Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
than I'd seen in over two months of travelling. They had leaves, too. Brown and
red autumn leaves to be sure, but leaves all the same. There were tinges of green
in the grass, and the air was noticeably warmer. Somehow, on the way down that
hill, we had caught up with the edge of winter and crossed back into autumn. Like
migrating birds, we had cycled south and reversed the seasons. Winter was still fol-
lowing along just behind, though, and we'd have to race to stay ahead of it.
We camped the night in a grove of young trees then set off again in the still
freezing air of the morning. Our illegal lifestyle had been pretty easy up until now,
lots of open flat space and, as in Mongolia, very few people to hide from. Now,
however, the countryside was becoming more populated. Already, a day after be-
ginning our descent from the plateau, there were towns and villages everywhere.
The traffic had picked up and we spent most of the day riding among a chaotic
stream of trucks, bikes and cars. It was going to be a lot harder to find good, tucked-
away places to camp, and if the police presence picked up at the same rate as the
population, then we might really find ourselves running the gauntlet of the law.
I caught up with Tim a little after midday on the outskirts of a small town; he
was surrounded by a group of workers from a nearby factory. The workers had
come out, jostling for a look and ignoring their supervisor who was obviously un-
happy about the distraction. I held Tim's bike while he went off with a few men
to fill the water bottles. When he returned, we both hopped on to do a couple of
demonstration laps around the carpark before getting back underway.
Before we could leave, though, we heard a car pull up on the gravel nearby. A
door clicked open and a set of heavy footsteps crunched along the ground, heading
our way. The men around us ceased their happy chatter and some of them melted
silently away. I looked up, confused. The usual, happy grin had disappeared from
Tim's face. I turned to see what was going on. There, making his way through the
crowd and straight towards us, was a policeman.
