M.O.S.A.W. > Historias > Asia > China (part I) > 

Let the Chinese get away from me... (06-10-2008)

Bad thoughts! when I got to Tashkourgan (the far border, but border, between Pakistan and China) images came to my mind of the day I got to the border between Iran and Turkmenistan.

Like that day, the bike failed. But this time it happened in the day, so I could repair it. However, I have also wandered about the city finding a place to sleep. Three hours later I found a bed and a place to write my story, from Kashgar to here. I could not connect before. Internet was hidden in Tashkourgan in a messy and dirty place. I asked the guy at the nearby shop for some help to watch my bike. But he left fast. Normal in this country, people have no interest whatsoever in helping you. Chinese people live in their world and do not want to know anything about yours. It is not enough to say NO when they try to take a picture of you climbing up at 4000m. They also want an explanation, and in Chinese as they hardly speak English. But I come from the mountains where the sky is so blue that the clouds become snow not to outstand. The high snowy summits shine more than the blue of the ocean.
Tourists, in their cars, watch this beautiful landscape through the windows. It is too cold outside to pull the window down. Some of them take pictures, useless, as they cannot illustrate the beauty outside. It is like drinking a fresh orange juice with a broken straw. Fortunately, mountains do not lie. They are a treasure, but a hidden treasure, only showing the beauty to some of us. Cold and altitude are watching and looking after them.
Silence is incredible here, you can feel it on the rocks and snow. There are no electricity posts, or ads advertising cell phones. The only music is your heart beat. Not even planes overfly these latitudes. Watching these summits is a sign of humbleness, resignation. I have changed country and some things have changed too. Police force for instance. different from the Chinese police (before saying good morning they ask you for your passport or say always NO, whatever you ask), the Police Force in Pakistan living on 120 dollars a month give you a smile before asking them whether you can sleep at the border office. Although kids ask you for a Uanpen (a pen), like in Marrocco. They are not guilty. The stupid tourists have passed by for years and years throwing pens out of the windows of their cars. From the Valley of Hunza, still at more than 2000m (for more than 10 days already), Peace and Well Being, the Biciclown.