Tibetan Hunt for Korolev

As always, Andrei and the five of his comrades were a sports goal: besides the fact that the expedition was supposed to be done about 1,300 km on off-road on sports bikes of Perm production, it was planned to climb the legendary seven-tailed Cap Monomakh.

"Raboz" passed traditional way: through Kazakhstan and the Uygur District of China, then to the city of Golmud – "Tibet Gate". There the guys caught the car that threamed of them to the village of Bunutsuan on the Hamud – Lhasa highway, and from there the cycling campaign began on a completely deserted terrain, where there are even cattle times. More than 500 km of swamp, rivers, salt marshes and passages separated from the monomach travelers caps.

Everything is as usual: crossing the knee in ice water, the movement towards a barbed poirge, dragging through the quags of Velikov along with the mud on them and with backpacks – for each kilograms of 70 weights, – and all this at an altitude of more than 4000 meters. Rise in a half-life, march-throw to darkness, and so – 13 days in a row, in the company of flocks of wolves, which regularly with the onset of twilight sat down a raid around the tent.

In short, nothing extraordinary.

Before the beginning of the climbing on the header, Monomakh had only about 15 km away, when Andrew, Igor Mokhov, and Ivan Tarasenkov, and Ivan Tarasenkov, were heard with him in the forefront. Puli gone first to the right of travelers, then on the left. Andrei Korolev confesses that the sound was not unfamiliar for him: somehow in the Northern Urals, he fell under the poaching pools, who, realizing that they were not in animals, and in people, quickly washed off. Maybe now poachers?

Passing a little forward, the expedition’s avant-garde again heard shots and saw armed men. No, it was definitely not poachers. Two jeeps on the axis drowned and squeezed into the frozen swamp. Belaya stood, neither who did not hide the tent, and around it people in the form were entertained by shooting bottles. The form was a policeman, and its carriers are not the Chinese, and Tibetans, it became, a special minnow special unit for work at large altitudes.

At this moment, travelers could still be understood: no one noticed them yet. "Eh, I did not obey the inner voice! – in part more ironically regrets Korolev. – Now I know: if the bullets fly into your side, run in the opposite!"

When the shooters saw travelers, they ran, they drove out, and then stood in the ranks and put forward the machine gun. When Permyaky approached closer, they rang out in the air – the local showed the seriousness of their intentions, but immediately they were very clearly told expressive gestures: "Cool it is on great in such wilderness, well done!"

In general, the police looked benevolently and calmly, just asked to see passports. Long looked at it, but could not understand. Then the Korolev gave them an accompanying letter in Chinese, which said that the expedition was organized by the Perm State University and the Perm Federation of Sports Tourism with Scientific and Sports Goals, and also that our with Chinese – Brothers Forevel.

The letter was hieroglyphs it was written that the head – Andrei Korolev, and when the armed men read before this place, they were terribly worried and shouted: "Andele, Andele!"So the Chinese who do not know the sound" P "pronounce the name" Andrei ". It became clear that Andrei was waiting for, and waiting, we were delighted: caught, it became!

What happened?

Tibetan autonomous region of China – a special permit zone. Independent travels are prohibited here: tourists can be here only accompanied by local guides and move only by predetermined routes. And even this is not just like that, but only after receiving a special permission – Permta. It is clear that for the queen and his friends it is unacceptable: first, PermT, the guide, and all that are additional costs, and considerable, and travelers are poor; Secondly, the "pre-agreed route" definitely does not include a pole of inaccessibility; Third, no sensible guide will be in such a wilderness, it can only crazy our pioneers can.

Therefore, Andrei Korolev has already spent three times the Tibet is illegally, without Perm. The abandon was always through deserted places where there is no police nor border guards, but at the exit of travelers I had to give up: they always honestly went straight to the border guards and handed them passports. Border guards understood that the sanction against the violators was deportation, and it should be!

But this time the Chinese authorities decided to stop the actions of the malicious intruder of the Permit zones. Apparently, another border with Kazakhstan received a signal that "Andele himself" goes back to Tibet, and the Chinese special services launched a whole special operation. Because it was about the pole of unavailable, where there are no roads or gas stations, a network of mobile bases and temporary camps was created. One such database travelers saw when, together with their "Convoirs", they were sent back to civilization: these were two hefty gasoline trucks, so that the jeeps could refuel the flammable.

"Arrest" travelers, police took their passports and searched backpacks. Andrei Korolev searches not the first time, and he has a secret weapon that helps not give the police the most valuable. This weapon is a bag … with dirty socks. The order is: honestly show the climbing equipment: cats, ice axes, helmets and so on, and then – socks! And to GPS navigators with cards and satellite phones the case does not reach.

To deport Permyakov, police officers pulled out jeeps, "violators" actively helped. Pulled out, plunged … after half an hour again stuck. Here the Tibetans allowed travelers again to sit on great and ride themselves. So they drove back: all day on great, I got a camp for the night, and the jeeps appeared at three nights, because they could only go at night when the marshes were frozen. In the morning, Tibetans reported that it was time to move on – came to the tent and said: "Andele, Ko-Ko!"What meant:" Andrei, Go, Go, Go!"

When they got to the base with fuel truck trucks, they spent another day to pull one truck. The second never pulled out – stuck tightly! And started fascinating jipping – with crossing overland rivers, lifts and descents, forcing the swamps … had happened, the jeep stuck right in the middle of the river, and then someone climbed into the water, clinging to the swan, the car returned to the shore, and began to search for a new place for crossing. For three days of such a journey, Permic became friends with Tibetans, they found a common language – and the our-Chinese phrasebook helped, and the universal language of gestures.

When drove up to the goal of Golmud – Lhasa, Permyaks were surprised to see that a huge delegation meets them! Police officers, some officials, television. Tibetans who detain "Andele himself", honored as heroes, a buffet was covered right in a clean field. "Arrested" did not turn hands, but respectedly welcomed, and I had to Korolev who did not know the Chinese, nor even English, and Ivan Tarasenkov to give an interview with China’s central television broadcasting to the audience in 1.7 billion people!

After a pleasant meeting in all respects, the meeting of "violators" was transmitted to the police department in Golmud, they returned things, passports and … let go! Travel, they say, only permit zones do not break – it’s hard to pull you out hard.

And Korolev has already invented a new route – on Eastern Tibet, beyond the permit zone, so as not to annoy the local authorities.

Policemen bored Perm to the Butntsuan, with tears, said goodbye to new friends, and Korolev with the team collected bicycles and started a new route of 800 km. Let without considerable sports purposes, but around the whole favorite: Passing a height of 4600-4800 m, Purga in the face, frosty nights, mysterious dwellings of Tibetans, Vintage monasteries. Only, in contrast to the usual routes to the poles of unavailable, this one was held in populated places, and the locals already knew that the real celebrities travel on their roads, which even on TV showed. "We have been photographed every day every day," the Korolev recognizes.

The route ended in the city of Yuchu. This is one of the religious capitals of Tibet. The city was completely destroyed by the 2010 earthquake, but Tibetans have already restored him, retaining an old architectural style, resembling Lhasa Palaces. The traces of an earthquake are still very noticeable around the rush – now and the case there are destroyed villages, abandoned monasteries, the village of Zyumanai stands in the ruins, only an equestrian monument to Tibet’s king, who adopted Buddhism survived.

Permians returned to their homeland for two weeks earlier than planned. Now Andrei Korolev will have to think how to establish relations with the Chinese authorities. After all, the pole of the inaccessibility of Eurasia – Tibet – still attracts him and his friends.