Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Finally, Chris was ready. I jumped aboard for our last chance to escape.
My bike stopped one metre later. 'Chris, hang on! My brakes are stuck!'
I thrust my hands under the mudguard and yanked and fiddled but they refused
to loosen. A thousand faces breathing down my back and 2000 eyes, the end, just
half a kilometre from the station.
Then finally the brakes loosened. 'Let's go!' I stood up to see a policeman's face
centimetres from mine. But I didn't stop. 'Excuse me, get out of the way!' I urged.
Twenty minutes later the rush of traffic had diminished to a few trucks and cars
trickling out of the city. We turned off onto an exit ramp into the safety of darkness.
We continued for hours as the temperature dropped to below zero and my ears
burned in the intense cold. At a roadside café we stopped for a meal, and later
avoided a police checkpoint. To get around it we had to lift our bikes over a fence,
push through a dark field and rejoin the road 300 metres or so further on. Finally,
we rolled into the quiet of the countryside. At some point my back wheel went flat
and we decided to give up for the night and make camp in a ploughed field.
Next morning I rolled out of bed feeling groggy. Chris was still snoozing, so I
took the opportunity to write in my diary. In recent days I had fallen behind and
feared that if I didn't get the events in Houqi down on paper, I never would.
Eventually, Chris rose and went about cooking breakfast. For him, waiting was
the activity he hated most. Even if it was for half a minute, his anger and frustration
seemed to simmer. On most occasions it didn't matter because we could leave at
different times and catch up later in the day. But with the risk of getting arrested,
we decided that it would be prudent to ride together.
I was acutely aware of this as I rushed to finish scribbling my notes. I was also
aware that we were most prone to arguments in the morning, especially when we
were extra tired.
Chris finished his porridge and packed up the tent as I continued on in my own
world. 'Tim, how much longer will you be?'
'Oh, probably about ten or fifteen minutes.'
I didn't have a watch, but I was longer than that - a lot longer. Chris asked
again and I underestimated yet again. In hindsight it was understandable that when
I looked up for the third time he was preparing to leave.
'Hey, Chris, you can't leave, mate, it's too risky!' How dare the bastard jeop-
ardise the whole trip just because his 'happiness' was temporarily compromised.
'What! I've asked you several times, and I've done everything I can. I can't stay
here any longer or I'll go crazy!' he yelled.
