Hoi, ik heb bericht van Deen Martin:
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Hi Ellen
As things are right now you wont be able to bike from Kashgar to Ali.
I really hope this will change since I consider to go for another trip in Tibet this year.
This summer I went through no-mands land in northern tibet with two swedish friends. The moment we came to the first town we were arrested. After intorrigations in ali we were sent to Yeching/Kashgar - my friends in a police landcruiser while I went by bus (I didnt have additional visa problem like they did). I barely made it to yeching by bus. I had to go through police and military checkpoints - think it was 7 in total along the way and two places they contacted Ali police before they allowed me to go on. In one checkpoint they went through all my luggage (and all other passengers luggage as well).
This was when going out of tibet!
If you consider to sneak in along the road from yeching I have to warn you that you will have very slim chances to make it through as things are right now.
In Kudi, in the valley after the first 3300 m roadpass there is a heavy military checkpoint which is manned with an armed guard at the barrier throughout night as well. There is even a big fence to prevent people to try to sneak around the checkpoints.
Only option is to hope the situation ease up or choose another destination instead.
Best
Martin
Check out link /article below.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/t ... �
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By Dinah Gardner in Beijing
Al Jazeera
Thursday, January 08, 2009
It has been eight months since riots erupted across Tibet against Chinese rule, and the region is still under a security stranglehold. Large areas remain out of bounds to foreigners, while armed troops are a prominent sight in those areas which saw the biggest disturbances.
This year, March 10 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet. Tibetans and Tibet experts, however, say that renewed riots on a scale seen in March last year are unlikely with Chinese security so intense, even though the anniversary will be viewed as significant.
A Tibetan in Lhasa who does not wish to be identified told Al Jazeera that the condition in the city "is very, very bad." He said there are armed troops everywhere and many Tibetan pilgrims in Lhasa are being rounded up and sent back to their homes in the countryside.
The intense security in Tibetan areas is evidence that China is nervous about more protests this year, say analysts.
"Undeclared martial law"
Dr Lobsang Sangay, a Tibetan-in-exile and a scholar at Harvard, describes the situation on the ground in much of Tibet as "undeclared martial law."
"It is a segregated society at the moment in Lhasa - with Tibetans on one side and Chinese on the other... the situation is very, very tense."
Such intense security will be maintained, he says, for much of 2009 – a particularly sensitive year as not only is March 10 the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's escape, but June 4 is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and October 1 is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
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Ik denk niet dat we het risico gaan nemen, we hebben niet veel zin om het risico te lopen dat we van de drie maanden er 2 niet fietsen door dit soort zaken...
De STAN landen zijn een goede optie, Tadjikistan en Kirgizie lijken ons erg mooie landen..
Ook delen van China zijn wellicht mooi, maar om in die drie maanden weer te moeten reizen is misschien ook weer zowat.. het lijkt ons gewoon leuk om drie maanden echt te genieten van het fietsen zonder stress om een of andere trein of vliegtuig te moeten halen...