We made it. We finally stepped off a plane in Beijing and the journey began in earnest. However just getting to that plane was an adventure in itself. That trip began with a drive to Las Vegas.
Thursday June 11th was an eventful day. I actually quite my job. Cashed my last pay check, turned in my keys and computer and was done. Truly unemployed. Weird. I haven’t been unemployed in almost 7 years, and this may well be the longest period of unemployment I have had since I started working at the age of 13. On top of that I still had so much do get done before I could even think about being ready to leave for this thing. And to top it all off I had to drive to Vegas to pick up Kyle who was flying in from Atlanta at 10pm. It was all almost too much but I managed to get a short run in with a good friend, do a little packing, and get driving to good old Las Vegas.
Vegas proved to be its own epic. A far too expensive run to REI to pick up last minute odds and ends, multiple airport loops before I could get Kyle and then there was the hotel situation. We ended up getting a room at the Golden Gate for $49. A good deal, but there was an unexpected catch. Our room was facing Freemont and there just happened to be a shitty cover band playing far to loudly until 2 am. We were serenaded by the lovely sounds of Motley Cru and Black Sabbath as belted out by a bunch of washed up middle age musicians who never made it past the bar circuit until, eventually after too many renditions of hits from days past, they were thankfully done. That brought on a few hours of fitful sleep made all the better by the mediocre french dip sandwich and fries I ate for dinner. This following the almost no sleep I was running on from the previous night just helped to build the atmosphere of anxiety and building tension before departure. The next morning fueled by far too much coffee and a greasy omelet we made out way back to bishop taking care of any last minute city business we had in Vegas.
Back in bishop on Friday it was t-minus 12 hours to launch. Friday night was pretty stressful. I had to make sure I had all the last minute things tied up, bills paid, banking taken care of, gear bought packed and kind-of organized, and the bike packed. Thank sweet baby Jesus for friends. I already had to depend on Kyle way too much to help me pack up the bike, make sure my fenders were installed correctly, and get everything together and I could tell I was going to need to step it up. Operating on almost no sleep certainly wasn’t helping at all, but with help from Kyle, my friend Sirin, and the support of the Brian, Jeff and Amy it all got done. After some much needed bbq and a beer it was almost time to relax a little bit. I managed to find things to keep me up and stressed out until roughly 2am anyway knowing we had to be driving by 5:30.
The alarm went off at 4, time to shower drink coffee load up and get out. A few cups of coffee several last looks around and we loaded our bikes and gear and set off to SFO. I was in Brian’s truck Kyle was with Jeff. I don’t remember much of the drive but we did take 120 through Yosemite and got a chance to catch the sunrise on the eastside. It was a good way to say goodbye to the Eastern Sierra for a little while.
Arriving at the airport 6 hours later was a blur but also a little bit of a relief. After some almost tearful goodbyes to Brian and Jeff the requisite “good lucks”, “be safes”, and “have funs” they were gone and it was real. There truly was no turning back now. Time to check the bikes. Checking in and checking the bikes was easier than I had expected. Luckily all my luggage and bike was under weight (23kg) per so I had no additional baggage fees to pay. We had thought it would be $200 for the bikes, saving the money was a welcome surprise. Kyle on the other hand had to do a little creative repacking to get his bags to spec but he made it happen, I took a few things out of his bags, he took some heavier than expected packing foam out of the bike box, and we had a nice Chinese woman from Air China playing buffer between us and her overly aggressive manager so it all worked out. She even hooked us up with way better seats for our 12 hour flight. Once that was all taken care of we somehow managed to get pushed through TSA precheck, making that all the easier, and hit a bar. So far so good! Last phone calls to the families and anything else that required a phone and it was on a plane and off to China!
I had never flown on a double decker plane before. It was packed to the gills but it was a surprisingly nice plane given the Air China reviews I had read online. The obvious language barrier made somethings more difficult than they would have been otherwise, also more hilarious given the lost in translation factor, but it was all smooth. Screens in the back of the seats, free movies and television, and a few free mediocre meals made for a pretty comfortable flight.
Arriving in Beijing was also much easier than expected. Customs was easy, immigration was easy, all the bags and the bikes showed up intact and the ATM was easy enough to find. Getting from the airport to where we were staying was a little different story. Trying to negotiate the cab situation with bike boxes was interesting. No one seemed interested in giving us a ride, I have very little haggling experience, and we were both running on a 20 hour travel day. It was a little rough but after Kyle bartered and we payed too much (our only real option) for a van charter we made it to the apartment building we were going to stay at for the next 2 nights.
Ray and Florence are an American couple who Kyle found through a cycle touring forum similar to couch surfing. Ray, a retired doctor who was born in Taiwan and has lived all over the world, including stints in San Fransisco has done a lot of cycling and Florence, a teacher born in France, who has also traveled all over were kind enough to put us up for free in their extra apartment. I can’t even express how wonderful it was to open the door and see a full and furnished apartment. It was air conditioned and amazing. We had the space to put the bikes back together, a shower, and we each had a full and extremely comfortable bed. To top it off when Ray and Florence got home she made us lasagna FUCKING LASAGNA!!!!!!!! And Ray procured a few beers. It was glorious!
The next morning bikes assembled we ate a leisurely breakfast and rode with Ray to the train station.
That guy was a godsend. He acted as guide, translator, negotiator, and all around bad ass. Without him getting our bike checked onto the train would have been a full day ordeal, but thanks to Ray we were in and out in about an hour and then wandering around Beijing in search of noodles. We ate lunch with some overly excited Canadians who were nice enough and then continued to wander.
Beijing is by far the largest city I have ever been in. With 19 million plus people it is hard to comprehend. The air quality is awful but not unbearable and city itself is brash and loud. But through all the chaos it seems to work. Biking was easy, if a bit crazy, and traffic seemed to move relatively smoothly with ample use of the horn. I am still convinced that I am not a city person but it was interesting to say the least to be in this one. I have never been in a place that seems so familiar but also so foreign at the same time. A big city is a big city it seems. We didn’t have time to get to the more ancient parts but we got a small taste.
After a great dinner and wonderful conversation with our gracious hosts it was time for sleep and to get ready for the train the next day. Once again Ray came through and drove us to the train station the next day, negotiated a baggage handler to take us and our overloaded bags to our train gate and gave a hearty handshake farewell. I can only aspire to be as cool as Ray and Florence when I am all grown up and can actually claim to be an adult.
The train itself was an experience. We had booked a sleeper car the “soft sleeper” which was comfortable enough and we were lucky to share our cabin with a nice German traveler named Natalie. Our roughly 24 hours on a train was overall a good time. The limestone mountains north of Beijing are beautiful, the plains north of that are even more so, and the train was full of travelers from around the globe. We drank wine and got to know our cabin mate and ate the random assortment of food we had purchased at an ex-pat market the day prior. Natalie has been traveling for 8 months and is on her final stop before heading back to Germany for a respite. She is a delightful girl who speaks very good English and even has great taste in music. Her company made for a great ride.
The train ride passed with little event except at the Mongolian border. The visa situation and customs was easy. If you want to travel to Mongolia, and are an American, go for it no hassle what-so-ever. It was the train itself. In order to travel from China to Mongolia the train needed to switch wheels to accommodate a different, Soviet, gauge track. Well we didn’t know that was going to happen away from the train platform. We waltzed into the duty free shop in the station, half cocked on a few bottles of wine and a Heineken or two, and promptly discovered the train had left. After initial, partial, panic we determined it would be back, we hoped, and proceeded to drink more $1.50 beers with some Norwegians, a guy from England, and an other German. If it hadn't come back, well.... adventure! The train did come back however, there was some doubt that it would, and we continued on our way to Ulaanbaatar.
The final hours on the train consisted of some half drunk sleep, Nescafe, and a very pleasant interaction with a Mongolian women who had gone to school in Houston. There was also some ample Gobi scenery, antelopes, camels, and some packing. We reconnected with our Norwegian friend from the night before and made ready to get off the train in Ulaanbaatar!
......Then we met Froit! He deserves his own post!
