HIMALAYASX2012 / EXPEDITION OF WESTERN CHINA / NEPAL / INDIA

Adventurer sets course of returning to the Himalayas with a second mountain bike expedition starting north of the Taklamakan Desert. The expansive territory of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region include desert crossings to reach high altitude desert plateaus (5000+ meter altitude) descending to the lush wildlife inhabited jungles of Nepal to the Himalayas of northern India is route for the HimalayasX2012. In 2011, Brian Perich completed a round-China expedition with twists in the journey. A 30-hour passenger ferry from Incheon, South Korea to Tianjin, China was only the beginning. Once landed in mainland China, he cycled in Beijing and boarded an overcrowded passenger train traveling 3240km to Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. After standing for 36 hours without access to a toilet, and drinking only boiled water while wedged between passenger cars and people, he endured the real experience of economy train travel across China. Liberated by local Han Chinese university lecturer-turned oil company executive, he sponsored  a free apartment to recover from blood clotting in his legs and feet, a free visit to a local hospital. Adding the generous assistance of Uyghur bicycle owners and mechanics repairing the brakes and reinforcing the make-shifted front racks...he launched into a 3200km (1800km) whirl through the Tian Shan Mountains, across the Taklamakan Desert en route through the southern Silk Road to the northern Himalayas and back to Kashgar, Urumqi and continuing stage two, across Chengdu, Sichuan to the Himalayas and south through Yunnan Province ending the expedition at Deqin, Yunnan. It was the most extreme adventure to date, beyond the borders, into the cultures, languages, people, he encountered genuine kindness, generosity, serendipity and magic that can only be found while traveling long distances using only a bicycle, foot and thumb on the road. 

This solo expedition is supporting several non-profit organizations:

IDEAS, Intestinal Disease Education & Awareness Society, Canada 

in partnership with ETE, Education Through Expeditions, U.K.

 Local sponsorship: AN DAE GI at Gangneung Bike Mart, Gangwon-do, South Korea

 My sponsor knows mountain bikes and has built my recycled mountain touring bike.

 I will be using the same equipment from the HimalayasX2011

 Bicycle touring expeditions like a pro. Simple is reliable.

 Fully loaded Blackcat mountain bike, frame is aluminum alloy.

 Day and nights on expedition routes to complete in 60 days.

Updates to come....

Passing camel tracks in the Borohoro section of the Tian Shan Mountains, Xinjiang Uyghur 

Handy: Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook, 2nd Edition: Worldwide Cycling Route & Planning Guide

RTW Correspondence with Gaston Bonaudi in Buenos Aires, Argentina :: Expeditions

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  February 15, 2010

  Gaston Bonaudi

  • Hey Brian! nice to meet you! thanks for adding me as a friend. I checked your website, it's great. Are you planning to come to Argentina?
    I think we have a lot of things in common, bikes and travels, lol. If you need help for planning or just for friendship here in Buenos Aires, please write me!
    
    My Best.
    
    Gaston
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  February 15, 2010

  Brian Perich

  • Hey Gaston,
    
    Very cool to meet you here. Much more to share (of course an introduction helps ^^..) I have many obstacles to overcome to reach that point, but that's the challenge of an expedition -adventure!!! Would be great to speak, I have 0-knowledge of the roads and experiences beyond Northern Mexico. Thanks for checking out the blog, I try to keep it interesting for an outlet to life in general too.
    
    Peace from Korea,
    
    Brian P 
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  31 minutes ago

  Gaston Bonaudi

  • Hi Brian!
    
    How are you?  How is everything going with your plans to travel across America?
    
    I want to tell you still can count on me if you need help with your trip plans and stay in Argentina. I would really like to host you and talk a lot with you to learn a little more about your experiences traveling by bike.
    Since I last write you I've had the chance to travel all around South and Central America and have lots of tips to share if you need help. BTW I'm enyoing so much following your trip around China!
    
    I hope some day to have the enough power and conviction to start my own ¨around the world trip by bike¨... by now I'm doing it just with a backpack...
    Take care and I look forward hearing from you!.
    
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  about a minute ago

  Brian Perich

  • Hi Gaston,
    
    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    

    

    
    This is really nice of you to write again. Yes, I am definitely coming to Central and South America with the http://arctic2argentina.com/ but how I will do it, is still a mystery to me (time off work, family are main concerns, everything about cycling is sorted...China was definitely a great experience to build on, anything is possible after that one!).
    
    Backpacking is a free lifestyle, the equipment is light and you can travel well. I have hitch-hiked in the past/present, starting around Vancouver Island, Canada in the 1990's, then in Korea and China. The nice thing about cycling, and bicycle touring - you always have the option to hitch-hike after pedaling 100km in a day. You can travel wider distances and remain self-sufficient for lengths of time.
    
    I think you have amazing experiences to share, and I would learn a lot from you too. Let's try to make some mileage as a team on bikes. You'll learn in my blog, it isn't about expensive equipment (although quality components definitely help), it's about preparing yourself mentally and physically to travel. That much, you have already accomplished!!
    
    I prefer mountain bikes MTBs over touring bikes. They are cheap, easy to repair/replace parts, and they can ride on different terrain. Best tires on the market, I mention in my blog - Schwalbe Marathon (or Marathon Plus Tour if available...there are lighter versions now available in 2011-2012, I haven't tested them yet).
    
    It will be a long way down, if you can join me, it would be a better journey. (:
    
    Peace, I'm here when you need to speak (:
    
    Brian Perich
    Skype: prof.brian.perich
    http://korean-world.blogspot.com/
  • 
    

    ONE - Arctic to Argentina 2012-2013

    arctic2argentina.com
    

    Global Bike from the Arctic Circle

Bicycle Touring in western China: Taklamakan Desert, The Silk Road, Tarim Desert Highway

 Hotan, Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (in style for breakfast and tea)

Outside the international hotel a small gathering comes together  

 I use my diary to record QQ.com numbers, these are addresses for email and a version of Facebook used entirely across China. I want to get a QQ.com account - there's a new world to explore!

 Okay, tell me your digits or I'll give you mine. Sadly, Beijing's censorship is so tight...even this harmless blog isn't visible in the Asian Giant (apt name for a popular mountain bike Made in China.)

 Okay, I am getting to it!

 I don't want to meet strangers and remain strangers. I sent email out to 76 people in China. I used Google translate to send a personal message in Chinese language. I reply to friends on Facebook using their native language as well. It's a globalized world, but show some respect for native languages too! 

 This purple pen was falling apart for the entire 60 day expedition, sending the love...I kept a constant diary and recorded daily events, names, places, distances and elevations. 

 Thanks guys, made me feel important for a moment in my tiny life. 

 Back on the road. My choice ride is built with a 2008 frame (13400km) and 2008 components as well

 Tires of choice, Schwalbe Marathon Tour Plus (revision of Marathon XR)

 My front racks are $20 (USD) plus a 0.25 cent rebar piece from Urumqi metal street-recycler. + Zip PVC plastic ties to keep it all together. It looks rough, but there is science in there. Perfection for 3200km!

 Taklamakan Desert, July 2011. Note the irrigation lines and shrubs offer no relief from the sun.

 At night (infrared photo) Taklamakan Desert beats with dust storms, really nasty stuff!

 I'm camping 1/2 way in the entrance to a diesel engine room, an engine turns the pumps and brings water out of aqua ducts beneath the desert floor

 Feeling awesome -this is freedom to me, deserts, camping, bikes, touring, all in one!

 Good morning! - Stoked (excited) to be full of life (better half full than half empty)

 Talking to Mi Sung and the kids in Canada, wow -technology!

 My host watches in disbelief, a costume character with a bicycle in the Taklamakan - "What the hell???"

 I'm having a great chat with Mi Sung and the kids, the camera takes photos when someone is smiling like (:

 A few days of explosive diarrhea is great, I'm getting slimmer by the day!

 My ride. in park mode on concrete power poles in the Taklamakan Desert

 Hwy 315 (2375km from somewhere) Taklamakan Tarim Desert Highway (Great article to read, all true!)

 I lost Lysanne and Louis-Philippe's card after leaving the desert. Here is the photo to reconnect with them. We met in Beijing about 3625km away from this location in the Taklamakan. Checking up with them, they traveled 4500km in 88 days in China. Awesome! More updates at their link, I will follow them!

And this is only the beginning of my adventure... To be continued...