with 15 jeeps, 60 people in this overland tour to hasa.
We were unlucky to see Everest or other really high mountains the first two days due to very bad weather, rain all day.
But since yesterday we see the sun again and today even an almost blue sky !
Hope and trust that when I cycle back to EBC the weather will be the same as now.
We are now in Gyantze where we will visit another monastry.
Yesterday we visited a monastry in Shigatse, 600 monks lived there.
We saw the highest gold plated buddha in the world, 26 meters high !
And we were allready at 3900 meters high so mister buddha must have a great vieuw over the mountains huh !
Tomorrow we will reach Lhasa, we hope we can visit Yamdrok lake on our way, it is not sure because of some road work.
I didn't take that much pictures yet, none of the high passes we road.
Saving that when I can cycle up, more satisfying I think.
Tibet is very nice but the real joy comes when I can finally cycle again.
It is such a big difference traveling by car or on your bicycle, in this bloody jeep I cannot see much, I do not feel the sun ( or rain ;-( ) , I do not hear the birds sing, I do not see the locals and they do not see me, meaning they do not wave at me and I cannot stop for a little chat.
I cannot sleep in my tent, better than a 5 star hotel.

So, maybe you noticed, I am so looking forward to put my bike together and just cycle away on these long roads, the never ending and always changing horizon as my goal ...

Ciao

[lars de wit]

Nihau !

Yesterday arrived in Lhasa, finally !
And Lhasa is great, more than ...
Today went to the trainstation to buy a trainticket to Golmud to extend my visa for at least 1 month, NO, was not possible, only for the next 10 day's ( I wanted to go 13-9-07 )
Then I went to the bus station to buy a ticket back to Shigatse, also a big NO, they do not allow forreigners on their busses ...
The, haha, I went to buy a secons had Lonely Planet, Tibet.
What do you think ?
A big NO, nowhere they had one, completely sold out !
Despite all these NO'S I had the day of my life, visited Potala Palace which is so great !
And when I just walk or cycle through this big city I have so much fun !
All the chinese to by the way, amazed about my lenght we have great fun !
And the girls like to flirt, also not bad

So, tomorrow I will try to get transport back to Shigatse and from there cycle back to Everest Base Camp and then bus again back to Lhasa and then ....
I made so many plans, I'll just see what happens.
But now i even understand better why I used to be a punk, all these rules are bothering me but if I have to cycle by night to avoid checkposts, I will do it.
Cmon, there is a road and I have a bike, what's the problem ?
I cannot go because of a permit ?
And the only way to get a permit is to hire a jeep and a driver/guide for a lot of money ?
Then I cycle by night to avoid the checkposts, but I AM GOING !!!!
Haha, okay, I'll try but I can tell you, I will do everything to reach EBC, that's for sure !
For now I am going for a nice dinner, spend another 2 or 3 euro

Hasta la vista !!!

[lars de wit]

Tashi deleh !

Okay, the problem(s) to cycle to EBC were these :
a) the weather was really bad, cloudy and rain
b) I didn't have a permit
c) the road I want to cycle was closed due to roadworks
d) still my 17 september expiring visa ...

So ....

I cycled the third day to a camping place, 4217 meters high in the mountains.
Next morning I left in rain, cycling up this pretty high pass ( 5105 meters high )
It took me three hours to cycle 21 km, in the beginning I rested every 200 alt meters, just befor the summit I was really tired and had to stop even more, but ....
I made it to the top !
And the sun broke every now and then through the clouds but my decision was allready made ...
After taking some fotographs and hanging up prayer flags I walked back to my bike and suddenly my eyes filled with tears.
I still don't now why, was I tyred ? Was I sad because I didn't go to EBC ?
Was it because one of the prayerflags was for my late stephfather ?
I looked so forward to cycle to EBC and now I made my toughest decision NOT to go, my feeling told me I made the right decision but my mind maybe didn't agree hi hi.
Anyway, I cycled the same route back to Lhatse where I took a bus again to Lhasa.
Tomorrow I will cycle east, my visa expires 17 sept so I will see how far I can get.
Probably have to take a lift again the last days to reach Yunnan say 15 september to extend my visa, it is almost impossible to do it in Tibet all the people tell me, I'll try anyway ...

Another big event is that I changed my bike name, sorry Gudy !
He is now called du ( german )
If you now this song, sang by Peter Maffey you get a clou why hi hi
Sometimes I think I am a little mad but maybe you have to be a little to cycle around the world ?

He Rena guess what, today I met this english guy on his old, selfmade english bike !
You know, withe the little rearwheel and the more than a meter high frontwheel, the first bikes ?
What a coinsi, ehh, toeval he ?
And Mirjam has met him also !

Anyway, tomorrow I am on My Way again ( another great song to the east ...

Untill we write again !



Adios

[lars de wit]

Hahaha I do not know about you but I like the title !
When I was cycling I thought, yes, thats a good start !

O speaking of a good start ...

Tashi dele !

Leaving Lhasa a couple off days ago wasn't wat I expected ...
I expected these high, treeless plaines, desert like.
What I saw were these huge mountains covered with loaf and pine trees.
Riding along the river, through these gorges, gorgeous !
Haha that was the second one I tought off when I was cycling, yeah, you have to do something huh !
No but as I have learned on my trips, nothing is ever what you expect it to be, sometimes a little worse, sometimes better ! Just have to take it as it comes ...
As today, waiting in front of my hotel to get a bus or jeep to Pome and further. ( cannot cycle all the way to Zhongdian because of my little visa expiring problem which I donot longer see as a problem, I just enjoy riding here in Tibet and make it in time to Zhongdian )
Waited for almost two hours before I found a ride.
After 25 km we stopped, did not know why so I took a nap. When I woke up we were still not moving and after a while the driver just rode past these other jeeps, busses and cars to the front of the que. Now we saw why we didin't moved !
A huge landslide has completely blocked, no, covered the road with enormous trees and rocks. People were walking over it, carrying their bags so I thought, hey, as they can walk it, so can I !
Again I forgot how heavy my loaded bike is ( like 55, 60 kg ) , just like that time in Africa when we walked down this mountain, me carrying my bike, two porters carrying my bags, unforgetable ...
But as that time I also managed it this time !
Walking for 2 or 3 hundred meters throuhg mud and over rocks and trees....
On the other side were even more trucks, busses jeeps and cars waiting so I told some of them to turn around. As there was only one bulldozer trying to make the road clear again I didn't think the road would open soon, not this day ! No way !
But I made it and on the other side took another ride to Pome were I am now typing with cold feet, no, I typ with two fingers but my feet are cold hahaha.
Where was I, ehh Pome I am now.
This is getting a little confusing, time to quit ?
Maybe better send

Lars