We’ve mentioned before the unknowns of travelling by bike and the parallels it has with our lives.  None of us can imagine or predict what lies around the corner.  This last month we broke our ‘cycle-touring-with-another-couple’ virginity in splendour. Joining up with Michel and Pascale, a magical couple from Switzerland. Time in the saddle quickly gets you down and dirty and we bid farewell with love, as firm new friends.  Unimaginably, we heard yesterday that Pascale passed away 2 days after we parted.  Her cause of death is as yet unknown. We are all in massive shock and will be helping Michel with his journey home in the coming days. We wanted to post this blog as a tribute to a beautiful, inspiring woman who was living her dream with the man she loved. The photo’s and story that follow are as much hers as ours. She had an eye for the magic in life and will  be incredibly missed.

We got more than just full panniers in Shangri La, leaving rested and raring to go with an additional two cyclists! Michel and Pascale were a breath of Swiss fresh air and the silver lining to our journey through the Tibetan Himalayas. Over the course of a months’ cycling we developed a mutual love for Chinese Snickers (the best yet), swapped kit tips and tales from the road and wallowed in the magic of our surroundings.

The Swiss contingent hail from a small mountain village.  Pascale had worked in the Himalayas and her local mountains as a high altitude Doctor and Michel grew up on a farm in rural Switzerland.  Their love of the high country and Great Outdoors was a challenge even to our own. And with Pascales drive for camping whenever and wherever possible our tents and cookers have been used with vigour.

The weather was with us as we left Shangri La to meet the slow climbs into our next province. Cycling in four was a new dynamic and took us all while to find our rhythms and battle against the returning Altitude Sickness. Our passes were taking us to 4,600m and it was a struggle of headaches, shortness of breath and nausea before our bodies adjusted. Dramatic peaks were back on the horizon and with passes flanked by ghostly moss covered trees, the adventure took on a new dimension.

Our second day rolled us across the provincial border.  We’d heard the first pass in Szechuan was unpaved and tough.  What greeted us was gravel and boulders coated nicely in a torrential downpour. As the going and weather got worse, with the night drawing in we took shelter in our tents by a lonely looking shack. 

It wasn’t till the tents were up we realised we’d set them down in the local al fresco human deposit stop.  There’s not many better ways to break the ice with new friends than shovelling human faeces from around your tent!

Come the morning, rain was still featured as we headed out to complete the climb. Though coming down the clouds began to part. Brilliant golden glimpses of the Tibetan villages and farmland sparkling through to the valley below. 

The traditional houses in this region resemble mini fortresses.  Complete with their own medieval toilet box hanging off the side. Imposing yet colourful structures, built and extended upon as the years go by or the family grows.  Each town uses whatever natural material is closest at hand so the dwellings morph from timber to mud, to slate and stone.  The manicured tourism of Yunnan was becoming a distant memory as the more authentic Tibetan tide flowed over the land and people.

It was three more days arduous and spell binding peddling to reach our first stop of Litang.  With all four of us preferring the freedom of wild camping, backed by Pascales determined spirit, our larders were primed for self sufficiency.  Pitching tents by remote villages or on the isolated banks of mountain riversides were the perfect punctuations of Szechuan.  Freezing cold skinny dips at the end of the day, setting the adrenalin down and the soul to rest ensured sleep came fast.

From the ghostly trees of the province crossing we were soon cycling up what felt like Alpine passes. Vast boulder strewn rivers roaring by as we journeyed forward. The landscape constantly shifting from one rise to the next. Then from Alpine passes we traversed a mesmerising high altitude plain.  Slow moving wide rivers mixed with a lunar, undulating and rocky pasture.  Only hungry marmots and yaks shared the summer harvest.

Another contrast greeted us in Litang.  Gone were the Electric scooters and shiny streets of Yunnan.  Mad Max motorbikes, Buddhist monks and braided haired cowboys owned the highways.  Women adorned in immaculate traditional dress, bargaining amidst frenetic markets as whole pig carcass’s were bought in for the chop.  A captivating couple of days recuperation and people watching ensued.

China is investing by the barrel in Szechuan.  Construction is everywhere with roads making up the bulk of the effort.  Smooth surfaces are a welcome addition and we’ve been cutting out plenty of climbs through tunnels burrowed in the tummy of mountains.  It was one such tunnel that took us out of Litang to our next valley and onward climb to Ganzi. 

You instantly see and feel the deep respect the Tibetan people have for their land and animals. Streams, peaks and passes are adorned with Tibetan flags and off the roads the horse is King. A few miles out of Litang we fortunately stumbled across a local riding show in full swing.  Bell clad horses, bow and arrow wielding riders spearing targets on the ground. Sandwiched in a cacophony of monks, wives and children was like stepping into a different world.

From the pass, rocky roads soon returned and we pushed forward as the daily rain joined the scrum. Heads down and tired we crossed a very rickety bridge for a night camping on a cliff above a swollen gorg. The tent continuing to stack up it’s unique pitches.

As well as the ever changing scenery the cycling also encompassed a large portion of high sided river valleys.  About 50% of our climbs were in such confines. The Mountainous borders keep the scenery at bay and with climbs stretching the course of a day we’ve had our head phones on and legs spinning.  Coming out of the next such valley it was with all the more joyful to finally roll into the open meadows bordering Ganzi.

A more Chinese flavour permeates this town.  Car horns were back with a vengeance, tourism was on the rise and power cuts peppered our days off as the town supply struggled to keep us with it’s demand.  Luckily a fantastic market and Tibetan Yak pies re-fuelled our bodies and we were soon back on the road for the final stint.

Our journey would now take us North to Seda Monastery.  Before that however we had our last 4000m+ climb to tackle. Grunting, gasping and sweating we finally rolled down to the turn off for Seda only to find the road closed. Ongoing tensions in this region are common and those without a Chinese passport were refused entry. These shifting boundaries and differences were clear to see and hear between the indigenous people of this region and the Eastern Chinese. Our only hope is that harmony isn’t too far away.

After a forced day off from torrential rain it was back to the valleys for our ascent to the Aba grasslands.  As the Himalayas in India are the respite for the stifled city residents, the high altitude fringes of Szechuan and Yunnan are the go to July-August destination for those from the East. Moving away from the Tibetan side the Yaks begin again to mix with dairy cows in a hairy hybrid and the traditional dress makes way for the more fashion conscious Chinese.  A constant mixing pot of old and new.

The Grasslands didn’t disappoint.  Our last stop in China and from the high sided oppressive gorges you couldn’t have asked for a better dose of eye stretching.  Vast flat plains and endless sky.  Dotted with smoking yurts, roaming cowboys and herds of yaks and horses.  As the sun set and we escaped the road to the banks of a meandering river, we enjoyed the most sensational final wild camp with our Swiss friends.

And then at the turn of a road the following day, we went East and Michel and Pascale continued North.  A quick goodbye with the knowledge we’d meet again soon someday.  A last night camping on the edges of the vast plains for Donkey and I saw the day close on an incredible adventure through this mystical province.

More than ever in this post we’re remembering the people we love and our bold new friends Pascale & Michel.  Life is always overflowing with unknowns and unanswered questions, a topic Pascale and I often discussed at length whilst rolling through the miles.  So I’ll finish with what she said to me as we parted that day on the Aba grasslands: 

‘Enjoy the question marks’.

T&B

X

P.S. After some deliberation we’ll be skipping Mongolia on this trip. Logistics and expenses didn’t add up. So from here, Chengdu, we’ll fly to Japan a month early.  Hokkaido awaits and the tent will be our home for the next three months as the land of the rising sun is a little expensive.  The stove will be fired up once more and we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for a dry Autumn in the East.