Cycling Adventures

Ruatahuna – like NZ was 30 years ago?

25 January, 2020 3 Comments

Last Friday dawned wet and cold with very low clouds cloaking the surrounding ranges. With a couple of rest days our bodies were refreshed, and we were keen to be back on the road. With bikes loaded, and us dressed in our wet weather gear we cycled out of the Lake Waikaremoana Holiday Park not knowing what lay ahead – always the fun bit!!

The bush was looking fresh, clean, and had that familiar smell about it. All the dust from the previous days had been washed off the leaves and branches – the atmosphere was magical. The road followed the edge of the lake which you’d often get a glimpse of, realising just how big the lake was. We were blessed with pot holes that could be easily avoided, very little considerate traffic, gentle climbs and descents until the last big descent into Rautahuna – 14 km downhill. With rain jackets zipped up we zapped down into Rautahuna, stopping often to flex our hands to get some feeling back into our fingers – it was cold. It was hard to believe we had climbed so high to have such a long descent. (For the record, Sari zapped down, I’m a very cautious, slow down-hill rider.)

We’d heard a lot about Rautahuna and couldn’t wait to see this very small town with its new building (designed by the same architect as the Lake Waikaremoana building), including tribal office, store, café and chalets for accommodation. This development has been possible because of the Treaty of Waitangi settlement in 2014. Included in the settlement was the disestablishment of Urewera National Park and the administration of the land passed to the Te Urewera Board, which comprises of Tuhoe and crown representatives. The Treaty settlement seems to have had a positive impact on many of the people we meet. Many of them who’ve been born in Te Urewera are still living there, and some while born there, went away and now returning after 35 years away (barrista in Mou Mou Cafe). One man called Pou is back living in the same house he was born in, and his grand-daughter has recently been born in the same house!. He was a gardener at Rautahuna along with Hone. Both of these men are very proud of their heritage and seemed to enjoy having a chat to a couple of outsiders. Pou was once in the territorials (part time soldier like myself) so we had some interesting conversations of past adventures.

Mou Mou Cafe

Doesn’t food taste great when you are cold and wet? I never normally eat mince pies but seeing them in the heated food cabinet was too much to resist along with a delicious piece of carrot cake and two large flat whites. The prices were very cheap yet the food was as good as anywhere. Included in the Cafe space was the local store; shelves stacked with everyday food at very reasonable prices for the locals.

As we cycled these delightful back roads, you get the impression that not much has changed in the last 30 years. Horses, fouls and occasional cattle happily grazed on the side of the gravel road, not moving or lifting their heads as we rode past. In a couple of weeks, the blackberries will be ripe for picking, unfortunately, they were still a little tart.

Typical country side scene around Rautahuna area

Whirianki Conservation Park

One of Sari’s hopes had been to ride the Moerangi Track located in the Whirianki Conservation Park. As we were descending one of the many hills, we meet a couple who were riding to the Moerangi Track. They were very helpful in suggesting how to incorporate the track as part of our adventure. (She had an electric MTB he was riding a normal MTB.) As a result of our conversation we had a short day’s ride and stayed in Whirinake Forest Accommodation on Minginui Road. Garry (owner) also offered a shuttle service to the from the Moerangi Track and suggested we might like to explore some easy trails just up the road, which we did.

You never know what’s around the corner

I soon came unstuck on the mountain bike trail (insufficient MTB skills) and decided to leave Sari to explore the trail and I’d walk and enjoy the original bush and other walking tracks. Just as well I did. As I was hauling my bike over a fallen tree, I saw this man on a 3 wheeler bike (in a recumbent position), stuck, he couldn’t go forward or backwards because of the fallen tree. Graham was his name and he’d had a stroke four years ago. He had his right leg strapped into a harness and his left leg doing most of the peddle turning. He said he couldn’t support himself standing, so with much pushing forwards and then backwards, along with me manually picking up his back wheel and moving it sideways bit by bit, we got him turned around. Oh the relief on both of our faces when he was safely cycling back the way he’d come. He and his family were staying at a camp ground down the road and he thought he’d have a little outing in the beautiful bush. (Who knows how long he would have been out in the bush if I hadn’t come along as there was no other person around.) This little event highlighted for me, how you never know what is going to happen around the next corner, but to keep moving whatever decision you decide to make.

Because of my lack of mountain bike skills Sari and I decided that the next day she’d enjoy the Moerangi Track on her own (she has a PLB) and I’d cycle into Murupara and explore that small town. She would ride in on Monday to join me.

Murupara booked out!

It was a delightful ride to Murupara (on sealed road) but arriving at Murupara was a bit of a shock. I guess any small town on Sunday morning at 9.15 am is quiet. My De Café Murupara was closed ☹, the camp ground office was closed, so only option was to check out the town centre. What a depressing place, so many empty shops. Did notice the new ATM machine!! (A few months back the only ATM was stolen!!) Luckily the 4 Square Supermarket and Bake House Bakery were open. One of the things I’ve learnt on this trip is to always talk to the locals, they’ll provide you with the in’s and outs of their town. Murupara was booked out, there was a conference on in town, so very limited accommodation options.

Finally I meet Melody & Edward (owners) of The Murupara Motor Camp. They were friendly, hospitable and went out of their way to help me. They had recently taken over the management of the camping ground, plus they manage the Recycle Centre and their daughters own and manage De Café Murupara. It was interesting that the majority of the units contained permanent residents, partly because of housing shortage. I was fortunate Melody have a spare permanent unit available for two nights. When I arrived I had felt vulnerable and reluctant to put my tent up in the grounds, as there was no other campers. We were later told that random people just walk through the camp grounds at night time; so pleased I went with my gut feelings. When Sari arrived we spent a day “blobbing out”, reading and chatting with our neighbours.

Murupara to Taupo

Tuesday we left bright and early for Taupo riding through the Kaingaroa Forest (it is huge). Edward had told us there was a big steep hill heading out of Murupara – not something you like to hear first up. As we’ve come to learn people have different perspectives on what are ‘big hills’ and ”gravel road surfaces’ etc etc. Luckily for us the hill was long (18 kms) but not steep.

Onto State Highway 5, it was busy with trucks and cars racing past us – welcome back to the real world!! 🙁

The Bridge (The Secret Spot, aka HotnCold)

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park is a true tourist attraction, tourists everywhere – another reality check! It park contains a Geyser, mud pools, and geothermal park, along with a ‘hotncold’ stream (Waiotapu Stream). If you haven’t visited the stream, put it on your list of “must-do’s”.

This place was very special, so soothing and relaxing. While chilling out it enabled us to chat to a couple of young Hungarian tourists (working in London), and hear about their adventures in New Zealand and their working lives in London – always interesting.

After drying off and changing back into our cycle clothes it was pretty hard getting back on our bikes and peddling off towards Taupo – but sometimes you just gotta do, what you gotta do. The promise of a mouth-watering tip-top ice-cream at Reporoa did wonders for the mind and body.

Sari’s friend Marie picked us up just outside Taupo which was very welcome. Sari and I had been discussing the possibility of us splitting here in Taupo; her heading south and me heading north. But before that decision we needed a cup-of-tea, shower and some food!

The final chapter in a few days! Keep safe out there – Goldcard Gal 🙂

Map: Lake Waikaremoana – Taupo

Our mental toughness and love of the back-roads have been sorely tested!

16 January, 2020 10 Comments

I’m currently sitting inside the beautiful Lake Waikaremoana Information Centre building, which has the fire going as it’s rather chilly outside and it’s raining. The timber panelling on the outside has been burnt to give it an old natural look. Because of the rain Sari and I decided to stay another day here and leave tomorrow for Rautahuna.

Lake Waikaremoana Information Centre and Tuhoe Tribe HQ

Since leaving the flat cycle ways of Napier where we spent a couple of days R & R, we have been seriously challenged. Our love of the back roads and the roads less travelled have tested us physically and mentally. Fortunately both Sari and I are similiar in that when the going gets challenging we can find a way to have a laugh at the situation we are in, always find a positive and to date “have not thrown our toys out of the play pen”.

Everyday since Napier the hills have got longer and steeper, one of the gravel roads has been unrideable, and the sealed roads radiating incredible heat. On Monday we had a particularly challenging day. We’d spent the night on the edge of Lake Putere, approximately 20 kms from Rapunga; delightful little lake tucked away in the middle of nowhere. As we sat eating our delicious dehydrated dinner outside our tents, Sari made the comment “this camp site is so much better than last night, there are no other campers and no noise”. That was all to change when logging trucks started travelling past our quiet camp site at 3 am!! We could hear the trucks changing gears as they descended down the long twisty road, and then past our camp site, the ground vibrating and creating clouds of dust. A truck came past about every 15 minutes, just enough time to doze off again before that old familiar sound of another truck coming! At about 5.30 am we decided enough was enough, let’s get up and getting going.

The first thing Sari said to me that morning was “what do those trucks remind you off?” I knew instantly what she was referring to as I’d had the same thoughts. In Laos in 2006 Sari and I were on another cycling adventure when I’d ‘thrown my toys out of the play pen’. I was exhausted and informed Sari, “I’m not cycling anymore today, we’re staying here and that is that”. Unbeknown to us trucks drove through that tiny village all night long – it was horrendous and we hardly slept a wink. We both had a good laugh about that memory.

There are gravel roads and gravel roads

So far we’ve experienced a variety of gravel roads: firm based roads with little loose gravel – great for riding; roads with corrugations, pots holes and lots of loose metal; and then there is the newly heavily metalled road with larger pieces of stone and no clear driving lanes. This is what we struck Monday morning. There was no way we could ride down the road let alone try and ride up the seemingly never ending hill.

Our day got harder and harder, I guess when you walk 4 kms pushing a bike up hill it does tend to zap your energy level. Luckily for both Sari and I we always manage to find the funny side of things; neither of us ‘throw our toys out of the playpen’, we can always find a positive – though at times it takes some finding; and we know you just have to get on with it and get it done. In that sense we are lucky we both have a similar perspective ‘when the going gets tough, there is no baling out’.

At the top of Waihi Road looking across the valley to where we’d cycled from

We were thankful the country side was spectacular – always a good excuse to stop and take in the views, appreciate our surroundings and be thankful for what our bodies are capable of achieving. We were surrounded by beef and sheep farms, the largest holding being the Landcorp block of Panekiri Station. Of course after every up there is always a down and vice versa; we were blessed with one very long descent to the main road to Waikaremoana – oh, we had worked hard for this – let’s enjoy it!!

Little village called Tuai

We finally made it to a little village called Tuai where we hoped we could either camp or have a cabin. We called in at a place called “Lake Lodge” about 1 km off the main road to Lake Waikaremoana. A young Maori woman opened the glass sliding door and said “you two look as though you could do with a nice cold drink, come inside and I’ll give you one”. The water tasted delicious and we ended up staying in one of their self-contained units. They provided us with a basket of goodies so we could cook ourselves a dinner of fresh vegetables. It’s those small things that we appreciate: the hot shower – finally I could wash my sweaty hair; the electric jug; good bed; clean sheets; fresh vegetables; the list goes on. We thought we had come to heaven!

15 km to Lake Waikaremoana

This should be a breeze – or so we thought. It was raining, the gravel road was muddy, pot holed with many annoying corrugations – another words – bloody hard riding. We’d been peddling for 2 hrs and only covered 7 kms when Blair, a born and raised Tuhoe resident (plenty of tattoos and one front tooth missing) took pity on us and picked us up in his truck and dropped us off at the Lake Waikaremoana Holiday Park. He was our hero for the day and with such a positive attitude, as do all the locals we’ve meet working around here. There is something special happening up here (involving people and environment) and I feel privileged to be experiencing it. 🙂

Our route from Napier

Relaxing time in Lake Waikaremoana Holiday Park

What a fabulous place to stay, the facilities here are excellent and very relaxing. There are many short walks you can do around the holiday park here. We’ve walked to Lake Waikareiti and Papakorito Falls.

Found these thoughts in the communal kitchen – what do you think?

Tomorrow Friday we cycle off to Rautahuna (where we’ve booked accommodation) whatever the weather, so we’re hoping for less wet weather!!

Thank you for your feedback, till next time, Goldcard Gal 🙂

We were blessed: blustery tail winds, quiet roads, and spectacular landscapes

10 January, 2020 19 Comments

“Sari, we need a pick me up, let’s stop here for a cider.” We had left our DOC camping site (Kuripapango in Kaweka Ranges) at 7.30 am that morning and it was now late afternoon and we were feeling jaded!! I had imagined in my mind that once we got close to Napier (a major intersection, with many houses) there would be a dairy, with Tip Top ice-cream in a cone. I could imagine how it was going to taste, just what I was craving. But oh no, no such luck, I felt mentally deflated, and oh the disappointment!!

Unbeknown to us, reprieve was not far along the busy road (our first since Ohakune). There was a large sign displaying freshly made CIDER – Zeffer Cider Co. There was no way we were riding past that, even though we weren’t dressed for such a place! The cider was so delicious, can’t remember the name of it as it was consumed in record speed!! What better way to help lift your mind and body than having a cool, freshly brewed cider. If you ever go to Napier, check this place out, plenty of room for kids to kick a ball while adults sample the wide range of ciders, but no food.

We have been blessed so far with the wind; mostly blustery tail winds, making our ride so much more enjoyable. We have experienced riding on magical quiet roads, sealed and unsealed, within magnificent countryside. On Sunday afternoon as we rode from Ohakune to Taihape via back roads we passed many sheep stations who were getting their large flocks of sheep into their wool-sheds ready for shearing in the coming days. The hill country was quite dramatic, the roads narrow, bordered by either a steep bank up to our right or steep drop-offs to our left and vice versa and lined with 8 wire fencing. The blustery westerly winds continued with buffer us and we were having difficulty finding a suitable camping site, so ended up asking a farmer if we could camp on his farm. He and his wife were very hospitable and even asked us for breakfast, which we politely refused.

First night camping on a sheep farm west of Taihape

The people we have meet

On our third day, Tuesday we meet a variety of diverse people, which made our journey so interesting and entertaining. Most of them all asked the same question “do you mind us asking, how old are you two?” Once they heard our ages, they seemed to think “if those two can do it, surely I can?”

Jack: When I meet Sari at the Ohakune Railway station another tall male (late 40’s) was also getting his bike off the train and loading bags and panniers on to it. We had a little chat with him asking him what his plans were etc etc. He had similar plans to us as far as Napier, then he was travelling back to Wellington via the Wairarapa. We were to meet Jack many times at different locations during our journey across the Kaweka Ranges, finally sharing an evening meal together in Kuripapango campsite. He was doing the trip to loose weight – he was vegan but enjoyed beer and wine daily!! What was fascinating was that people we meet along our route kept us informed as to where and what Jack was up too and vice versa.

The road edge mower and his support driver: We meet these two gentlemen (on day two) out the back on a very quiet gravel road (Matawhero Road), when the windy was howling all around us. They immediately informed us we had come the wrong way! After we reassured them we knew exactly where we were, they chatted on about the countryside, what to expect up ahead, always mentioning the ‘steep climbs” and recommended a camp site. On day three, as we were grunting our way up this steep gravel road there they were ready for another chat. One of them informed us “I saw Jack about 30 minutes ago, heading towards Gentle Annie.” And he went on to say “‘you two have inspired me to get my mountain bike out of the garage and get riding”. We found these interactions a great distraction and always learnt something valuable.

Farm Manager of Otupae Station – Garry Mead: He was one of those interesting talkative people you meet and want to get to know more. He’s been managing Otupae Station for 27 years and ‘this summer is the most windy I’ve ever experienced’ he said. The station is 8,632 hectares, farms 30,000 ewes and 2,500 breeding cows. We meet and chatted with Garry twice that morning within a couple of hours and he’d hoped to meet us somewhere on the road to Gentle Annie in the afternoon after he’d returned from Napier. He said “by then I’ll have a lot more questions to ask you two”. Unfortunately we’d reached our destination before Garry’s return. He was impressed with what we were doing and initially thought we were riding electric bikes!! He did say “you two have inspired me to get a bike with panniers and go off and have an adventure”.

4,000 sheep coming down Mangaohane Road, within Otupae Station

Southern Tours NZ group: We had just come off the Matawhero Road and onto the Taihape – Napier Road. The sealed road was so smooth, more noticeable after the gravel roads we had been riding, so with a tail wind it was a cyclist’s dream! We hardly had to peddle as we flew along the road towards Gentle Annie when we saw a mini van with bike trailer parked on the edge of the road, with a lunch table all set up and about a dozen lycra clad cyclists with tandem bikes milling around. Bas (tour guide) frantically waved us down and asked us to come and have something to eat and drink. What a spread: fruit, soft drinks, chocolates, sandwiches etc etc, Sari and I had only just eaten so couldn’t really take advantage of all the delicious food. They were an interesting group, all Americans over here touring around NZ riding selected roads on tandem bikes with their spouses/partners. They were heading up to the Bay of Islands after riding to Taihape. The couple we spoke to most said this is their third trip to NZ doing this sort of riding. Bas was Dutch and such a hospitable fellow, he loved to joke and have us on. He also informed us of what Jack was up to and Jack had told him we would be coming along shortly.

Acacia: This delightful young woman, with a big smile, open friendly face, strongly built and very tanned we meet at Kuripapango camp site same day as everyone above. She and her then boyfriend had cycled 8,000 miles from London to China, so had many interesting tales to tell us. She is back in NZ visiting family and he currently works in Brussels.

Lunch stop on Taihape – Napier Road, blowing a westerly gale!

The Gentle Annie hill (part of Kaweka Ranges)

It was everything everyone had told us, in one word “STEEP”. There were a number of prior climbs and descents before the actual Gentle Annie hill that were energy draining. We made it to the top, even though we had to walk it! There was a sign warning trucks to ‘change down to 1st gear‘ to navigate the hairpin turns. The descent was steep and slow for me, steep and fast for Sari!!

Kuripapango DOC campsite

This was our destination for the night after climbing Gentle Annie. This camp is located on banks of the Ngaruroro River, which has crystal clear water, and very safe for swimming. It’s a great camp site for families with lots of site options.

Blowhard Bush Reserve

On our way to Napier we stopped off and visited the Blowhard Bush Reserve. This reserve contains many caves, fascinating rock formations and deep water-cut passages. The forest still contains some trees thought to be 7-800 years old. This was one of my “stop off and enjoy the journey” moments, so pleased we did it. There are a variety of walks you can take and enjoy the surrounds.

Great place to break a journey and have a walk. We said our farewells to Jack here.

Thursday, 9 January

Today and tomorrow are our rest days. So far we’ve enjoyed a sleep-in, coffee near Marine Parade, eating plenty of nourishing snacks and enjoying an evening meal of real food rather than dehydrated meals. We are pampering ourselves, as on Saturday we head up towards Lake Waikaremoana. Can’t wait to visit that area, and then ride through to Murupara, on the Waikaremoana Road.

Not sure we’ll make it to Waipatiki Beach as the main road there has been closed due to bush fires.

I won’t be posting again until we reach Murupara or Rotorua which will be several days away.

Oh by the way, we have covered 234 kms over 3 1/2 days, not a big mileage but we are feeling pretty pleased with ourselves.

Thank you for all your responses to my last blog – I’m humbled. Goldcardgal 🙂

And so, the adventure begins!

5 January, 2020 24 Comments

I felt a sense of excitement and anticipation as I attached my tent bag to the bike handle bars, clicked my bright yellow panniers onto the bike carrier, put the house key into the usual place, mounted my bike and rode down my driveway out onto Matangi Road only to be meet with a head-on blustery westerly wind. It wasn’t long before reality soon hit me physically and mentally; with a raised heart rate, laboured breathing and thoughts of “however am I going to cope riding every day and I already feel like this???” It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a fully loaded bike and my body was telling me that – oh fun times ahead!!

After many hours of dreaming, scrutinising maps trying to locate the remote back roads and planning, our adventure started this morning. Both Sari and I started with a bike ride: Sari cycling from her home in the Marlborough Sounds to catch the ferry from Picton to Wellington. I rode from my home in Matangi to Hamilton Railway Station to catch the 10.30am train to Ohakune via Volare Bread on Gallagher Drive for a morning coffee – not that I’m addicted, but it’s just the one coffee a day!!! Tomorrow Sari will travel by train to Ohakune and I will meet her at the train station to begin out much anticipated adventure.

It was in February/March 2018 when Sari and I had our last big adventure together and we both felt it was time for another, this time exploring parts of the North Island which I’ve always wanted to ride and explore, and parts Sari hasn’t seen.

We both enjoy riding the back roads whenever possible; mainly because we love the quiet and peacefulness these roads provide us (it’s one of our “happy places”), we get to tent which enables us to see and marvel at the big night sky with all its lights – magic!! Sari always manages to find very memorable and workable camp sites in the oddest of places. But the more obvious – there is always much less traffic.

Our proposed route. I should to have shown a map but …….

Ohakune – Taihape
Taihape to Napier via Gentle Annie
Explore Napier’s cycle trails including Cape Kidnappers
Napier – Wairoa
Wairoa – Rotorua via Lake Waikaremoana
Rotorua – Atamuri – Hamilton via Waikato River Trails

Nothing is set in concrete, we’re always open to detours (provided we have the time and energy) and open to people’s recommendations who we may meet along the way. It’s having that flexibility that both Sari and I enjoy and value. My neighbour has already suggested with visit Waipatiki Beach, north of Napier.

On a more personal note, one of my goals this time is to take time and enjoy the journey, not be so focused on the destination. I know when I’m physically and mentally tired I just want to get where we are going ASAP, I’m not stopping for anything. So, I’m going to really try and stop and take that side walk, visit that historical site, plusl take more photographs. I’ve put it ‘out there’ now, so I need to be accountable. I’ve always found it very easy to say something, quite another thing to put it into practice – time will tell!!

Northern Explorer

This train journey was quite stunning. The carriages are well designed with plenty of leg room, panoramic windows, glass shelves and skylights. It even has an open-air carriage enabling you to take that perfect photo. What I particularly enjoyed was the commentary you could listen to via headphones, only when we were travelling past historical sites/places of interest or interesting facts were to be told. The changes in the land use and landscape was quite striking, from lush green pastures of the Waikato to steep, rugged hill country used for sheep, beef farming in King Country. Then onto the High Plateau in Central North Island where we got glimpses of Mt Ruapehu, which was partly covered with snow. The train was full, and whenever I spoke to anyone they were from overseas. If you haven’t taken this journey, I would highly recommend it or if you have taken it I would love to hear your experience.

I’m writing this blog in an Airbnb backpacker’s type lodge here in Ohakune, it’s very clean and I get to meet and talk to other people from all around the world. I’m dressed in my thermals because of the cold wind, such a change from the past week in Hamilton. No fear of being too hot over the next few days, which always makes riding more pleasant. Having the wind on our backs could be asking a bit too much – but here’s hoping??

If anyone has a “must visit” place to see, please feel free to let me know via the comments section below. Till next time in Napier – take care our there, Goldcardgal 😊

PS: Some of you will know him, I’ve just spoken to John G (recently retired from Wintec) he and family have been exploring the Old Coach Road cycle trail. He was walking across the street to a café here in Ohakune and I thought I know that walk! So good to see you John 🙂

Cycling the Karakoram Highway: North Pakistan to Kyrgyzstan

22 February, 2019 6 Comments

Creating memories and having adventures are an important part of my life. Putting this blog together has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to post this blog?

I’ve imagined riding the Karakoram Highway for many years, from Gilgit in North Pakistan through to Kashgar in West China. The idea of riding on paved and unpaved roads, closely surrounded by snow-capped mountains, blue clear skies and very little traffic was always very appealing and sparked my imagination for a long time. I finally decided that dreaming and imagining was not enough, this adventure needed to be fulfilled. The hills were never going to get smaller, and I was never going to get younger or stronger than I currently was – so it was time!

After much googling I came across a British cycling tour company called Redspoke Tours. They offered 20 days of adventures, using local guides in each of the countries we were to visit. This proved to be very beneficial in providing the best options for accommodation, local services and customs. It also provided an opportunity for us to get to know the local guides in a more personal way. 🙂

The route

Below was the route. We did have a couple of long days travelling by bus; a great opportunity to rest the body! Travelling in this part of the world is never dull, the sights are always fascinating and so different to what I’ve ever experience here in NZ or other parts of Asia. While some of the cycling sections look short on distance, they certainly were not easy in terrain.

Some of my most memorable scenes

Well known local polo player. The British introduced polo to Pakistan.

Goats for sale – Eid festival (we rode our bikes through this)

Leaving Gilgit (I’d dreamed about visiting Gilgit for a long time. Nothing prepared me for what it was actually like!! That didn’t bother me is just highlighted to me how different our imagination can be from reality.)

Redspokes sponsor a sewing school in a very remote valley. The school taught many of the young girls how to sew, thereby enabling them to earn precious $s for their family. This school was 45 kms from the nearest town along a very rough metal road.

Loved the decorated trucks in Pakistan. Drivers very proud of their vehicle.

Women always working. Loved the stone work.

Cycling the Karakoram Highway – amazing roads mainly funded by Chinese.

Loved some of the signage

Visiting Shimshal Village

Getting to and visiting Shimshal village was one of my highlights. At 3,100m, Shimshal is the highest settlement in Pakistan’s northern Hunza region and the last village before the Chinese border. It is reachable via only one rocky, hairpin turn-laden road cut into the Distegill Sar and Karun Kuh mountains. The road, known as the Shimshal Valley Road, is considered one of the world’s most dangerous. Much of it runs along the gorge of the Shimshal River, bordered by nothing but a steep drop off without guardrails. Completed in 2003 after 18 years of construction, navigable only by four-wheel drive or bicycle. Before the road was completed it used to take the villagers four days to walk to the main highway (Karakoram Highway).

In this village porters for trekking to Everest and K2 are trained. Couple of the men we meet had summited K2, which is technically much more difficult than Everest. I was invited into the village headman’s house to meet his wife (who couldn’t speak English). Their three children are at university in Lochore and the wife misses them very much. It was interesting to see in their home and have a chat and cup of tea. Why was I invited in, perhaps it was my age and I was walking by myself, whatever the reason I felt very privileged. Certainly had something to brag about to the rest of my group!!

These are my most memorable photos of the Shimshal visit. Just like to add I was regularly out of my comfort zone riding this road and kept saying to myself “if you think you can or can’t, either way you are right”. I’ve come to realise it’s all in the head, get that right and you’re just about there. 🙂

One blessing to this road – there was hardly any traffic!

The scenery magnificent when I had time to look and take it in!

It was unbelievable to see this village at such an altitude!

China

Arriving in China was an experience! At the border crossing they made us all unpack all our luggage, checked our phones, all the while walking around with rifles at the ready – letting us know who had the power and who was in control!!

Road to Chinese border from Pakistan side

Local taxi. I love looking at the different types of vehicles when I travel.

The landscape in China was much more open compared to Pakistan.

Yurt accommodation in China – it was very cold. The ablutions were across the road wherever you could find a clear patch!!

Solar powered village in the middle of nowhere. Did wonder who would want to live here?? Soil not very fertile!

Kashgar Market

We visited the famous out-door Kashgar animal market, I loved it. The way they handled their animals and the variety of animals for sale was so fascinating.

What a way to get your animals to the market – I love it.

Sheep for sale. It is amazing how quiet the animals were.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan was different again from Pakistan and West China. The people were very kind and generous. The guest houses where we stayed were run by women as opposed to the guest houses in Pakistan were run by men, the difference was well – let you guess for yourself. Not to mention the food, it was yummy, each meal a feast and lots of variety. The home made jams and bread were irresistible and so delicious – thank goodness we didn’t have to worry about our weight. The landscape was open, and we were always surrounded by mountains in the distance.

In Pakistan we were always surrounded by up-close rugged mountains. In China the mountains were a little further out, and in Kyrgyzstan the mountains were further out again.

This historical monument known as a ‘caravanserai’ is located in the province of Tash Rabat. It is a 15th century stone building which was used as a roadside inn where travelers could stop for the night or a few days to rest.

Our accommodation for the night run by a very friendly family where Mum was the chef. The food was soo good and plenty of it. It was located just down the track from the above caravanserai. Each yurt has it’s own fire which was lite early evening and again early morning to keep their guests warm. The fuel was cow dung – it didn’t smell!

Me in Istanbul. The mosaic wall was made from broken ceramics in the owner’s shop after a severe earthquake a few years ago. It was quite spectacular. I loved my 36 hrs in Istanbul.

Final word

Security was not an issue for our group – whether that was because we had local guides I will never know. Since 9/11, tourists to North Pakistan have declined significantly, and many of the small businesses are really struggling. We were requested many times to tell our family and friends about how safe it was and if you visit you will be made very welcome. The people really want the tourists back and that is understandable.

The trip was everything I had hoped for plus much more. Whenever I talk about it or recall an experience I had, I have nothing but gratified memories. It was well organised and local guides were fantastic. Would recommend RedSpokes Tours for an adventure.

Till next time, Goldcard Gal! 🙂

Cycling Adventures