Chinese Military - Day 3

Nyemo to Jangdong (near Chinese Military Camp)... moved after 10pm to a Tibetan community 8kms away in the dark windstorm.

119km
RIDING TIME 6h:08mins

Another long day ahead, they told us today, Day 3, is the hardest one. The first 17k was cold and I had numb feet and frozen hands. Terry and I realized Mark was way at the back by himself so we waited for awhile for him to catch up. He's got a rough knee and is getting sick. Also, theres nothing worse than riding all alone with only the minibus behind you and the entire group up ahead of you.

The 3 of us rode on together and Terry and I literally pushed him up the rolling hills. At about 45 k though things went bad. First I got a flat on my front tire, which I changed pretty fast, no problem. Then Terrys tire went down. Then my back tire went down a few k later. I changed the tube but within one K it went down again! I was losing it, because I told Mark and Terry to head on up to the lunch spot, we all thought it was nearby , but it was actually at least 20 k away. I found a new tube in my bag and got my tire back rolling again, fighting the wind by myself. When I came around a corner, I saw Terry there, looking utterly deflated. HIS tire was down again. We fixed it up and then worked together fighting the headwind to get to the lunch spot at 67km. Because of all of our flats though, we were late getting there, and it was pretty well an "eat and get rolling" again.

Despite the heartburn and burps that inevitably come when you eat then push on like that, somehow Terry and I ended up at the front of the pack all afternoon. 4 of us shared the wind and we made some good time getting to the camp spot. Total for the day, 119kms!

I had a quick shower in the shower 'tent', where you basically pour warm water over your head and wash fast, then step out into thorns. A few Chinese military guys were wandering around on the other side of the creek, apparently their base is close by. It was beginning to get dark when a few more military men came over, questioining us, why we are so close to their base. Despite our guides pleas, they would show no reason. We had to move our camp. Imagine this, 14+ tents, 14 tourists, 6 staff, and its dark, all after having ridden the hardest day of the trip... They told us by 10pm we had to be out. A few of us helped to take down all the tents, while more and more military showed up and shone their flashlights around to make sure that we left. There were alot of bitter people.. all we were going to do was sleep for the next 12 hours and ride on, with their tiny training camp far off in the distance though, they would have nothing of the sort.

We had to crowd into the minibus and truck, drive 8k down the road to a small Tibetan community, where a nice older lady waved us towards a spot we could set up. The problem was the duststorm that was hitting, holding the tents down, fighting to put them up. It took a good 2 hours to finish it. Many people helped set up in the wild wind, while a few others hopped into a tent as soon as possible. Marks sounding rough tonight, dry cough and pretty pasty. He'll come around tomorrow though.

I guess we got a bit of a glimpse of how the Chinese govt and military works tonight, though admittedly, 1/1000th of how unfairly the Tibetans have been treated over the past 50-60 years. Theyve had their way of life change more in the past 50 years than probably in the previous 1000. There are paved roads all over here now, and they're creeping across Tibet like a virus. You think that its so the Tibtans can have more access? With their little wagons pulled by a donkey/horse, or broken down bikes? I dont even know if many own cars. Its so the military can keep a watch on everyonee, keep control, access more, extract more of TIBET'S resources, expand more, money money power power... I wont go off into my own diotribe right now because the computer is rough here... another time.