What An Introduction To China.⁣

We woke up in darkness at 07.30. We’re now GMT+8, a 2 hour jump after Kazakhstan.⁣

We headed out at 09:00 in our winter cycling gear head to toe – leggings the lot! ⁣

We had a long climb ahead. The climb to 7000ft (2133m) was steady. Stew described it as a “manageable incline”. The views throughout were really beautiful. Tall mountains with snow.⁣

We cycled 75 miles until the sun dropped behind the mountains. We had perhaps left a little unprepared because we had all our hopes on a hotel alongside a lake. We’d heard of this hotel through an unknown source deep in the forums of the internet. Oh how we hoped it existed! ⁣

We arrived at the lake and we couldn’t see anything. It was 6c and snow was around us. We really didn’t want to camp. With each turn in the road we hoped for a glimpse of a building. ⁣

It took a while, but eventually we saw a sign for services: restaurant, fuel. No mention of a hotel though.⁣

We came to a fork in the road and we were unsure which road to take. One went to the lake and the other ahead to the services. What to do…⁣

Stew felt the best option was to go towards the lights ahead, they were definitely services. I wanted to take the road to the lake as that’s where the internet message said there was a hotel. We discussed our options – it wasn’t getting any lighter or warmer so we decided to settle this quickly. ⁣

Rock, paper, scissors. ⁣

Stew won and we moved towards the services. I walked through the door – at this point it was dark and so so cold!⁣

“Hotel?” I asked a guard, he ushered me in and I was greeted by a young woman with a bunch of keys. It was looking good.⁣

She showed me the room and have us a price which we agreed. It was a little expensive, but at this point we just wanted to sleep!⁣

As we were locking the bikes the woman came out and said we can’t have the room, but we can sleep on the floor for free…I figured she was trying to be nice and I insisted we wanted to pay for a room, but nope! ⁣

For reasons beyond my understanding we were no longer allowed the room.⁣

We set up our mattresses and enjoyed a free night 🤷🏽‍♀️ ⁣ @ 新疆。賽里木湖