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Birthday drinks.
Not the best idea before getting back on the bike!Well its been a rocky ride and we’ve only been on the bikes for a bit over a week. It started tough after 3 weeks of leisure off the bikes despite the almost flat terrain. It was certainly flat compared to what we got a few days later, and maybe the only excuse for falling off my bike is fatigue coupled with altitude.
So the daily stats:
Tuesday 17th June: First day back in the saddle: Dali to Eryuan , 60.9km and less than 100m climbed net
Wednesday: Eryuan to Jianchuan, 59.2km and less than 200m climbed net
Thursday: Jianchuan to Qiaotou, 87.9km, overall descent but 620m climbed in the day
Friday: Resting at the mouth of Tiger Leaping Gorge. Small trip into the gorge itself
Saturday: Qiaotou to camp near Shangri-La. 73.9km and 1650m climbed. First time through the 3000m mark on our bikes
Sunday: Finishing off ride to Shangri-La, 31.2km.
Monday: Shangri-La to Benzilan, 86.1km with 820m climbed but a net descent of 1000m
Tuesday: Uphill all the way to campsite at 3600m on way to Deqin. A miserable 42.2km, but 1660m of climbing.
Wednesday. Continuing uphill from campsite but then opps, fell off at 4100m, almost the
peak of the day.. Trucked down 1000m of descent.
Thursday to now, mixture of wound recovery, resting and hiking to glacier around Deqin
Leaving Dali I felt surprisingly good despite clearing a few vodkas and beers to celebrate my birthday the night before. Matt was not so lucky, although not due to the drink, and his bowls would cause numerous emergency stops by the side of the road to bear his bum at coach loads of surprised Chinese tourists or fall into rice fields.
Despite not having planned a big day it did take us a while to churn out the 60km, which would have been a mornings ride before our break. This was not encouraging as we knew we had much worse to come as out path would soon be taking us into 4000m territory, twice as high as we were in Dali. Still, being back on the road was good and it didn’t take long for the activity we saw by the roadside to remind us of the kilometres conquered already and to mention but a few; being dragged into domestic tourist photos after only been on the bikes for 2.2km, dirty towns, friendly people, excited
kids, hard working farmers, bone idle people in towns and industry open in the street.
That night, or rather the morning saw us get up at 2.45am to watch the France - Italy Euro match. It wasn’t a good way to start the day with France going down miserably and I turned it off before the end. Matt, the sports fan extraordinaire, had fallen asleep even before then! Our bodies told us we needed a rest despite only 1 day on the bikes and we didn’t wake again till 10.45. We didn't manage to leave till after 12 and this made the day seem hard as we didn't really get a decent break during the day. On departure I discovered a puncture in my bob wheel - my first puncture of the trip! Fortunately it didn’t prove as hard to fix as Matt's puncture nightmare some weeks ago. The ride itself was through similar terrain to the previous day, big wide almost flat farmed valleys with the only uphill coming as we went up a pass into the next valley.
The night was spent in another dusty one street town and we had a good dinner with very
Chinese marketing
Only in China could industry advertise the beauty of their plants smiling family of chefs providing food to a seating space smaller than their cooking area. We ate there the next morning too, much to their amusement. However, not so amused were the local police who looked like they were going to book us for parking on side of road.
With an earlier start we got well into our planned 60km before temperatures rose above 20°C which made the riding much easier. Then we met two Dutch cyclists (I think off all the 30 something cyclists I have met on the travels 40, if not 50% have been Dutch!) who told us next 55km to Qiaotou was downhill. This spurred us on and we extended our days target to get there. It was down, or at least as much as any road in Yunnan can be considered consistently down, until we joined the Yangtse but the last 20km were very flat and were really hard work.
On reaching Qiaotou we decided to stay at Jane's Guesthouse, a basic and at times very smelly hostel but the only place in town with internet. As I was checking out the place Peter & Karin, the world cyclists I had met &
Locals at work
We have passed an incredible number of good quality stone carvers art work - statues, tombs, balustrades, pavers and structural stone beams rode with in Laos also arrived. It was great to catch up with them and we learnt we had taken the easy road from Dali - they had come through Lijiang and climbed over 3200m high passes. Given the trouble we had had I think we had taken the road most suited to our fitness level!
After 3 days in the saddle we were due a rest and took the day very easy. Mid way through the afternoon I decided I should get down close to the turbulent waters in the Gorge, something Greer & I hadn't done when we were here a couple of weeks ago.
Whilst walking the low road with Greer I had thought that cycling it would be less scary as less time would be spent in the path of potential rockfalls. I was wrong! Sheer cliffs and scree slopes looked just as terrifying and I was glad to arrive at the fenced carpark marking the beginning of the path to the water. It was just over 100m drop to the water and with every step the roar from the gorge got louder. An incredibly elaborate boardwalk took us wandering tourists to within metres
of the water where you could feel the force of 1,400 tonnes of water rushing past per second (i have estimated this from some stats on the web and it may not be exactly right - in anycase there is a huge amount of water flowing down it). Standing there was enough to make me feel dizzy and I was very pleased by the presence of a sturdy balustrade. Just adjacent builders were hard at work extending the boardwalk with apparently precious little concern to the waters racing alongside them.
Seeing the water churn around the rocks I began to see the power contained and how gorge, apparently the deepest in the world at 3900m deep, could be carved out from the rock.
I had been surprised by how close we had been able to get to the river as usually the fenced walkways at tourist sights leave you itching to get closer. On the way up I realised the logic - the further you went down the higher you have to climb out therefore increasing the chance you'll succumb to the locals armed with sedan chairs to carry you back up! I passed no less than 3 Chinese
being ferried up in this manor, and not a single one walking!
Getting back we thought we should do some of the usual day off chores - the bikes got some maintenance but we didn't get around to clothes washing!
We had been persuaded to join Peter & Karin the next day on their mega ride to Shangri-La: 100km and well over 1000m of climbing. Given our previous form completion sounded unlikely but we would try. We set of early and the road was great, beautiful valley, good tarmac and steady climbing at 3%. The road then steepened giving great views over the narrow valley we had climbed until finally we emerged into undulating plain after 40km and 1300m of ascent. Already a big day and we were less than halfway there! The valley wasn't as flat as we needed and despite accommodating several settlements we found nowhere for a good feed. Our snacks left us without drive so as evening approached Matt and I stopped for a late lunch of pot noodle cooked on our stove, basic fare but with the best view of an restaurant I have ever been in! Here we said goodbye to Peter
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Builders extending the tourist boardwalk metres from the very much raging river & Karin who needed to press on in order to find a TV for the Holland game, where as we were happy to potter along and camp the night.
We continued on looking for a secluded spot to camp and almost immediately found a village and restaurant. Not wanting to pass up a food opportunity we stopped for dinner but struggled to eat much. Still it saved us from cooking up more pot noodles! Finding a campsite wasn't hard and having already eaten it wasn't long before we were tucked up in bed.
The next morning we didn't fancy pot noodle (a common theme in the mornings) so we raced along the almost flat road to Shangri-La spurred on by the thought of breakfast at our favourite place from last time, Compass Café.
On the way, and whilst pacing down a slight gradient Matt hit a plank of wood which neatly disconnected the bob wheel from the rest of the trailer. Fortunately he stopped without unbalancing and wheel ended up in the gutter. If had happened elsewhere the wheel could easily have gone over the edge of a cliff never to be seen again.
We hadn't
A local Landmark
A bit of tourist kitch just outside a guesthouse in the gorge been paying attention to the days of the week and were very disappointed to find Compass Café closed - it was a Sunday and the place is owned by an American, who unlike the locals appears to appreciate a rest day. It was a rest day for us too, and after a poor replacement breakfast we had a lazy day of emails, football replays, and snickers shopping ahead of the serious mountains ahead. We bought 12, over half the shops supply.
For dinner we returned to a place we had eaten at on our previous visit for Nepalese curry with Peter & Karin. In contrast to last time the place was rammed with guests and banquets. Just as we were about to order a big group left, leaving behind 90% of their dishes untouched. I thought they were having a temporary reprieve, but then waitresses started clearing plates and throwing away the food. We inquired as to what was going on and hinted that it was such a waste. We got the intended result - they brought the food over to us . It was the best food and best cuts I have had on the trip and stuff
My first puncture
Happened in trailer wheel and matt was carrying a spare so i was able to fix later with my friend Tsingtao we haven't seen in China. Prawns, nice yak meat, meaty chicken, minced beef, fried dumplings, pork ribs, apple curry, spinach alumni, tandoori vegetable fritters. There was so much that we weren't able to order the beautiful curries we had had before but the meal was delicious. And free, they wouldn't accept anything extra above our drinks. The waitress explained that one group had invited another and as was common, they barely ate. Although she looked a little surprised, I think she was genuinely happy that the food wasn't going to waste and brought over the dishes with pleasure. None of us could believe the waste that must commonly occur and it further showed the disparity between rich and poor in China.
Afterwards I went up to the temple which dominates the town's skyline with a massive spinning prayer wheel. It was very pretty and the scene of a surprising amount of activity with many groups of young people spinning the wheel, although it looked more for fun than earning Buddhist Merit.
The following day, thinking it would be mostly downhill to Benzilan we enjoyed a long and late breakfast at Compass Café. It certainly set us up
Peter and Matt under the protection of rocks fall barriers
These were huge nets and several showed signs of being used. well with energy and it turned out that we would need it. The expected couple of hours ride took us all day!!
We said goodbye to Peter & Karin as they were spending a few days in Shangri-La and set off across beautiful flat wide valleys in the sun full of wild flowers and grazing yaks. Matt stopped at the lavatory entitled 'the lavatory of environmental protection of the travel' (the Chinese must find our W.C sign so boring and may even wonder what the room is for!), although he doubted the environmental protection when each visit required the replacement of a plastic bag.
We continued on and up, eventually a pass in the ridge becoming evident. As I approached I noticed a strong wind and looking back upon hearing a cry saw Matt wrestling his bike from the gutter - he claimed the wind had blown him in there. Seemingly unperturbed he recovered and started cycling again only to be immediately stopped in his tracks again.
Seeing him in distress I turned back and found the rear drop out bent and rear derailleur stuck in the spokes.. A fairly serious repair was needed, but one that
I was quite familiar with having done it to my bike several times before. At this point the ridge wind turned into a downpour and we donned our jackets before affecting the repair. Uncannily, the repair lasted as long as the downpour - a good half hour.
But finally we were back on the bikes and reached what we thought was our peak of the day. The descent was great, and the terrain changed to pine trees. We came across two Aussies and talked about the route with them. They said it was downhill all the way. Soon however we were going uphill!
The unexpected uphill was long but the reward great when we came to the pass which was dotted with beautiful white painted large local houses built of rammed earth walls and massive timbers. This denoted the start of descent proper and throughout terrain changed: Fields and remote villages turned to dry scrub land into mountainous desert then a very narrow greenish valley until we reached the Yangtse River and its desolate super-steep sided rocky valley with viscous gully winds and devoid of vegetation and life. We crossed bridges in 25 knots of wind and then
Great Views
View down the valley we had come up on way to Shangri-La soldiered along the valley bottom going upstream until we came across outhouse in middle of nowhere. Amazingly it contained a fridge so got a cold drink whilst more locals than we thought could be housed in the building interrupted their game of pool to play with our bikes. Curiously a bunch of monks dropped by to buy wooden bowls which they appeared most pleased with.
Eventually we made it to town and stopped at restaurant which also advertised itself as hotel only to be taken over the other side of road and shown rooms in another building. It seems the establishment outsourced everything but food with drinks, rooms & cigarettes coming from different sources. Good for sharing tourist dollars throughout the local economy I suppose! As has often been the case the rooms were Ok, (especially for 50Y =£4) but the building was very average - a dirty terrible entrance and exterior walls unpainted.
Unusually we wandered into 'town' (ie down the street) after dinner. We found a club and had couple of beers whilst watching, and a little taking part in, some local dancing. It was gone 10pm when we went to bed - one of our
The Crew Resting
Peter, Karin and Matt taking a breather after crossing the 3000m mark latest nights!
The following day was a major uphill offensive with over 2000 vertical metres to be climbed before the summit. I don't think the beers the night before were the best preparation but we set off well after a surprisingly good noodle soup. The climbing started straight away with 300 vertical metres in less than an hour, then again, with an average 5% incline. We got a bit confident but then got tired.
It was sunny all day and we were surrounded by magnificent views. We enjoyed good rests by streams full of snow melt. Whilst lazing around I got stung by bee in the back of leg. Not being a fan of bees this sent me into a sprint to clear the area. It didn't immediately swell too big, but later grew + got very itchy.
Eventually at 3600m we had had enough of the climbing and decided to leave the summit for the next day. We found a campsite shortly after, no stream but secluded. Another nourishing meal of pot noodles awaited us and again we were in bed before nightfall.
We woke to rain and mist which would follow us all of
And another break!
Matt cooking up a late lunch to fabulous views of meadows at 3100m. our riding day. To avoid excess reliance on pot noodles now that we were in more remote areas and expected to be camping a lot more we had bought Oatmeal, Australian produce no less. This should be good I thought! However on adding the coconut milk powder and water the resulting product reminded me of Greer's favourite breakfast - porridge, which she has unsuccessfully tried to convert me to. Ever adding sugar and dried fruit didn't improve the taste and I was almost longing for the old pot noodles!
As we regained the road from our remote campsite (a tough start to the day as we had to push bikes up 40° slope) and were greeted by a Chinese fellow on a motorbike, he was soon joined by a friend on a scooter, then another and finally 2 people on a single scooter. Although we didn't share a common language we were each able to communicate that the other was more mad - them for riding bikes clearly unsuited to the cobbled road, and us for leaving the petrol behind.
Climbing was slower than previous morning. It was very cloudy so we couldn't see the extent of the
Lost a wheel?
Matts trailer, fortunately no damage to Bob to Rider when the wheel came off. Decent skid though switch-backs. We rode through intermittent rain and down to 9°C but finally we made it to 4000m! We celebrated with silly photos at an incredibly well placed km marker. Fortunately no sign of altitude sickness but noticeably less breath, we were stopping after 30m of vertical ascent and puffing heavily. At 2000m and fresh had done 300m at a time!
Much more puffing later we made it to first pass - 4180m! It was shrouded in mist. Matt got there first and disappeared into a tent. Not sure how he knew it was a shop but we gladly rested their with fire, Chinese red bull for 3Y (less than we have been charged at much more accessible locations), and snickers bars we brought from way below.
The tent appeared to be the home of 3 locals who were in the tent. It was made from very basic timbers with one end covered in transparent plastic sheet, the other with hessian mesh which was doing an average job of keeping out the drizzle at the time. Heaven knows how it would stand up to more serious summer rain and wind, let alone winter conditions. I can only presume it
is taken down outside of summer as the area would be several metres under snow and seriously subzero. We had learned from a hostel owner in Shangri-La that during winter there it was -10 to -20°C and most of the town decamped elsewhere. At the pass we were 1000m higher. We had seen other, apparently uninhabited blockwork buildings shortly before the pass and weren't sure why our current refuge was not of a similar more robust nature.
We pressed on into the mist with the next pass visible intermittently. We dropped a cursed 100m which would very soon need to be reclaimed - nothing compared to our ascent of the last two days but seemingly more exhausting. However red bull and snickers was certainly helping me.
Then we spotted cycle tracks in mud, and they were fresh. Maybe it was the Chinese guy who was headed for Lhasa that we had been told about by Aussie couple. They kept reappearing and eventually we spotted a rudimentary bike with huge loads. Got closer to discover they were bags of plastic bottles for recycling! No idea where they all came from up here, but good on him. It was great
Mountain Pass on way to Benzilan
and probably the most beautiful settlement we have come across to meet a more unlikely cyclist than us!
We then made it to the second pass, only 10m higher than the first - not sufficient reward for the effort imparted - still we were getting closer to the big downhill 😊
This pass was inhabited by a couple of tents and a huge pile of beer bottles that given the lack of population nearby, surely must have been accumulating for over a year. Once again someone was collecting for recycling, this time with a truck though.
We continued on and a sweeping path appeared in gaps in the cloud, then the final pass came briefly into view, much wider than the others and complete with grazing yaks which give it it's name 'Yak pass'. With our final peak in view we just had a bit more down and up to go.. But that is where it all went wrong; I was approaching a smooth section of road amongst the cobbles and rocks, but too late I realised it was slippery mud and should be avoided. At 30 something km/h I didn't have much time and I'm not sure if I avoided it or not but next thing
I knew the front wheel was sliding out and I was shouting a warning to Matt (or screaming like a girl depending on whose view point you take) before landing on the cobbles. I didn't find the soft bit. I lay still for quite a while venting my pain and frustrations orally. Matt was only a short distance behind and was quickly checking that I was at least half ok, and once reassured of this went to get his camera.
In the fall I lad slid rather than doing an acrobatic somersaults and with the bike and trailer being so heavy they had come to rest away from me. The injuries have fortunately turned out to be nothing more than nasty scratches and grazing - I have done worse single areas before from riding but this one certainly covered more parts of my body - from knee to shoulder on left side. It took a long time for me to regain all my senses; sound, vision, dizziness, hot, cold, thirst and needing the toilet all took their turns at malfunctioning or becoming very important. Matt opened up the first aid kits, pretty much the first time they had been
In a Mekong Gorge
Making our way painfully slowly towards Benzilan in a desolate landscape called on for anything aside from Imodium and we did a basic clean up on the roadside.
It was then kit damage assessment time, my new glasses had come apart but fortunately the lens could simply be reinserted, my great waterproof jacket had some added breathability which I hope to be able to fix with gaffa tape but fortunately the bike, although a little shaken itself showed no signs of fatal problems.
Even before I had come to my senses, swelling had started and I was in no mood to cycle on, up or down. We had climbed to over 4000m with 1000m of descent ahead of us but we were going to do it in the back of a truck! I felt really sorry for Matt but he kindly didn't show his disappointment.
A couple of cars had passed when I was recovering by the roadside but none had stopped, I guess they thought I was just resting. We flagged down the first truck that came past and after some hand signalling + wound showing, the side of the truck was opened up and our kit and bodies fed into the back.
The ride was
almost scarier than being on the bike, from our elevated position standing in the back we could see right off the edge of the road and down into some very deep valleys. Whilst we were still on cobbled road I was glad of the truck, but as soon as we hit the relatively smooth tarmac I would have felt happier on the bike. Still despite stopping to remove (but not replace) a broken drum brake, a procedure which Matt and a following truck keenly lent hands to, we made it down to a Deqin safely.
I waited whilst Matt found a hotel and then we gently rolled downhill to the chosen spot. We and our bikes were completely covered in mud from simply riding and in, and in my case rolling in, the wet conditions but the hotelier seemed oblivious to the mess we were going to make in his establishment and generously assisted us with our gear. I must have used most of the hotels hot water as I slowly completed the cleaning of my injuries.
All in all I was very pleased to be able to do these things for myself and surprised to get a
Mountian views
and a robust looking completely unused building decent nights sleep even waking to watch the Germany - Turkey euro match in the middle of the night.
The following day we moved by taxi-truck to a nearby village which was calmer and provided great views of the Kawa Karpo mountain range. The taxi was only a two seater and Matt volunteered to ride in the back so I could have the good seat. It didn't take long for the rain to start which he had to endure for 10km of treacherous mountain road. We had some scary moments passing earthworks seemingly being conducted at random - another Chinese road improvement scheme.
Heavy mist and rain came and went with visibility changing from 5 to 3000m very quickly resulting in a brief view of the mountain range.
Overnight the weather cleared and we
woke to fine views of Mt Kawa Karpo range. The village was certainly no transport hub but eventually we secured a taxi that was keen to ditch his current fare, an Israeli film crew, in order for a larger one. He turned out to be a very average driver. Slow which was good but strange approach to bumps - extreme caution then
not noticing. The road took us down a very scary path down seriously steep sides of the valley until we hit the Mekong. This area is home to the biggest rivers in the world - all flowing off the Tibetan plateau, and correspondingly some serious gorges.
Amazingly there were pockets of life on vaguely flat bits. Our destination was the Mingyong glacier which flows from Mt Kawa Karpo itself. The mountain is considered most sacred of all in china and despite its relatively moderate peak of 6740m has never been summited. Perhaps due to the spirits guarding it?
Our puffy walk to a glacier viewing pointing at 3000m rewarded us with good views of lower dirty part of the glacier and beautiful smaller valleys. The walk did my leg and knee no good and I decided to have a few rest days whilst Matt did a 3 day hike.
I have just been soaking up good views, good weather and good food at Tashi's Mountain Lodge, a homely lodge run by a couple of Irish lads. They have Guinness here but they take their food very seriously and it is saved for special pies! In anycase their
is plenty of local drink available, which of course I am abstaining from to assist recovery..
Next stop is the PSB to try to get a permit for Tibet. Internet chat boards have been going wild with the news that 'Tibet is Open' however the reality for independent travellers is not so good. Various conditions such as same nationality, guided groups with accommodation booked are rumoured to be required. Still, we shall see what rules are running in this outpost of Yunnan, the last town before Tibet!
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Pedro
non-member comment
Good work
Looks like you're doing some excellent things there lads. And gladlly, like 'le Tour', I can watch it from the comfort of my armchair. Keep it up!