Spot the monk!: And the auspicious falon

October 27, 2014

As the road was still busy when I returned to it the next morning I tried to escape it by cycling on the expressway. This seemed like a good idea with the only possible flaw being that the expressway hadn't been built yet. Well, not completely, but actually it was very nearly there. All the structure was there, the road surface was finished, it seemed like all they were doing was putting the finishing touches to it. I couldn't see any harm in an innocent cyclist riding on it, so when I saw an on-ramp I joined it and for a few minutes felt a sense of elation at being on a big wide road with no traffic on it. Then I came to a tunnel. No lighting. No ventilation. But I could see the other end, so I carried on. On the other side of the tunnel was a tunnel. No lighting. No ventilation. I couldn't see the other end. I turned around.

If you look closely you'll see that before they can open the expressway they need to paint the mountain

So it was back to the busy and horrible road for me, but there were the occasional detours whenever that road went through a tunnel and these remained the absolute highlight of my day. As the main road cut through the rock I followed the river alone on small tracks and, for once, was able to relax and look around at the mountains under the bright blue sky and smile. They never lasted long enough.

My bike taking a break. I believe a plane may have just crash-landed behind those mountains

I climbed all day long, gaining altitude on my way to the mighty Tibetan plateau. And there were clues as to where I was heading, with brightly coloured prayer flags and even the occasional monk at the side of the road. As I saw these stray monks I came up with a game that I called 'Spot the monk' which essentially involved me, yes, you've guessed it, trying to spot monks. And then I thought, well, this is a great game, it needs a theme tune. And then, realising that this game had tremendous potential to enhance the lives of others as well as my own, I started taking photos of the monks that I spotted. Thus, I can now post those photos on here and you, dear wonderful reader, can have the thrill of playing 'Spot the monk' from your own home or office. So, while the theme tune plays, try and see if you can spot the monk!

♪ ♫ Spot the monk, spot the monk, da-de-do-da, spot the monk ♪ ♫

♪ ♫ Spot the monk, spot the monk, la-la-la-la, spot the monk ♪ ♫

And then I reached the town of Gannan, or Hezuo, or just plain Zo, depending on your source. Here I found a big complex of Buddhist temples and buildings which I suppose might be classed as a 'monastery' but I couldn't be sure because the information board wasn't terribly good. What I can tell you is that the main building, which was tall and looked like an extremely well-decorated tower block, had, and I quote the information board directly, 'a gold tile roof and auspicious falon, ten phase at home and so on which is magnificent and majestic.'

I don't know why but this woman was doing her yoga out front

Lots of people walking around the building, I think it was some kind of pilgrimage without having to go anywhere

More temples♪ ♫ Spot the monk, spot the monk, di-di-da-da, spot the monk ♪ ♫

A view over Hezuo♪ ♫ Spot the monk, spot the monk, mmmmmmmmmmmmm, spot the monk ♪ ♫

♪ ♫ Spot the monk, spot the monk, oh this one is too easy

After leaving the monastery or whatever it was, Hezuo or whatever it was called, turned out to be a pretty big place, almost a city really, and I got a bit lost. Because of this, and because it was half past five and would get dark at six, and because I was now at three thousand metres above sea level with only a summer sleeping bag, I headed for a hotel. As I did this a rather peculiar conversation took place between me and my bank balance. I know that might sound strange to you, maybe your bank balance can't talk, but mine can. The conversation went like so:

Bank balance: "Hey dude, you can't keep staying in hotels. Sorry."

Me: "Shut up bank balance, no one cares what you think."

Bank balance: "Seriously, I'm almost empty here."

Me: "Whatever. I'm not listening to you. Wallet has money, don't you wallet?"

Wallet: "Oh, not that much actu-"

Me: "Shut up wallet!"

Well it didn't matter anyway, none of the hotels would accept me on account of my un-Chinese-ness and so I settled for sprinting out of town on what, by the grace of good fortune, happened to be the right road, and camped in a small group of trees, wearing every item of clothing I could.

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 31,659 km (19,660 miles)

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