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Published: September 13th 2010
A few miles from our overnight stop at Rawok Lake we get to Anju pass (4462m). Its not the most spectacular pass of our journey, in fact its just a large grassy plain, but it feels really significant - this is the watershed between India and Asia: to the west of us the rivers join the Brahmaputra and head off into India, to the east of us the rivers join the Yangtze, Mekong or Salween and flow into S.E.Asia. It really feels like we are leaving the India sub-continent behind. For the last few weeks we have been gazing south into Afghanistan, Pakistan, NW India, Nepal, Bhutan and NE India but from now on it will be S.E.Asia. It just reinforces how far east we have travelled.
We're 1/3rd of the way along the Tibet-Sichuan Highway which the guide book describes as “one of the world's highest, roughest, most dangerous and most beautiful roads”. Apparently we have covered the easy bit and the next 923 miles are going to be the trickiest; we were so focused on getting up to Tibet that we sort of forgot that we had to descend 4000m off the Tibetan plateau and on a motorbike
Anju Pass (4462m) - the watershed between India and Asia
to the west (left) of us the rivers join the Brahmaputra and head off into India, to the east of us the rivers join the Yangtze, Mekong or Salween and flow into S.E.Asiagoing down is harder than going up!! Plus there are the aforementioned rivers (The Salween, Yangtze, Mekong) carving out great gorges on their north-south journey. We're going west to east so we have to cross all 3. That means a lot of up and down - 3 days of constantly going from 4000m+ to 2500m and back over 7 high passes (highest 5010m), just the sort of terrain motorbikes were made for.
All this up & down means constantly changing scenery, every valley is totally different from the last. One minute we are surrounded by fertile green fields and yellow oil seed rape then the next minute its rocky, barren, canyons which are just as colourful with their mix of red and purple rocks. Sometimes its tropical with temperatures of 34C then an hour later we are chilly and surrounded by snowy peaks. Sometimes its thick forest which turns into grassy plains full of wild flowers and grazing yaks. Some roads are good tarmac with sweeping bends gently winding their way down to the green plains stretched out below us. Others are gravel or mud switchback climbing so steeply that you cant see the road above - somehow the
straights always have good surfaces but the switch back always have an extra layer of loose gravel or deep, sticky, mud patches. Its all great riding.
50 miles or so after the 'watershed' pass we cross the Salween River in a narrow canyon. The bridge is high above the river which is gushing through the canyon way down below us. Its all very serious; guards at both ends of the bridge, no photos and only one vehicle on the bridge at a time. At the end of the canyon we climb through 72 gravel switchbacks to the Zar Gama-la pass (4558m) - this is apparently the highest single altitude gain of any motor-able road in Tibet (2000m in 30 miles) . Strangely as we climb it gets greener and greener, oil seed rape really does seem to be a high altitude crop. Eventually the crops give out and the wild flowers are back. There's one bush with deep blue flowers that always appears when we get to 4200m, you don't need to check the instruments to know your altitude you can tell from the flora.
The next day its 265 miles from Lieda to Litang but it takes
..the next minute we are in rocky barren canyons.
that's the Salween River on its way to Burma & Thailand. There were lots of suspensiopn bridge across it to what looked like mines. us 6 hours to cover 90 miles - yes the dreaded roadworks are back. Thankfully, there's no sand this time, instead we are way up high on a narrow road (i.e. a mud track) clinging to the side of the mountain with a shear drop below us. Typically for China they are working on the whole 90 miles in one go so there are lots of small hold ups and traffic jams. Following the example of the local riders, on small bikes carrying the entire family, we weave our way to the front of the stationary traffic, go past the STOP sign and inch our way into the roadworks. The builders then wave the bikes through which usually means inching past the diggers with only a few cm between us and the sheer drop and often ducking under the digger's bucket suspended over our heads. We do get it slightly wrong at one point; we are weaving through several small tuk-tuk style tractors pulling trailers of stones when there's a sudden bang and judder as the pannier collides with the side of a stationary trailer, this is followed by a nasty scrapping sound as the trailer rips a hole in
900 miles to go
pilgrims prostrating their way to Lhasa our pannier!!! At least we stayed upright and didn't tumble down into the muddy brown Mekong way, way, way down below us.
Its not only vehicles negotiating these high passes and muddy roads. The route is filled with pilgrims prostrating their way to Lhasa. We are 900 miles from Lhasa but we are still passing pilgrims, it difficult to comprehend the devotion that drives them to do this - just walking all the way would be impressive but they are prostrating themselves. They are always cheerful, waving happily as we pass and they love it when you stop to “chat”, especially if there are snacks or water to share to help them on their way. Also heading west are convoy after convoy of army trucks. They go past 30 or so at a time and all other vehicles move off the road to let them pass. We pass at least half a dozen convoys.
We also seem to be in the land of roadside stupas. They are not just in villages they are just randomly dotted everywhere. Their style is different from western Tibet, here they are enormous and a proper stupa shape surrounded by colourful snow lions
and prayer wheels. In the villages there are always people walking round them, turning the prayer wheels. The little villages here seem full of life. They are scruffier than those on the friendship highway but seem much more alive and real.
At Zhubalong we cross the, incredibly wide, Yangtze River and leave Tibet. We are now in Sichuan province but everywhere is still very Tibetan. This whole area was once part the Kingdom of Kham and is still full of Khampa people with their distinctive look: men with long hair held up by red tassels and dressed like cowboys. Even the scenery is Tibetan with wide grassy plains and grazing yaks. And Litang, where we spend the night, was the birthplace of the 7th and 10th Dalai Lamas. Its taken us 12 hours to cover the 265 miles to get to Litang but no complaints it was a great days riding.
We are now on our last day up on the Tibetan plateau, tonight we will drop down to Kangding at 2500m and there will be no climb back up to 4000m. It really does feel like you are leaving Tibet behind, everything is slowly changing and becoming
a few of the 72 switchbacks on the way up the Zar Gama pass (4618m)
allegedly the highest altitude gain of any motorable road in Tibet less Tibetan and more Chinese. The monks at roadside monasteries are now Han Chinese, the houses are no longer whitewashed and they are taller with different roof lines and different detailing, eventually they even have the ying/yang tiles and upturned eaves in the corners that are so typically Chinese. We pass through an idyllic wooded valley complete with babbling brook which is inhabited with fellow riders sat, quietly in their own private spot contemplating it all - for many, me included, riding across Tibet was one of the main reasons for joining the trip and now we are leaving her behind.
Finally, at the top of the last pass (a baby at 4303m), we find a brand new tarmac road that sweeps its way round the bends and down to Kangding (2500m). Kangding is famous for a popular love song inspired by the surrounding scenery (which is pleasant but is nothing compared to the last 3 weeks across Tibet). The town has been a trade centre between China and Tibet for centuries and its still a mix of the two cultures. But having been exposed to Tibetan culture for 3 weeks its the Chinese elements that stand out: large
at the top of Zar Gama Pass(4618m)
the 72 gravel switchback are worth it when you get views like this. In the forground is the shrub with deep blue flowers that keeps appearing above 4200m. supermarkets filled with familiar goods, big TV screens with public info films, 5 star hotels with hot water on tap, tai chi in the main square at dawn, lots of cars in the main street. It really feels like we have arrived in China and our new challenge is to survive the traffic and make it to Beijing.
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David & Diana
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Floal altimeters
Interesting how have been able to read the altitude via the plant life. Some scary roadworks on a knife edge.... David & Diana