Plans change, but keep on truckin'

On a wet and miserable day I awoke, what an awful day to set off for the return trip to Europe. But hey it isn't me having to ride the bike this time, I can't say I envy Konrad at this stage of the game. But he woke up in an intoxicating mood, the weather wasn't putting him off in the slightest. It still made me a bit twitchy seeing my bike being ridden away by someone else, shouting yeeha as he accelerated up the ramp out of the guesthouse. Sounds like good progress has been made, up to the border in one day, across by 9 am the following morning, and then on to Irkutsk. What a shame I'm so crap at carrying my mobile phone, maybe then I could have been at hand when he found he couldn't start the bike. Yep, I'd had the same problem myself a few times. I was convinced the starter button was dodgy, but found it could be a bit temperamental; press it right and it was fine. Once discovering this it never gave any more problems for me. Oh well, Konrad's solution was to rip out the wires and now starts it by touching the wires together. If only I'd had my phone on me when the problem occurred. But I can't get into that headspace, I've entrusted my bike to him, I have to give him the freedom to make the decisions now. My poor bike, no wonder I don't let other people work on my bikes. (Photo: Desert Nomads - Gobi Desert, Mongolia)

It isn't fair of me to slag him off, he's doing me a favour, I should be grateful not critical. The main point of this is to get my bike back to Europe and give Konrad the chance to end his year of travelling with a touch of adventure. It's a two way deal, I must respect that! I have my own plans, which change with tides (not that there are any in Mongolia). Tomorrow I catch a train to Beijing, I'm a backpacker now, whether I appreciate it or not. To fully enjoy the experience I must get off the well travelled circuit, and I won't do this by taking the Trans-Siberian Express. So I'm not heading back through Russia, instead I'll try to wind my way through the north west of China by local buses. From Urumqui I can catch a bus to Almaty in Kazakhstan, before dropping down into Kyrgyzstan. So the places I get to won't change too much, and I'm still doing the tour of Tibet, but now in a 4x4. This shouldn't be too bad, same route, same atrocious road, yet in relative comfort. One benefit of this is the ability to appreciate the surrounding countryside more, sit back and enjoy the experience rather than concentrate solely on the road. I like the idea of buying a small bike once clear of China, a throwaway machine to take me round Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. Whether this works out is yet to be seen, only time will tell. (Photo: More than a little personal space - Gobi Desert, Mongolia)

My main concern at the moment is to keep on a positive footing, by reserves are low. I don't feel too much of a failure, but neither do I fully appreciate the effort of making it this far. Spending two weeks in the capital has been awful, it's ground me down, I hate cities and begrudge having to spend time in them.Ulaan Baatar is no exception, it sucks! For days now I've hardly gone into the streets at all, it wears me out too quick, and I don't mean physically. But if I can't handle it here how will I cope with Beijing? Probably by spending as little time there as possible, There are so many cities in China my only hope it to find ways of avoiding them, hence the use of local buses. I have a nagging feeling that it will be a bit of an endurance test. There are friends to visit though, in Urumqui, so I will have a break from solitude. Really the only way to find out how suited I am the place is get there and see for myself. So many people say how difficult dealing with Chinese people can be, how harsh their culture. I guess I'll see for myself real soon. (Photo: Long and winding road - Gobi Desert, Mongolia)