Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Ni hao MCMer's,
I only have one long trip under my belt, Kunming -> Chengdu -> Kunming [2010] so I thought it fitting asking advice this time and planning way ahead before instead of doing what I did last time; I left home at 2pm and 3 hours later I was still getting lost in the north suburbs. No map, my Androird gps app proved useless(my fault not enough testing before hand). What I'm trying to say is I made it, but only because I was very very lucky, I'm trying to get things right this time.
Right, onto planning, err, hoping at this stage.
- Primary goal is to go to Beijing to Catch my flight. I'll have to send my luggage by train. Also, I have to find a safe place to leave the bike for about 9 months. So I should be in Beijing a day or two before.
- I have to cross some border on August 27th or before(visa issue). I would like it to be somewhere near Nujiang, but seems there's no border crossing there. So Ruili it is. Anyone know of a nearer border? I'm not planning on traveling, just getting that exit stamp.
I'm still far from being a China expert, so not sure if I'm picking good spots to pass through, but here's a rough sketch so far. >> Gmap link
http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/123_86/2...itRoute482.png
noob questions:
1) google maps says if I avoid highways this whole trip is 5031 km .. is this all doable if I leave KM on Aug 23rd?
2) can you suggest a better route, points of interest?
3) Anyone know of good printed maps of the area?
I'll update this when things are clearer in my head..
p.s. this is totally inspired by Pat's trip..
Any advice appreciated,
Thanks.
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Looks like an awesome trip! I'm glad you linked back to that earlier road report, I missed it the first time around.. although I remember Lao Jia Huo telling me the story about you walking into that "hotel" and asking to eat! Great stuff.
Any progress on your planning? It looks like your departure date is fast approaching!
A back of the envelope calculation looks like you've got roughly 21 days to go 5000 km.. which is about 240 km/day. That's pretty doable - and if you bump your average up to 300 km/day - it'd take roughly 17 days... giving you some spare days for rest/maintenance, etc.
What are your thoughts on the route through central Sichuan? I swung through western Sichuan (Xiangcheng, Litang, etc.) - which was all pretty spectacular - and predominately Tibetan areas.. although I'm sure you can't go wrong with the route as you've got it planned.
When you get up into Gansu, a little detour over to Xiahe is definitely worthwhile to see the monastery there.. it's a fascinating little place. It looks like you get close to Zhongwei in Ningxia as well - Zhongwei is a nice little town to spend the night in if it lines up. And then the desert in Inner Mongolia is really close, as is Shapotou - where the Yellow River passes through the desert.
As far as maps go - you can probably find an atlas that has maps for all of China. The ones I've seen cover all the G and S roads and a fair number of the smaller roads as well.. I found the atlas was a great combination with the GPS as the GPS was remarkably hard to use to just browse and looks at roads.
Hope this helps!
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Thanks Pat, I really appreciate your input. You calculations are correct, on my bike I should be able to average 240 per day. For maps, I'm afraid anything I'll get will be out of date as roads change to quickly here, but I supposed it's better than nothing, considering I won't always have Gmaps handy.
As for preparations, I've got all the tools I need now. Also got a mini-shovel and working gloves in case this happens (thanks for the inspiration MotoKai )::
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5193/...bd4d5528_z.jpg
Still not sure about the route though, that's still in progress..
This is my dream trip, the perfect exit. But I'm really worried the bike might let me down on the way. I've had it for 18 months now. Have one long (2600km) trip on her, and a total of 12,000 km. But honestly it has never let failed me. Only once, the shitty battery died but I just used the kick starter and went on. It's slow, true, but it never died. But the real test is coming up, lets see how it will hold up this time.
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Anyone knows what sort of weather extremes I might encounter? The bike survived extreme water downpours .. but I don't know about extreme temperatures yet.
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Quote:
Originally Posted by
slabo
As for preparations, I've got all the tools I need now. Also got a mini-shovel and working gloves in case this happens (thanks for the inspiration MotoKai)
No problem. I can't help you with tracks, as I haven't done this part of China yet, but I can lend you my toolbox if needed.
Please PM me if interested:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6123/...1cccf43a_z.jpg
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MotoKai
hahaha .. gardening in the wild ? err, wait this is part of your toolkit. I can see the set of screwdriver heads on the side :naughty:
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MotoKai
Definitely "Don't leave home without it" tools!
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Updates: I'll be changing my visa so no more the border crossing. I would really like to see do the Nujiang valley, but not this time. Here's an updated route, thanks Andre..
http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/123_86/1_2/toBiejing.png
Gmaps link
Kunming -> Dali -> Lijiang -> Dali -> Litang -> Lanzhou -> Ordos -> Hohot -> Beijing
I just remembered that I've never been to +4000m altitude. Anyone knows of any good altitude sickness pills to be bought in China? 6 days to go .. I should be getting some sleep, but I'm so excited..
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
"Viagra" (万艾可) :lol8: | Acetazolamide (乙酰唑胺) is prescription drug which can easily obtain via Doc in hopstial that had eye dept.
Can you tune the carb by urself for those altitude onroad ? IF can't bring a spare (shitty brand is enough) tuned is safer bet.
Also try to meet up "long haul" biker for "tips" in Kunming ASAP via motorfans.com.cn.
Re: Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th
Thanks HB,
yes, Viagra will treat altitude sickness, but with unwanted side effects if riding a motorcycle.. do we have an emoticon for riding with a hard-on ? :lol:
