Camping and overnight stops...

Seeing some of the fully laden bikes in the pics here it's got me wondering about camping options. Back in my old 4x4 days, in another time and another place, we would head off to the bush and there would be camping grounds, caravan parks, etc. The only danger in some places was marauding lions.

Supersignet, you talked about staying in a Bingguan on your trip to Guangxi. I liked those photos, by the way. Is this the only realistic low cost option other than hotels? Are there any camping grounds or camping facilities anywhere? What about camping in the grounds of the local police station?

Camping in China greatly depends on where you are. Often, there are so many towns around that you could stay every night in a bingguar and not notice anything.

If you want to do camping then head further west. Camp out of sight and don't pitch tent near the sides of a hill or mountain. When in the grasslands, you may be able to pitch tent with nomadic yak herders. You're almost always safe and they usually choose perfect spots to maximize water run-off. Don't be surprised if you wake up to women singing or yaks licking dew off your tent. They're a great time and live in a world like going back 500 years.

I would suggest not camping in local police stations.

CC

Camping in the south China is not so easy because the land is mostly rice fields. Try the beaches. Beware of the snakes.

We've done camping in NW Sichuan in the mountains and it was fantastic. Can be pretty cold during the night even in Summer.
http://photos.bmfbm.com/galleries/2008_02/IMG_3148.JPG

Once we were not far a Tibetan farm and they invite us in the morning for a local breakfast.
http://photos.bmfbm.com/galleries/20...MG_2237_sm.jpg

Brice,

I've been meaning to ask you where exactly did you go in NW Sichuan?

CC

The camp site was around Gansi, the farm in the Aba country.

Google map

The map doesn't have names on the placemarks so it's hard for me to tell which exact roads you took but it looks like you came up from Yunnan and skirted the eastern border of Tibet then cut into the tip of Qinghai. Nice choice of route!

That is some unbelievable people and scenery out there. Landscapes from those places are burned into my mind..

- On the way up to Litang from Zhongdian -
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...um/1064975.jpg


- Near Ganzi -
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...um/8429361.jpg

- The Road to Aba -
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...um/1061603.jpg

Nice thing about Western China is the further West you go, the crazier it gets! So when are you and your wife going to hop on some bikes and head out here? :thumbup:

CC

we've done it counterclockwise. I don't have a precise track log. We took mostly dirt roads and the tarmac only for liaison or to reach a city. The GPS often doesn't have those roads and we got lost quite a few times.

We are going in July with the 4WD and perhaps I'll load a bike on it but not sure. We'll be 4 people this time...
Because of the earthquake, we'll avoid most of the Sichuan. Don't know yet if we go Yunnan/Guizhou or QingHai. I'm tempted by QingHai but got only one month and this is far from Guangdong.

Could you train it to somewhere like Xian and go from there?

CC

Yes that's an idea or perhaps I'll go few days in advance then the family could join me in Xining or Xian.

What do you think crossing east part of Tibet from Qinghai to Yunnan without a visa? I wanted to see kekexili (remember the nice movie?).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brice

What do you think crossing east part of Tibet from Qinghai to Yunnan without a visa? I wanted to see kekexili (remember the nice movie?).

---

Kekexili... NOW YOU'RE TALKIN! :clap: Not a bad movie either. Gets me excited just thinking about it! Qinghai = :rockon:

Chances of making it through before the Olympics is not to good but you can always try anyway. After the Olympics might be better but who really knows?

CC

Brice, you mentioned that you used a GPS and that all the roads weren't on the map. Can you tell me where you located GPS maps of China, and if they are in Pinyin? I just brought back a Garmin GPSmap 60cx from the States, and have been using it just to ensure I can find my way back home, but would love to figure out where to purchase some decent road maps for around China.

For what I know (TBC) only Garmin GPS bought in China will have detailed maps of China. Their maps are not compatibles with the other Garmin and vice versa.

I'm using a low cost no name Chinese GPS based on WinCE. It was supplied with KLD and Route66 software and maps for China. Maps are from 2006 so some new roads/highways are missing but they are very detailed.

KLD is Chinese only and Route66 allows some search in roman and Chinese characters. I use Route66 because it has routing with English voice. It is good for finding a place but it has no tracking function.

If you bought one check the maps and the software first. You can have many SDCards with different softwares according your needs. Ask the vendor to put more if needed.

With these no name GPS, a good software for tracking is OZIexplorerCE, the maps are poor but the other features are extended.

If you have some cash to spend, check the Mobile/PDA/GPS (Dopod, HTC) with Windows Mobile 5 or 6. the Operating System is not locked like in mine so you can also use it as a phone or a pda or a media player.

some websites about these GPS: www.28PDA.com (chinese) or www.gpspassion.com (English)

Brice and CC

There's some amazing scenery in your photos. Very appealing! :w00t:

This may sound a little extreme but personally I think if a motorcyclists lives in or near Western China and never rides it, it's like sitting on a mountain made of diamond and wondering where the jewels are.

Unless you've ridden in the Andes of South America, if you've never done this kind of riding before, put away everything you think you know and get ready for something different.

Oh and take lots of pictures! :thumbup:

CC