Devout Of This World 3

Shandan

Bloody hell, sometimes it's tough out there. I'm absolutely trashed right now. I rode for over 100km today, up a long long slope, and the whole way I was riding into a raging, unrelenting wind.

Riding against a strong headwind is basically like climbing a steep hill. Which is really hard when you're already climbing one.

So now, finally, it feels remarkably peaceful to be off the bike and out of the gale.

Actually, at the moment, somehow I feel like I'm living a double life.

By day I'm out there in the elements, sometimes struggling with really tough weather conditions, and mostly requiring a good chunk of physical energy to get me to wherever I wanna go for the day.

And then eventually, normally late in the day, I'll roll into a town, find a cheap hotel, and live in relative luxury for the next few hours, and then overnight.

I'll go out for food, wander around, chat with local people, and go back to my comfy hotel room, and sleep in a clean warm bed.

It's sorta surreal.

It's been too cold for camping up here, but I'm sure that's coming, as the weather warms.

Beautiful scenery as I left Wuwei.

Friendly shepherd. The sheep are giant around here. I didn't ask him why his prize(d) ewe was wearing black knickers, because he looked really happy, and I didn't want to spoil it.

I rode alongside the busy expressway for part of the day. All the trucks were over there, thankfully.

China doesn't do things in halves. More wind turbines than you can poke a fossil fool at.

There wasn't much shelter out there today. I sat by my bike and ate peanuts, using the thin metal safety barrier as a windbreak. Sad isn't it.

Well actually no it's not. The peanuts were delicious. They're sorta a little sweet around here.

Snowy hills

Yes, it's a church. And it's in the middle of nowhere. There's 44 million registered Christians in China, and a heap more unregistered ones. Some of them must live out in this barren God-forsaken place.

Just so you can see the wind with your own eyes.

Could be 'straylia mate

After that hugely tiring journey, it was time to switch to my other life, and I checked into this hotel.

I didn' tuse it

Looks swanky doesn't it. It wasn't. It was dark and dusty and reeked of stale cigarette smoke, which has probably been soaking into the unwashed carpet for decades.

And into the sheets and bedspread and bath towels in my room.

Ashtray at the ready, at the bog. Don't ask me what this tap is for (it wasn't working).

More delicious dumplings for dinner

Everyone was out at the sports centre in the evening, keeping fit

Lotsa scooters around here. Urban areas are full of them, but there's hardly any in the countryside.

My first Chinese icecream. It was pretty good, full of sugar and artificial flavours, just how I like it.

The Bo Xing Hotel ...

sorta became the Boxing Hotel

Incredible Matisi

I'm pretty excited today, because I'm heading to more incredible cave grottoes, on a much bigger and grander scale than the ones I visited at Tiantishan earlier in the week.

It was all deserted roads today, very little traffic, I often passed through little villages, farmland, or just barren country. It was amazing, and, again, a tough ride, as the wind was doing its thing.

It's so great to be in this sort of country. Dry, barren, stark, open land, wide views, sometimes hills sometimes flat, but always interesting. I'd love to make a movie out here.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think these women were collecting sheep manure. This is stock grazing land. Animal poop's a valuable resource 'round 'ere.

Village scenes

I bought this thinking it was sweet. I even asked the baker if it was, and she said yes. But it's got some sort of fishy flavour to it, a flavour I recognise from a lot of baked products in Asia. It's not my fave, but I'm getting used to it.

Orchards

We used to call these things wurly-wurlies when I was a kid, they're like a mini tornado that picks up soil and seeds and bits and pieces and swirls them around, and moves through the countryside annoying the hell out of farmers.

I've seen very few of these in China. And a lot of traffic lights, even in the countryside.

Beautiful pebble shrine

I basically headed towards these snowy hills all day.

Eventually I approached the entrance to the Mati Scenic Area, a region of significant religious and historical importance. This is a Tibetan-style stupa.

The grand gate entrance to the Scenic Area.

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Go to Part 4