Ürümqi, Uyghur Autonomous Region, Western China
1863 kilometers cycled since Kharkhorin, Central Mongolia
1223 kilometers in Mongolia; 640 kilometers in Xinjiang Province, China
34 cycling days since Kharkhorin
Cycled into Urümqi (Chinese Xinjiang Uighur autonomous Province) on Wednesday October 23rd.
First of all, let me say that after my first 640 kms through this Chinese western "new frontier", I can honestly say to anyone who still thinks of China as a sweat shop on the Pearl River, to please come and see this place with their own eyes.
It is definitely definitely a very rapidly changing country, at the forefront of technology, computing and medicine. The scope of the industrial development, even in this "far flung" western province is mind boggling by any world standards, let alone cycling out of Mongolia...
So, here are the latest news on the expedition:
- Gulnara flew in Urümqi on Thursday Oct 24th from Kazan to cycle the next section with me.
Quite thrilled to have her back on the trail by my side!
- In addition, my 1 year Kazakh visa has been approved and it will be ready on Thursday October 31st.
This gives us in the meantime, one week to explore Urümqi and its surroundings and start cycling westward 660 kms towards the Kazakh border on Nov 1st.
You might wonder: Why am I asking for 1 year Kazakh visa?
To give myself all the flexibility that I need in the event that I try to go through Iran, get denied entry and decide instead to proceed north around the Caspian Sea through Kazakhstan.
Stay tuned for that one...
2005-2012 Pictures Update!
We have posted new Nexus Expeditions pictures in Flickr for the years 2005-2012, from Anchorage, Alaska until Kharkhorin, Mongolia !
We will probably wait until we stop cycling sometimes this winter for a limited period (to take care of administrative and visa related matters) to seriously update the blog with latest stories from Mongolia and China as well as post 2013 pictures!
It is indeed not the easiest to access/update this blocked blog website within China (because of current Chinese governmental imposed restrictions) and therefore it makes the most sense to wait until we have cycled on to Kazakhstan and further west to do so.
In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy these shots taken on the trail between 2005 and 2012!
Cheers!
Dimitri & Gulnara
1863 kilometers cycled since Kharkhorin, Central Mongolia
1223 kilometers in Mongolia; 640 kilometers in Xinjiang Province, China
34 cycling days since Kharkhorin
Cycled into Urümqi (Chinese Xinjiang Uighur autonomous Province) on Wednesday October 23rd.
First of all, let me say that after my first 640 kms through this Chinese western "new frontier", I can honestly say to anyone who still thinks of China as a sweat shop on the Pearl River, to please come and see this place with their own eyes.
It is definitely definitely a very rapidly changing country, at the forefront of technology, computing and medicine. The scope of the industrial development, even in this "far flung" western province is mind boggling by any world standards, let alone cycling out of Mongolia...
So, here are the latest news on the expedition:
- Gulnara flew in Urümqi on Thursday Oct 24th from Kazan to cycle the next section with me.
Quite thrilled to have her back on the trail by my side!
- In addition, my 1 year Kazakh visa has been approved and it will be ready on Thursday October 31st.
This gives us in the meantime, one week to explore Urümqi and its surroundings and start cycling westward 660 kms towards the Kazakh border on Nov 1st.
You might wonder: Why am I asking for 1 year Kazakh visa?
To give myself all the flexibility that I need in the event that I try to go through Iran, get denied entry and decide instead to proceed north around the Caspian Sea through Kazakhstan.
Stay tuned for that one...
2005-2012 Pictures Update!
We have posted new Nexus Expeditions pictures in Flickr for the years 2005-2012, from Anchorage, Alaska until Kharkhorin, Mongolia !
We will probably wait until we stop cycling sometimes this winter for a limited period (to take care of administrative and visa related matters) to seriously update the blog with latest stories from Mongolia and China as well as post 2013 pictures!
It is indeed not the easiest to access/update this blocked blog website within China (because of current Chinese governmental imposed restrictions) and therefore it makes the most sense to wait until we have cycled on to Kazakhstan and further west to do so.
In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy these shots taken on the trail between 2005 and 2012!
Cheers!
Dimitri & Gulnara
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