CHILLING TO CHENGDU

The rain in Yibin (where I posted my previous report) was just the start of an unusually cold spell for S-China so early in winter. According to the weather reports there was snow all around us, but Leana and I were fortunate enough to be spared the snow. We did, however, have to contend with some icy rain, and even when it wasn't raining we had to cycle with a few layers of clothing on. For a change there were no serious hills on the route, and we stopped over at a couple of interesting places. The city of Zigong is historically known for it's salt wells, and more recently for it's dinosaur fossils and renowned museum (obviously the dinosaurs were waiting patiently to be discovered since long before the salt mining). Leshan, another Sichuan province city on the Min river, is a favourite tourist destination mainly due to it's ancient "Grand Buddha". In the freezing drizzle we took a sight-seeing ferry down the river to see this 71 m high sitting Buddha which has been carved from the river-side cliffs. In another city at the end of one particularly long freezing day, I walked out to get some necessities, and decided to buy some fried potatoes from an old lady on the corner. I was still wearing my rain jacket and cycling tights, and hadn't yet washed the "road muck" off myself - so I probably looked like something which the cat may have left on the doorstep. However, the old lady refused to serve me, and instead she threatened to clobber me with her food ladle (the beard probably added to the consternation, and I've since had it trimmed again). As we approached Chengdu the area along the road became increasingly built-up (with endless high-rise buildings almost all the way from Leshan - more than 150 km away). Chengdu is certainly the largest and most crowded city which I've visited in China, and we spent an exciting hour or more in the rush-hour darkness being directed to all corners of the earth in search of Sim's Hostel - which we eventually found. Distances cycled since Yibin were:- Zigong 107 km; Rongxian 48 km; Leshan 92 km; Meishan 89 km; and Chengdu 98 km.

THE RIVER ROAD

After leaving Xichang city, Leana and I cycled down-river to our next destination of Yibin at the confluence of the Min and Jinsha Rivers, forming the Yangzi River (this may be a bit confusing, as the "Jinsha" is also referred to as the "Yangzi" further upstream). To put it mildly, every day on this stretch has been full of surprises. What also adds to the surprise is that my "maps" are remarkable in their lack of detail (no distances, major towns not listed or in the wrong place, and many place names only written in Chinese script - which, again, does help when asking for directions). Firstly, to get "down-river" we spent the entire first day cycling up a mean mountain, and camped in the freezing cold at over 3100m where our water bottles froze and ice formed on the tents. Over the next 2 days we descended in an Easterly direction for about 150 km before climbing over more high mountains to Leibo lake in the historic Mahu district. Often we cycled on roads of which the surface has been totally destroyed by landslides and rock-falls (at times stones were falling all around us, but fortunately none found their target). However, the scenery was spectacular and the isolated ethnic villagers were wonderful to meet (bustling market-towns with colourfully-dressed villagers and their animals). At times it felt as if I could be in a place like Peru (incidently, I've never been to Peru), as the people were wearing tassled poncho's, women had long plaited hair, scruffy ponies are a popular beast of burden, and homesteads were often almost out of sight way up the mountainside at the end of unbelievably steep footpaths (therefore people also carry heavy loads). As we descended from the highlands into the Sichuan Basin, we found ourselves cycling in a misty haze (a regional winter problem formed by dust and pollution which settles in the deep river valleys). This part of China is also being feverishly developed on a huge scale - incredible highways and cities arising from what were recently still villages. To reach Yibin from where we were in Sichuan province, we had to cross to the South of the Jinsha as far as the city of Shuifu in Yunnan province. The only direct road between Shuifu and Yibin is a new expressway (bicycles not permitted), but we took our chances. About half-way to Yibin the police stopped us at a toll gate, but there was no exit from the highway so they called a pick-up truck from Yibin to load us up and take us about 20 km to the city. (The police are very friendly here, they were even taking photo's of us). Daily distances cycled since Xichang were:- Mtn camp 47 km; Junction town 85 km; Road camp 93 km; Leibo 7 km; Mahu 50 km; Bridge town 58 km; Shuifu 90 km; and Yibin 22 km. Total distance cycled since leaving Cape Town at the start of this journey is 49 424 km.

MOTHER LAKE

After leaving Lijiang for Lugu Lake the road seemed fairly OK for the first while. Then we started dropping down a river gorge, where we met German cyclists Matthias and Katarina pedalling up the hill. We could see a big zig-zag drop ahead of us, and they were the bearers of bad news regarding the troubles awaiting us. By that evening we weren't even half-way up a bad "cobble-stone" 40km hill, and we camped at a rare level spot with water (scaring the poor farmer's goats and pigs beyond recovery). Two nights later we were on another rough-road mountain pass, and camped at 3000m behind a peasant house next to a shed occupied by pigs, chickens, and a dog with puppies (every screech of the tent zipper at night was met by a chorus of grunting, squawking, barking, and puppy wails). Eventually we reached the beatiful Lugu Lake, and spent three nights at different villages on the lake shore. The community around the lake is apparently the only remaining Matriarchal society in the world (women are officially the boss - family lineage is transferred down from the side of the mother). Surprisingly (perhaps because the season was at it's end) there were very few tourists who were almost all local Chinese tourists. The lake is at a level of 2700m, and from there we went down along a spectacular gorge to the county capital of Yam Yuang. The down didn't last very long, however, as within the next two days we climbed everlasting passes, again over 3000m, before reaching the S-Central Sichuan city of Xichang (home of the Chinese satelite launching business). Some of the isolated mountain homesteads supply piped water to trucks and busses for brake cooling down the steep passes (we also camped at some of these - level spot for tents, and water for cooking and washing). Often the local bus passengers suffer from motion-sickness, and they double over at the roadside to violently "bark at the ants". However, once the ever-present scruffy black pigs are released from their over-night accommodation, they waste no time to clean up the mess. One morning I took a walk up the hill and found what I thought was a suitable ditch for my morning ablutions. As I later cycled past that spot I was pleased to note that I hadn't left a permanent blot on the landscape (the busy little pot-bellied janitors were doing their job - one of them still had toilet paper protruding from his jaw). Enough of that for now, until we take on the river road to the East of Sichuan Province. Distances cycled since Lijiang were:- Mtn camp 62 km; Ninglang 74 km; Mtn camp 59 km; Lousui (Lugu Lake) 21 km; Lige (Lugu Lake) 10 km; Wuzhilou (Lugu Lake) 27 km; Yam Yuang 124 km; Yalong River 77 km; and Xichang 79 km. Total distance cycled since the start of this trip is 48 972 km.

CLIMATE CHANGE

After more than a year of trying to adapt to hot and humid climates, it was a pleasure being able to breathe again at the more comfortable altitudes of SW China. However, the continued move to the NW has brought with it some high altitudes and cold weather (especially with the approach of winter). The route from Dali to Lijiang was fairly uneventful (of course there were some hills!). Like Dali, Lijiang also has an ancient city, dominated by the wooden tile-roofed buildings in the style of the local Naxi people. We are living in the Old City with its cobbled alleys and gushing streams - and of course the local tourists are all over the place again! For a couple of days Leana and I were away from Lijiang, travelling North by bus to the high altitude town of Zhongdian (a.k.a. Shangri-La). That town also has an old part, and is also rather touristy (at that altitude even the cheap youth hostel where we stayed had electric blankets on the beds). I'd taken my bike with on the bus, and spent 2 days cycling back to Lijiang while Leana spent that time hiking in the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge. Zhongdian and the high-altitude rolling plains (3400m) made for rather cool and O2-shy cycling, but the area has a pleasantly strong Tibetan flavour. My cycling route back to Lijiang took me down past the mouth of the Yangzi River Gorge (Tiger Leaping Gorge), as well as the foothills of Jade Dragon Mountain (Mt Satseto 5500m). Tomorrow we plan to cycle NE from here, towards the mystical Lugu Lake on the border with Sichuan Province. Daily distances I've cycled since Dali have been: Songgui 99 km; Lijiang 74 km; Zhongdian (by bus); Qiaotou 106 km; and return to Lijiang 83 km. Total distance cycled on this journey so far is 48 439 km.

NOT THE GREAT WALL

No, the wall in the picture is not THE Great Wall of China. Instead, it is the wall around the ancient town of Dali (wedged between mountains and lake) capital of this region in times past. More recently Dali has become a favourite travelers hang-out, but it seems to be losing popularity due to its increasing touristy nature (around the streets I've seen conspicuously few western travelers, but bus loads of local tourists instead). Another "wall" which I've encountered is the lanuage barrier, and with so many different ethnic groups in this region the accents only complicate matters. For instance, when asking directions to the next major town (thinking I've mastered the pronounciation) villagers don't understand me, and often they pronounce the same name quite differently. It is indeed handy to have a map with place names written in both western and Chinese! In China one can find just about anything - except under arm deodorant. In my efforts to explain to shopkeepers what I want (with my best impression of lifting my arm and applying the roll-on), I've been offered a bizarre range of items - eg. wash cloth, air freshener, hair removal cream, and even an electric razor! The route NW through Yunnan province has not been as hilly as before, although there have been some gear-grinding episodes (there is no flat land here!). In one patch along a river gorge there were a number of pitch-dark narrow tunnels with broken road surface, and in the dark both of us dropped our bikes into the muddy rock-side ditch in an effort to get away from traffic. We took it fairly easy though, as Leana has not yet recovered her fitness after illness. We also took the opportunity to extend our visas for another month in the city of Chuxiong, where we stayed for a day. Daily distances cycled since Kunming were:- A Village 79 km; Lufeng 38 km; Chuxionh 83 km; Shaqiao 61 km; Xianyun 95 km: Xia Guan 71 km; and Dali 14 km. Total distance on this journey cycled is 48 077 km.

GRINDING THROUGH YUNNAN

I lost Leana in the city of Jinghong! She was staying elsewhere, and left before me, I wasn’t sure in which direction. I was planning to head towards the provincial capital of Yunnan province – Kunming – where I could apparently get bike spares, so I headed off in that direction. I expected to cover the less than 500 k’s in 4 or 5 days – after all we’d been on the highway thus far in China, and I didn’t expect that to change. After only a short distance I was in for a rude awakening! The highway turned into a hi-tech Expressway, and I was politely escorted onto the “Old Road” by the police. One of the policemen spoke some English, and he informed me that the old road to Kunming was a “bit further”, there were “some hills”, but I would be “closer to nature”. Of course he was right on all 3 counts, but BY JUPITER what an understatement! The distance to Kunming turned out to be more than 700 km winding up and down serious mountain passes (most of the hills were between 15 and 30 km long). The road condition was somewhat poor in many places, making it rather hard on Old Saartjie (my rather worn-out bike). On day 1 the chain broke, and on day 2 the front brakes packed up – and so it went on. At least I was able to camp a couple of times in the mountains, and I booked into cheap rooms at other times to take a shower and do laundry. Food is very cheap, and one can get a wholesome tasty meal from the vendors for next to nothing. After 10 gruelling days I dragged myself into the well-known “Cloudlands” travelers hostel – to find Leana already there. She’d been very ill on the road, and I find it amazing that – under those conditions – she managed to cycle most of that route before deciding to take a bus. Now, after a few days in the city Leana is still rather weak, so we’ll wait here for her to recover. In the mean time I found some good bike spares, so at least one of us – Old Saartjie – is ready to proceed further into China. Daily distances cycled since Jinghong were:- Puyen area 70 km; Simao 85 km; Pu’er 55 km; Mountains 78 km; Mojian 73 km; Xing Cheng 75 km; Yang Wu 64 km; Eshan 60 km; Jinning 76 km; and Kunming 71 km. Total distance cycled since leaving Cape Town at the start of this journey is 47 636 km.

CROSSING TO CHINA

Immediately we had a pleasant surprise! After the poor roads we’d been on for the previous few days it was nice to go the last 20 k’s to the border on a new Chinese-built road. When we got to the new modern Chinese border post I felt a bit self-conscious amonst the few luxury-bus passengers in my old garb (toes sticking out of my shoes, shirt ripped down the back, and smelling like a rat). I wished that the marble-tiled hall was more crowded so that I wouldn’t be so conspicuous. From the border we were welcomed into China and onto the new highway – a series of tunnels and high bridges, spanning valleys and zooting through hills. Some of the tunnels were a few k’s long with dark sections in the middle (hectic on a bicycle without headlights). Along the road we met Swiss cyclist, Christoph, who had more luggage than me (he even had a trailer). On our approach to the city of Jinghong (on the Mekong river, again) we met 2 more cyclists coming the opposite way – Kathy and Sandro, who’ve been cycling all the way from their home in Austria, and were on their way to Singapore. Right now I’m taking a rest in Jinghong, and am enjoying the local quisine. Leana is staying elsewhere in the city (one needs breating space now and then), Distances cycled since Laos have been:- Mengla 72 km; Menglun 76 km; and Jinghong 78 km. Total since CT is 46 927 km.