Nightmare in Urumqi

Our flight to Urumqi, the second stop on our long journey to Bishkek was 3 hours late. It had taken some time to convince the immigration officials at the Beijing airport that we didn't need a visa because we promised not to leave the airports there or in Urumqi and we'd be out of the country within 24 hours. We tried desperately to get some sleep while we waited for the flight, but with no one able to communicate with us in English to tell us what time the plane was expected, we had to keep an ear open for announcements and an eye on our departure gate. I had a migraine and my pills were all in the checked luggage. By the time we finally reached Urumqi, we'd been up for well over 30 hours and it was the middle of the night local time.

We were quite shocked when they kicked us out of the airport because it was closing for the night. Technically, we weren't legally allowed in China at all. So when 5 friendly taxi drivers tried for nearly an hour to convince us to go to a hotel to sleep for a few hours before our flight, we kept smiling but refusing. If we were going to be hassled about not having visas, we wanted to be as close as physically possible to the airport....and so we sat on top of our luggage, right outside the door all night until it opened at 6:30am.

And then the fun really started. My bike box had to be searched before we could get in the door, then we had to pay nearly $200 at 2 different offices before they'd let our bikes on the plane. The fact that we had to pay didn't bother us nearly as much as the rudeness of the airport staff who wouldn't even try to understand our sign language or communicate with us at all beyond yelling "pay money!" and shouting directions in their own language.

Sweating and physically and mentally exhausted, we finally battled our way through security and sat down to enjoy some noodles - our first meal in far too long...only seconds before we were called to board. We scalded our mouths trying to wolf down as much food as we could before the lign-up disappeared, then got on one last plane to Kyrgystan.

Despite hitting an all-time low on the way there (tearfully wondering why we were doing this to begin with), we were hugely reassured as soon as we arrived at the Bishkek airport. The people here are so incredibly friendly and polite and helpful - we are sure that travelling around this country will be wonderful!

Christine