It seems ridiculous, but it took four days to get the hell out of Shanxi. Attempt one, as I mentioned in a previous update, ended on National Highway 109, just over the Inner Mongolia border. The second day ended in heavy rain. On day three I attempted Provincial Highway S304 from Pinglu. This attempt ended here:
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This point would be mere two km out of town. I ascertained that the road had become clogged the night before: the entire 82 km section, from Pinglu to Pianguan (county town to county town) was stuck. At least it was a beautiful day.

The traffic police then directed me to attempt three, a small "tourist road" to the north. After some slithering about through the mud, I arrived at this:

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This was apparently also the road to the 17th century. Still, it seemed okay until:

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That would be the very same S304 that I had attempted 1.5 hours earlier. The rural route dropped me off at a point a mere 20 km out from my original starting point (Pinglu). The bridge in the background is packed with trucks going exactly nowhere, as they had since yesterday.

On the advice of the truckers, I stormed up the grassy knoll to the right, scrambled across some fields, and gained, perhaps, one more km, before grinding to a halt.

From here on it was a dicey game of lane splitting for perhaps fifty plus km, a journey of 9 hours. I almost lost a case to a truck bumper. But I must tip my hat to the truckers who were preparing to spend yet another night on this road: they were quite good-humored and magnanimous, giving me as much space on this narrow road as they could afford.

Arriving in Pianguan, on the northwest frontier of Shanxi, the trucks finally thinned. On the advice of locals we motored north to the hamlet of Laoniuwan (old cow bend). Increasingly spectacular riding. This is the point on the Yellow River where the three provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia now converge, and is the site of a Ming-period fort that has now been opened as a tourist spot.

(As my internet connection has now ground to a halt, I'll have to post further pictures at a later date.)

The relief I felt at finally catching sight of clear roads and Inner Mongolia in the distance found expression in a delightful bottle of baijiu. The evils of which nearly delayed my departure from Shanxi for yet one more day.

I've just arrived in Lanzhou, Gansu. In the next couple days I'll post updates on routes through the Ordos region of Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and eastern Gansu.

Max