'No, you no go. No visa, no go," said the officious short guy as he spat on the ground, just missing my foot.
Have you ever been somewhere that you don't want to be? I was in the far north-west corner of China. I couldn't continue north into Kyrgyzstan because it's a secondary border post, and thanks to this guy, I couldn't go west into Pakistan because I didn't have a visa. Such are the frustrations of the intrepid traveller.
My journey began in claustrophobic Hong Kong where wall-to-wall skyscrapers cover islands floating in the South China Sea. Far too expensive for a South African, so I caught a train to Beijing. Crossing the vast expanse of the country from south to north, passing smoke-spewing chimneys, men fishing in ponds and women working the fields, I arrived in the capital.
There really are 10 000 bicycles in Beijing. And I joined them, on an old iron workhorse, cycling along blocks the equivalent of five of ours, with a cycle mechanic on every corner and business people dressed in suits or heels. What a pleasure to cycle in a city where two of four lanes are dedicated cycle routes full of cyclists - even kids on their way to school.
But I was here to follow the Silk Road, so after three days exploring the city and a trip to climb the Great Wall, I made my way to the Chinese imperial capital of Chang-an (modern Xi-an), to see how far I could travel on this ancient trade route.
Finding my way around was problematic what with Chinese characters and few people speaking English, but miraculously I boarded the right train.
Xi-an's drawcard is the Army of Terracotta Warriors, which were excavated from the plains outside Xi-an.
They guard the tomb of Qin Shih Huang Di, China's first emperor from 221BC to 210BC and who created the Great Wall of China. The Terracotta Warriors are amazing - 8 000 warriors, 500 horses - each individually carved and displayed in giant mausoleums. With menacing expressions on their faces and looking east, they are ready to serve their emperor.
These warriors garrisoned the Great Wall and their empty hands continue to grasp weapons, moulded by hand and fired in kilns, originally in colour. Each one is a beautiful work of art.
Farmers discovered the warriors in 1974 in three burial pits near Mount Lishan, the man-made necropolis of the Emperor. There is still much work to be done, but there's the tantalising notion that more tombs will be excavated.
The warriors attract more than 1.5 million tourists each year and have achieved fame to compete with the Great Wall.
The next day, I caught another train, this one rumbled through China's largest province of Xinjiang towards Dunhuang.
We skirted the Taklamakan Desert, the 10th largest in the world, a desert whose name means, "go in and you will not come out". Surrounding Dunhuang are impressive giant sand dunes, which possibly hide cities and caravanserais buried beneath sand carried by desert winds.
Dunhuang is famous for the best-preserved Buddhist cave art in China, the Mogoa Caves. These brightly painted statues represent Buddha and his disciples and trace the development of art over the ages. Of the 492 grottoes, 15 are open to the public. For an additional fee, I saw Tantric art in cave 465 - explicit sexual portrayals "too corrupting for public viewing".
Next stop was Turpan - the hottest spot in China lying in the third lowest depression in the world. Vineyards and nut trees surround the small town, which owes its existence to an ancient irrigation system - giant mounds scattered every 20m around the town - wells linking underground channels carrying water from glaciers at the base of the Tian Shan Mountains. The best way to soak up the atmosphere is by bicycle.
I set off through the outlying areas of tree-lined roads, bordered by canals and the remnants of mud brick dwellings and temples, to the atmospheric Jiaohe Ruins.
This once wealthy city lies on a plateau between the confluence of two rivers and was the centre of power until Genghis Khan decimated it.
Many years ago, caravans of merchants, archaeologists, pilgrims and spies ambled by on heavily laden, bad-tempered camels. They forged mighty rivers, barren deserts and ruins of citadels and thriving communities, against a backdrop of towering, majestic Tian Shan Mountains. A century before the birth of Christ, an adventurous Chinese traveller, Marco Polo, braved this difficult terrain in search of silk, crossing China on one of the most important journeys in history. This led to China discovering Europe and was the birth of the Silk Road.
The name Silk Road is comparatively recent and is misleading because the caravans carried more than material goods - tea, spices, porcelain, gemstones, ivory, gold, horses, carpets and, of course, silk. More importantly the caravans were an interchange of ideas, new technology, music, dance, acrobats, politics and religion, including Buddhism.
Silk was the most precious material at that time and skillful Chinese masters kept production secret for thousands of years. People in the west thought silk was combed from the leaves of trees, while the Romans were so obsessed with it their gold reserves were jeopardised.
Legend goes that a Chinese princess, who was departing to marry a Khotanese king, hid live silk worms and cocoons in her elaborate hairstyle to fool customs agents so that she could wear silk in her "barbarian" home. A less dramatic tale gives credit to Nestorian monks who allegedly hid the worms in their walking sticks.
Back on the train, heading north to Urumqi, the furthest city in the world from the sea, and then to China's most westerly town, Kashgar.
As the train passed through a sandstorm, I recalled that in Marco Polo's time, merchants not only had to contend with war and robbers but also the kara-buran (black hurricane) - sand mixed with pebbles lifted up and whirled around.
Bordered by seven countries, Kashgar or Kashi as locals call it, is an intoxicating, prosperous town with a fascinating ethnic mix of mostly conservative Uighurs, who have gypsy features.
Many women are completely covered from head to foot with heavy black scarves, making it difficult to distinguish the front from the back, while others dress in bright clothes.
Kashgar was a critical junction on the Silk Road and held a strategic position.
During the 19th century, explorers and spies competed in the Great Game between Russia and Britain for control of Central Asia. In 1949, the Chinese government took control and tore down Kashi's walls, erecting a huge statue of Mao in the main square - an alien regime controlling what the Uighurs should control.
The exotic Sunday market is possibly the most famous in Central Asia, evidence to the mercantile tradition, which continues today. In the early morning the dusty roads are chaotic with donkey carts of nomads from neighbouring villages, wearing an assortment of headwear. Spending hours in the livestock market, I watched possible buyers examine teeth and test-ride horses and donkeys, while owner's brushed and trimmed their sheep.
From Kashgar, crucial, well-trodden Silk Road highways continued north over tortuous mountains into Kyrgyzstan, or south over the Karakorum Highway. Today, unable to cross the secondary border post of the Torugart Pass, I retraced my steps to Urumqi and flew to Bishkek, the capital of landlocked Kyrgyzstan, a country of wall-to-wall mountains averaging 2 750m, three-quarters of them under permanent snow and glaciers.
Heading south to Osh was an adventure, crossing the immense, craggy Kyrgyz-Alatau range rising like walls, isolating the country's north and south populations. We crossed two terrifying 3 000m-plus passes on a journey taking 14 hours, luckily avoiding road closures due to avalanches and rock-falls.
Osh was a significant town on the Silk Road. Exploring the Jayma Bazaar, it felt like little had changed over the past 700 years. From Osh, caravans continued west into Uzbekistan through Kokand, Samarkand, Bukhara and Merv in Iran, but with visa requirements, letters of invitation and border protocol, I was sadly unable to continue much further.
- Visas: South African passport holders need a visa for China and a visa for Turkey.
- Getting there: Singapore Airlines have flights from Johannesburg to Beijing for R10 600, and on Emirates Airline to Istanbul for R7 588. Fares include taxes.
- When to go: Best time is May to September - the climate is mildly continental.