Race Across the World with Wild Frontiers
In the dulcet tones of my favourite TV show’s narrator, John Hannah, ‘reaching the other side of the world has never been easier. However, by flying over, are we forgetting how to travel through?’ Well, our Great Silk Road Adventure group are certainly not as they embarked on a 12,000-kilometre journey from China to Turkey, via a further four countries. Whilst I couldn’t persuade the Wild Frontiers team to let me out of the office for the full 48-day itinerary, I was lucky enough to join the first leg of our most epic tour. Here we all are at the starting line in Xi’an…
The city is not only believed to be the most eastern point of the famed Silk Road network, but it is also home to the Terracotta Warriors – one of the greatest archaeological finds of the last century. Whilst none of the Race Across the World contestants visit the 8,000+ sculptures that protect Qin Shi Huang Di’s tomb, John does give them a mention in Series 1 and deservedly so! However, the only people we were competing against were the hordes of domestic tourists. The sign outside of Pit 1 says it all really: ‘No fighting if you don’t want to end up in jail or hospital!’ It has to be done though - the visit, not the brawling that is. 😉
On our return to the downtown area, I thought of Felix and Josh on the show, who took some time out in The Muslim Quarter - one of Xi’an’s most bustling areas. We’d enjoyed street bites earlier in the day at Yongxingfang Food Market so we spent some time just mooching and taking it all in – the bright lights of the stalls, the vendors cajoling their prospects and the whirring of mopeds finding their way through where we could not! Although Josh really sold the sheep trotter in Episode 4 as ‘one of the worst things I’ve put in my mouth’, we had a dumpling date at Defachang Restaurant - right by the glorious Bell Tower, the very geographical centre of the city.
Like a couple of the teams, we took one of the bullet trains out of Xi’an. Luckily, my memories of China are much fonder than Tony and Elaine’s on the programme – describing it as a boring leg out of a train window!? Reaching speeds of up to 350 kilometres per hour in places, this is my ideal way to travel. In China alone, we take three trains on our Great Silk Road Adventure tour – one of which is an overnight sleeper (and great fun I might add). We purchased tickets in the soft sleeper cabins, which were worth every penny and not just because Natalie and Shameema opted for hard sleepers on Race Across the World. The beds were surprisingly comfy, and it was reminiscent of one of my girly sleepovers in my teens… only with three grown men for roomies, and delightful company they were, too!
Coincidentally, Natalie and Shameema disembark their overnight sleeper at the same stop and not ones to bypass the country completely, they take a minute to film at The Jiayuguan Pass. Renowned for being the largest and most complete section of the Great Wall, it also happens to be one of the absolute highlights of my trip. Over 20,000 kilometres in length, it is by no means surprising that ‘great’ features in the name!? Shameema even goes as far as to say, ‘I could cry because it is that amazing,' as she questioned her life's purpose at the top. I, on the other hand, was very clear on my next step and it was down the lovely, sloping mountain alongside the wall and not down the dizzying stairs I’d just ascended! The cold beer we rewarded ourselves with at the bottom could not possibly have tasted better – not least with this as a backdrop:
The Overhanging Great Wall, as it is known, is located in Gansu Province. Only here could filming resume on the show as John explained that it was prohibited in the autonomous region of Xinjiang due to major restrictions by the Central Government. So on our next stop in Turpan, we went where the cameras could not. As one of the lowest places on earth, they say that rain never falls here. We can now categorically confirm that this is untrue. Following on from our visit to the eerie ghost city of Jiaohe situated atop a plateau, it was once considered one of the safest trading posts along the Silk Road. However, a Mongol invasion challenged that title so the ancient capital of the Jushi people was subsequently abandoned in the 14th century A.D.
Unlike Darren and Alex who won this leg of Race Across the World by more than a day, I was not gunning for the first checkpoint on our tour as it would mark the end of my trip. Alas, all good things come to an end, and we sped through the last thousand or so kilometres on our first domestic flight from Urumqi to Kashgar. We will leave those gruelling 16-hour+ bus and train journeys to the contestants – thank you, as we could not miss the obligatory Sunday Market experience! Kashgar has changed a lot since our Tour Leader’s visit before the pandemic, the Old Town’s colourful and curated streets are now an Instagrammer’s dream. With the city’s growing speciality coffee scene, I also had the best-iced latte I'd had in China here. Muse Coffee was giving European vibes, to my surprise, and the upstairs terrace was a nice spot to shelter from the midday sun and watch the world go by.
Whilst it was time for me to return to Europe, my lovely group were headed for their next checkpoint in Kyrgyzstan. It was a bizarre feeling to leave the tour knowing that it would be continuing for another month - I guess not dissimilar to how Sue and Clare felt when they got eliminated after just the second leg of Series 1. Following an emotional goodbye, there’s nothing quite like a five-hour flight in the opposite direction to home and a seven-hour layover on your tod to reflect on a journey!? It turns out my Shameema moment hit a little later and, without further ado, WOW was this trip a long time coming. I was supposed to be travelling to Kashgar back in July 2020, which of course had to be put on hold for reasons we all know only too well. Binge-watching Race Across the World, and blogging about prior travels, was a means of escapism for me during lockdown so it really feels like I have now come full circle.
You can watch Series 1 of Race Across the World on BBC iPlayer and there’s more about The Great Silk Road Adventure tour, here. Alternatively, we visit all the places listed and many others on our Chinese Silk Road Taklamakan Adventure for those looking for a one-country option.
