LITANG

A quick an easy solution to the problem of frozen gear cables.

According to my guidebook, Litang is the 'Wild west' of China. But after some of the places we have visited over the last 3 weeks, Litang was welcomed as a cosmopolitan centre. Yes, the locals were dressed in traditional dress. Yaks were herded down the main street. Long-haired Tibetan boys ride their motorbikes around town with traditional music blaring from their speakers. But here in Litang we found the first english menu in 3 weeks. Other Europeans were to be met in our hotel common room and interesting conversations were had about destinations visited and future routes chosen. China's 'Wild west' even had wifi, so it was time to catch up on emails and long overdue skype calls were made. Some Israelis' pointed us towards the friendly Mr Zheng's restaurant. After his legendary yak steak, it was time for beers and the maps were spiralled open as we reviewed our progress through China over the last 2 months. The simple fact of the matter is China is just too big. As I stated before, China is 130 times the size of Ireland and we are trying to cross it diagonally from north-west to south-east. We've already extended our visa to the 30 day max and another full 30 day extension is possible but unlikely. We have 4 days left on our visas, we're physically exhausted and its over 1000KMs to the nearest land border exit. VISAS, Visas, visas- Its been the thorn in my side since leaving Europe. 16,700KMs cycled and for the third time of the trip, I need to tie the bike on to the roof of a bus. To cycle China the route I wanted to cycle, I would have needed 4 months to do in comfort. The fine for being caught with an expired visa is €50 per day. Once again, its so disappointing, but Markus and I have resigned ourselves to the fact that tomorrow we need to get on a 600KM bus journey to Shangri-La.