A Gongli Too Far

Friday was a 'shi gongli' day. On the first stage of our ride according to our guide Mr Ren it was always 'shi gongli' or 10 kms to our final destination no matter how far we rode. Having expected to ride about 16 miles, it somehow ended up being nearly 30 miles, and we limped into Wu Mian Jing exhausted, and in my case, grumpy. As a result I now have a bad case of back ache from overdoing it. We are all set up to camp and annoyingly we passed several ideal camping spots.

On the plus side we crossed into Inner Mongolia and rode through some lovely grassland country with belts of poplar and birch. I have not included photos here as I don't seem to be able to download them for some reason.

Wu Mian Jing is a former government administration centre which is now been abandoned and is almost a ghost town. Hua managed to get us accomodation in the town cottage hospital which was somewhat run down - we stayed in a hospital room complete with drip stand, and were booted out early next morning to make way for a patient.

Zou Ba! We're Off!

Dinner is served!

The re-launch went off in tremendous Chinese style with the promised fireworks (the horses, being Chinese, didn't bat an eyelid) drums and cymbals as we rode out of the gateway, and an accompanying cohort of stable lads in Mongolian costume to see us off. This was following a fantastic Chinese lunch with speeches, Mongolian singing and horsehead violin playing, and various Mongolian rituals in which I was expected to take part, not to mention the procession above bringing in a whole roast calf.

Rode out through Guyuan on a hot afternoon, and who should greet us but old friend Mr Zhao of the Yihe stud on a hay buying trip! We are now in Gao Shan Pu, staying in a yard full of sheep.

Thuraya Locate

A quick mention - if you wish to follow our progress on the ground, start looking at the Thuraya Locate map. I intend putting in our location every day from now on, reception and memory permitting.

Ba Jiu and Bai Jiu

Here I am on Ba Jiu during an excellent morning ride through the neighbouring countryside with Peng and Hua ( on Zorbee and Shandan). No hard roads for a change, just gravel and earth paths through fields of growing crops. And a canter to the top of a hill overlooking the reservoir behind the hotel.

Wutzala and Li Jing arrived today. The deputy boss of the company that own the holiday complex where we are staying and being royally treated, gave us all a wonderful dinner in a private room. This involved a groaning table and much toasting with Bai Jiu or white Chinese spirit - not to be confused with the horse.

The official relaunch of the ride is set for tomorrow. The deputy boss is providing an enormous flag to present to us, and apparently we will be sent off to the accompaniment of fireworks which could prove interesting - my Kanteq body protector and Charles Owen helmet may be of use sooner than expected!

Internet reception is poor around here, and we have been using the connection in the manager's office - access may be unreliable from now on so you have been warned.

Happy memories

Here I am on Bajiu at the exact spot I fell off three months ago. The prone figure in the background is Hua, not re-enacting the scene, but sunbathing. Note I am wearing my new Kanteq body protector which as promised is proving amazingly comfortable - I completely forgot I had it on! And of course my new Charles Owen helmet to replace the one that no doubt saved me from worse injury.

We had an idyllic ride in the cool of the morning through the Chinese countryside, past cauliflower harvesters and poplar groves.

Shoeing day

Enjoying tremendous hospitality at the Joy hotel which is part of the holiday complex outside Guyuan where the horses have been based since my fall. The stable boys tried out a couple of the horses yesterday and Zorbee was true to form with an introductory bronco session, and followed this by taking off with his rider and depositing him at our feet. Apparently the second person he has decanted since I hit the deck so I am not alone! Unfortunately in the last couple of weeks the boys have also managed to give Bajiu a couple of girth galls. They meant well in trying to get the horses ready for us, but I hope it will not be a problem.

Today was shoeing day, and the horses apart from Hei Feng were all strapped up one by one to a shoeing frame to be shod the traditional Chinese way. Even the recalcitrant Zorbee ended up with a new set . Peng has now given the now not so thin and considerably more sharp un-named horse the inspiring name of Shandan!

Hei Feng's back leg injuries are unfortunately too bad for him to continue and we will have
to leave him here. It seems he slipped on a concrete slope on the yard, and of course he is so wild to handle it would have been impossible to treat him properly.

The place is swarming with police at the moment - there is a police conference and sort of Chinese policeman's ball going on.

Back in Beijing

Have managed to circumvent the Great Firewall of China with a little help from my friends! But how long this lasts is anyone's guess as it is apparently a cat and mouse game. Champagne flight with BA as the plane was chockablock and I was one of the lucky few to be upgraded to business class. Met at the airport by a welcoming delegation consisting of Kubi, Peng, Li May and Hua our new driver who also speaks good English. Driven to hotel by Peng in my 4x4 (how funny to own a car and not to be able to drive it!)and am now catching up on sleep and sorting out my bags, including all the stuff I collected from Ed's flat yesterday. We will probably be off to Guyuan early tomorrow to meet up with the horses again. They are reportedly fat and well, but the mad Hei Feng has somehow injured his hind legs so we are down to three. At least it was not one of the quiet ones!