Cycling to Asia, Dusan 5

Predchadzajuci clanok sa niesol v znameni velkych, dnes uz naplnenych, cyklistickych snov, o ktore by som sa s Vami teraz rad podelil.
Vzhladom na cas, bezpecnost a zaujimavost roznych usekov Karakoram Higway (KKH) sme sa zhodli na tom, ze najlepsie bude ak sa na sever odvezieme autobusom, kus pobyciklujeme a naspat do Islamabadu opat autobusom.
Neznajuc toho naco si treba dat pri volbe autobusu pozor, nasadli sme do prveho lacneho, ktory nam bol ponuknuty. Nasledovalo 26 hodin nezabudnutelnej jazdy v autobuse s nefungujucimi tlmicmi. Na polorozbitej KKH sme teda precitili kazdy kamienok a prejazd mensou dierou v ceste znamenal nieco ako slabsiu ranu do zaludka. No brutalitka:) Posledne dve hodiny sme prezili len vdaka balancovaniu v polostoji.. Nadsenie krajinou, ktora nas obklopovala vsak bolo intenzivnejsie ako utrpenie z jazdy a tak sme do prijemneho baltistanskeho Skardu dorazili bez vaznych dusevnych ujmov a po dni rekonvalescencie boli opat pripraveni nasadnut na nasich ocelovych tatosov, smerom do rozpravky..
Jesen v udoli Skardu tiahnucom sa asi 200 km vychodne od KKH bola vo svojej azda najkrajsej tohtorocnej etape. Strme skalnate himalajske stity, v upatiach lemovane pozlatenymi polickami, lesikmi a alejami, pomedzi ktore si svoju cestu razil dravy Indus, vyrazali dych. Cesta sledujuca divoku riecnu riavu obcas zachadzala do zabudnutych horskych dedin, kde sa dali pozorovat jesenne prace najjednoduchsich ludi, akych nase oci dosial uzreli. Obcasne zastavenie na presladeny caj zanechalo dojem zazitia stredoveku. Zivotu na ulici v Pakistane celkovo dominuje muzska spolocnost. Zeny mozno v horach zhliadnut len v doprovode deti, pri praci na poli alebo hrbiace sa pod obrovskymi kosmi plnymi zasob razdia na tuhu zimu. Marne pokusy zvacnit ich takto fotoaparatom vraj mohli skoncit aj horsie ako len nevrlymi pohladmi. A asi je to dobre, za niecim treba jednoducho cestovat dalej ako len na vystavu, prezentaciu..
Ako na najkrajsi moment cyklistiky v udoli Skardu spominam na chvilu pred opatovnym napojenim sa na KKH. Najpanenskejsia priroda bola uz za nami a ja som zacal stale inenzivnejsie prezivat pominutelnost prijemneho prezivania nadhernych scenerii. Niezeby som zrazu osmutnel, prave naopak. V jednej chvili som v mysli pozoroval tak nadsenie okolim ako i vedomie pominutelnosti tychto i inych krasnych momentov v zivote putnika. Skratka, akoby som to prezival tak nejak plnsie, realnejsie. Cele som to prezival a zdielal s Jancim, ktoreho prave klatila horucka a bolave hrdlo, co este vacsmi umocnovalo ono poznanie. ..na horizonte masiv Nanga Parbat v plnej parade..
Po troch dnoch cyklistiky nasledoval tyzden nutneho relaxu v meste Giligit. ..taka uz himalajska matematika:) Neskor sa autobusom presuvame dalej na sever az takmer k cinskym hraniciam, kde sa nasa stvorica rozdeluje. Kevin s Arjanom slapu az na samotny sever, spravit si v khunjerabskom priesmyku svoj osobny rekord. Prilezitost vyslapat do cca 4700 m n.m. sa hold nenaskyta kazdy den. My s Jancim sa pustame na juh, smer niekdajsie kralovstvo Hunza, legendarna oblast KKH. Nasleduju styri dni ozajstnej cyklistickej Odysei. S vedomim toho, ze toto su posledne cyklisticke kilometre nasej velkej cesty, slapeme velmi pomaly, lahucko. Uveliceni dokonalym prirodno-kulturynym divadlom sa akoby len presuvame z jedneho miesta s nadhernym vyhladom na druhe. Posedavame, obdivujeme, prezivame.. Vsetko v hlbokej harmonii nas samotnych s rozpravkovym okolim. Kralovska rozlucka..
V Gilgite opat nasadame na autobus, ktory nas po 20 "zaujimavych" hodinach prenasa spat do tepleho Islamabadu, kde si mame splnit uz len dve povinnosti. Poslat domov bycikle a vyzdvihnut barmske viza. Oboje bolo, ako inac, zazitkom. Navsteva barmskej ambasady tym menej prijemnym. Vsetko potrebne na ziskanie viz sme odoslali postou z Gilgitu a podla prvotnych slov Ubu (Ujo barmsky uradnicek) mali byt viza vystavene po 3-4 dnoch. Prekvapenie prve - Ubu nam oznamuje, ze nase dokumenty sice dostal, no nemohol ich odoslat dalej na spracovanie do Barmy, pretoze nevidel original nasho pasu. S usmevom na tvari nam oznamuje, ze mame vraj pockat dalsich 7-10 dni. Vravime si, dobre, tyzden volna urcite hodnotne zuzitkujeme. Nestihame sice indicky Himacal Prades, no Varanasi a Bodhgaja budu stacit.. Prekvapenie druhe - po desiatich dnoch nam Ubu oznamuje, ze ziadame o specialny druh viz a cely proces sa pretiahne o dalsich 10-12 dni.
To uz je trochu prisilna kava. Nielenze uz pozname kazde zakutie umeleho, nahle vystavaneho Islamabadu (predovsetkym sektory G8 a F10..), mesta bez duse, Indiu uvidime len z okna vlaku, ale zacina vazne hrozit, ze nestihneme lietadlo z Kalkaty do Rangunu..
A co sa s tym celym da robit? Po zvazeni hrstky moznosti si konecne uvedomujeme, ze jedine rozumne riesenie, spociva v zmiereni sa so situaciou a trpezlivom vyckavani. Prijat zmenene podmienky a prisposobit sa im, velka to zivotna vyzva. Tak teda budujeme neoblomnu trpezlivost, no zaroven nestracame nadej, ze sa na nas opat raz Allah usmeje a vsetko tak nejak priaznivo dopadne. Ved nie len o tom, co si v zivote naplanujeme a automaticky zacneme povazovat za to - pre nas - najlepsie, je zivot:)

Romantika, to je trocha stradania s velkym povznesenim, Priatelia!

Cycling to Asia, The End

You know, everything comes to an end. Inevitable as sunset and maybe sad as broken heart, but universal.

So did our cycling part of this journey. But no need to be sad because we continue to move eastwards. We are merely just changing our way of transport. Bicycles -as beautiful and independent they are -have one disadvantage: time. Many would argue that this is not really a problem. Of course! All it's needed is plenty of it and all is fine. But planing is something that we don't like to do more than necessary so now we run out of this unique concept. We have simply no time to cycle from Islamabad to Kolkata. It's not only our fault. One thing is that the Karakoram was to tantalizing to resist going there. Other reasons are that stomach problems are almost inevitable in dirty country like Pakistan. Catching flue the same. And lastly but not the least is there the factor Burmese embassy. If we would like to blame somebody, than they are the easiest victims. But we try to take everything as it is and as it comes. So all we have to do is to adjust to this situation. Good for keeping flexible.

Section Backpacking is starting. First get rid of all unnecessary stuff. Get a cartoon box, disassemble the bicycle, clean all the parts, pack it, bring the 25kg parcel to the post office. Here go trough tons of odd procedures -highlight is sewing the box into cotton bag and send your never tired companion home. OK, one thing done. Than decide what to take with you -not too much since now you're gonna carry it on your back, not too little since cold can be miserable. Now back what's not needed and send it home. Yeah so little things. No tent, no stove and cooking gear and no winter cloths... What for? India and Burma are going to be warm.

Dusan caught some bad cough. Nothing pleasant, but what time is better to heal properly than waiting one week (so far...) in boring modern capital of Pakistan? Packing and preparing for backpacking is surprisingly time consuming. So far we didn't have to deal with train schedules, bus time tables and hotels for shelter. Bicycle gives you lot of freedom. No hassle. No time stress. If a town is too far to reach in a day, no problem, just camp somewhere before it and finish the journey the other day. You cycle as much as you feel like. You are the manager of your time.

Now things change. Trains leave if we are late. Buses don't stop when we would like to have a break. Hotels might be full and camping is literally out of reach in India. No big deal, at least we can easily send the tent home. Good thing is that we can start focusing on other things. No fatigue from cycling. No need to take shower every day. Time to read. Time to meditate... Burma is behind the door steps so why not to calm down a bit. After a week we are ready. Now just pick up the so desired visa and GO!

NB: This is a big change. I thing next trip is going to be quite ordinary so I will most likely not update so many new articles. But India will be full of surprises so maybe not. Never-less the section "Cycling to Asia" is definitely over.

Cycling to Asia, week 15

Why? Why do people willingly undertake such hardship as: long train trips, discomfort in buses, food poisoning, almost a heatstroke from hot weather, catching flue in cold mountains, diarrhea, fever, dirt everywhere, fatigue etc just to see something or in the better case experience other things? Yes, the nature can be beautiful and calming. The cities are just the opposite. Is that temple worth it? Or is it the ancient statue? All is just impermanent peaces of stones or bricks... But I like it!!!

No, no traveling is awesome. The experiences are useful, knowing the cultures as well -just that the side effects can be shocking sometimes longlasting. After severe cold that took 8 days to get back most of my previous strength we finally left Gilgit. I still didn't feel much like cycling but I really had enough of lying around. We took a bus to Sost -just 80 km from the Chinese border. A journey in a small overcrowded peace of junk on the "best quality" gravel road is unforgettable -specially when it stretch from original 8 hours to 10 hours... The sardines in tin have better conditions... Sost is 2700 m high which is obvious from the first moment you stretch your legs from the bus. Cold and hostile -this was probably just due to another power cut, but still. Cold hotel room and freezing water -what can beat this?

Kevin and Arjan likes challenges so they decided to finish the whole KKH and cycle to the Khunjerab pass. Just a 80 km of pushing the pedals up the hill all the way to 4700m. Nothing for us. Me and Dusan don't have to experience everything. Riding down to the south is good enough. Finally just us two. Lads were fine, but riding in two and riding in four or five is another story. Well and me and Dusan got pretty well together... some easy riding followed. Except the first day form Sost. The sun didn't show up. The frost everywhere is real and the barren landscape around makes the whole scenery quite hostile. There are no trees just rocky slopes and gravel road, together with the wind it's a survival riding -OK, OK, with little bit of exaggeration. My sore throat doesn't help. The cold is sheer. I enjoy that, never less.
The next days changed a lot. Simply add a sunshine and you can cut the happiness from our faces. We ride trough the heart of Hunza valley -easily background for paradise stories. Autumn colored the whole scenery with extravagant colors. Sun pleasantly warms us up. The peaks are covered with white toppings. The sky is turquoise and the KKH is excellent cycle path (but horrible road if you plan to drive trough). We stop on every turning and take pictures of every valley. World like from a fairy tale is obvious statement, but I can't avoid it.
We camped in Aliabad, with the view of majestic Rakaposhi (7700m). The night is "fresh", but our gear is good enough. Minimalism is extremism. Not recommended!

More relaxed riding probably doesn't exist. The road copies the river, goes up and down, turns left and right and what's quite appropriated by us goes mostly downhill. But still we hardly do 50km a day! Record is just 28km. What can you do if it's so immensely beautiful? The only "problem" is hot water. After 4 days of cycling shower would be nice, but if there is no electricity then there is no hot water. Simple but cruel. Our saviors are local barbers. They always have hammam -nothing like the Turkish ones, but gooood enough for sweaty frozen riders.

Back to Gilgit, booking the bus ticket to Rawalpindi and hurray for souvenir shopping. Blankets, local hats, scarfs... beautiful stuff.
Next day another suffering bus ride. Nothing compared to the one we undertake to get up here, but still an experience. Totally jammed bus seemed like the only connection to Pindi -the driver stopped to pick up almost everybody, during few hours we ended up 4 on seats for 2 and a kid in European standards. How naive we were when we trusted the ticket seller, who promised that it will be just for us... lol! The bus averages 20km/h -bit better then bicycle... this can be understood since the road goes trough the highest mountain range in the world... Sounds good, ini? Not for Dusan who spent half of the journey with his head out of the window leaving the content of his stomach as a trace behind us. Somehow I did manage to sleep -how? Even I don't know. We were pretty chewed up when we got out, just able to ride to Islamabad and get some sleep in the Rose&Jasmin camping. All this just to get our Myanmar visas and get to India.

So you can imagine our disappointment when we got the the embassy. Eager to apply for our 3 month visas, suffered a shock after meeting the Ambassador. With all the respect a typical example of bureaucratic puppet. We have send him all the required documents from Gilgit, to speed up the process of application. All for nothing, since he didn't process our documents, basically didn't do anything -just because he didn't have our original passports. By the way he is not going to send them anywhere, or do anything else than stick the visas in them. Now when he has them he can send our documents to Burma and wait till they reply. This will take at least one week... HURRAY! What shell we do in this boring modern capital?
I let you know.