AT THE GATES OF HELL.. / Yojing /25.9. 2007

It is a constant sound. A rumbling sound of heavy trucks passing by. Sometimes the old fashioned tucking of a three-wheeler break it I just wonder how many of these blackened dusty monsters pass by per hour…too tired to start counting. But, I cannot get in to a good sleep either. Nothing wrong with this bed – even if the hotel itself is quite funky.

Two days earlier we did the second exhausting mountain pass in just a few days. We are both getting tired of this climbing in rough and steep terrain. But the temptation to go a shorter way is always there. Besides, the old routes usually were the short ones. Better stick to the traditions here. A few kilometers north of Witan Shan town and the villages seemed to live the way they always have. A bit difficult to even imagine that one of the great touristy spots were just around the corner. The climb to the top of the pass took us three hours – a distance of five kilometers. The view at 2600 meters is awesome – but a bit difficult for me to appreciate. Too much is too much. We have seen so much of it that no matter how hard I try or even how beautiful the landscape is…it is difficult to take in. So we continued down along the paved way. The paving is concrete – very much used in China. It is more labor intense to do but it lasts longer. Besides, not so slippery when wet. And for the horses it is a much better surface than asphalt. It was getting late and quite chilly and dark as we proceeded down to the valley. Some short cuts here and there, but quite dangerous due to the steep and stony terrain. Our truck is waiting for us on a ridiculous spot – not good for camping. He driver and the cook both looked baffled. We continued a few kilometers down. Not more because it was to dark and the traffic again too heavy. A decent spot close to the road and as we were about to raise our tents some locals appeared almost from nowhere. - It is quite cold. We have an empty house…you can sleep there, one of the men said. We decided to take a look. Nice surprise. And people sometimes are surprisingly friendly. Ten minutes later we are invited in to their humble living quarters. Same design as before. Kitchen and sleeping place in the same space. The bigger room next to it if for multipurpose use - animal shelter in the winter, storing and drying place during spring and autumn. The woman, looks like she would in her sixties is cooking something and offers a shy smile. Probably she is in her forties. The man grabs a key and shows us to a building near by. Same type of house as the one before. Both Kristian and I nod acceptingly – and on our way I ask Suyunbay, our guide to check what they maybe want in return. 200 Yuan is the prompt answer. Yeah…hospitality. That sum is equivalent to half of their monthly earnings. And four people can have decent rooms of their own in any town… Back to camp. We did hit the highway at 9.00 am – six kilometers of heavy traffic then up to another pass to climb. Sigh.. Now this stretch was quite something. Very heavy and dusty. The black coal dust is everywhere. Trucks passing in high speed …sometimes four beside each other. Desperately trying to overtake each other. A man in middle of the lane with a shovel collecting compressed coal dust for his own use. Free energy – but oh so dangerous. Hen a bus coming from the opposite direction trying to avoid the trucks. Luckily one hour later we are out of this. And furthermore one hour and the surroundings look very pristine. A small village here and there, big lush green mountains ahead. According to the roadmap there should be a road all the way over the mountains. Remains to be seen. The mud road turns into a donkey trail – winding along the cliffs. We had lunch at a beautiful spot just outside a village. This was where our truck could come. Nice weather and we all in fairly good spirits. Until we realized that the path turned into something like an invisible trail. And it was getting steeper. All four of us had quite enough of mountain climbing with or without horses. My calves were almost numb and I winder what Gustaf was thinking – because he has been more and more reluctant to do these heavy climbing’s. No wonder. Again – some hours later we were on the top. Beautiful view – but somehow it is getting more and more difficult to digest. Next day was through a monotonous valley filled with fields. Some interesting scenes like following the farmers to their vinegar making station. Large ceramic bowls filled with this vinegar that is so common in Shanxi. It is used to almost every dish – a bit like soy sauce. We continue to the northeast crossing some of the worst towns I have ever seen. Really like being at the gates of hell. Unbelievably dirty, dusty - the air filed with fumes and almost every building in so bad condition that the previous horror towns of Gansu province are in comparison true beauties. Well, not really …but almost. We manage to get through this hellhole and even find a truck drivers motel 10 km outside the town. Is this what was ahead of us for the rest of this journey to Hohot? And after that? …Were are thoughts, as we were sipping a cold beer and enjoying a piece of moon cake in the motels restaurant. I turned my head toward the big portrait of Mao. He gave no answer. Nor did he look a bit ashamed or worried of what state his China is in.

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