Shanghai to Berlin on YBR125

[tokyokid]

When I went from Qumalai to Budongquan the road was not yet cleared or graded so I'm not sure if it still follows the same route. Either way, the only pass there was just after (North of) Qumalai and was about 4,700 if I recall. The entire route stays at high altitutde between 4,400 to 4,600m so 4,700 isnt that much of a relative difference and soem might not even call it a pass.

Glad to hear you took that route! Was there still lots of wildlife?

CC

it follows mostly the same road. the road is gravel one without potholes but its really slippy on the fresh little stones. the other problem is the bridges are not done, so you still need to cross most of those damn little rivers. the birdges should be finish by 2009. road will stay unpaved for the future the working crews said. it took them 3 years to make it to what it is now....

yes eagles marmots and 4 tibetan antilopes, there damn fast

[CrazyCarl]

Well at least you had some bridges! You had a bridge over the longest river crossing which wasn't there when I crossed 2005. Actually it looks like the road has been dramatically improved from the photos you posted and it seems with more traffic. Back then much of the road was actually an old river bed. Man those were some hairy times!

Those small river crossings were really bad too though as they appeared every .5 to 1km. Also, at the time, none of them were leveled out and many still had very steep banks. Sometimes i had to ride or walk up and down one of the small crossings to find a better crossing point, hoping to find a local's tracks. In the end, it was a small one that finally sunk me.

Man that was a difficult but unimaginable ride! Glad to hear the wild life was still out there too. You get to see that abandoned town before the big river crossing?

CC

[tokyokid]

Well at least you had some bridges! You had a bridge over the longest river crossing which wasn't there when I crossed 2005. Actually it looks like the road has been dramatically improved from the photos you posted and it seems with more traffic. Back then much of the road was actually an old river bed. Man those were some hairy times!

Those small river crossings were really bad too though as they appeared every .5 to 1km. Also, at the time, none of them were leveled out and many still had very steep banks. Sometimes i had to ride or walk up and down one of the small crossings to find a better crossing point, hoping to find a local's tracks. In the end, it was a small one that finally sunk me.

Man that was a difficult but unimaginable ride! Glad to hear the wild life was still out there too. You get to see that abandoned town before the big river crossing?

CC

you should change your road info on that route, I expected a bigger adventure, thats why I choosed it ...
otherwise I could go strait from xining to dunhuang without that big circle
you should go from deqin to lhasa (G318), thats more of an adventure and landscape is incredible.
the funny thing was that the 109 at kunlun shan was totally fucked for a part. dunno what happend there, but it was the last place I expected a bad road...

[tokyokid]

You get to see that abandoned town before the big river crossing?

CC

Yes town still there, wonder when the ppl left it.
How did you cross the big river? It impossible nowdays. There was rain in the morning and its for sure deeper than a whole motorbike
any pics from that time of the river?

[CrazyCarl]

you should change your road info on that route, I expected a bigger adventure, thats why I choosed it ...
otherwise I could go strait from xining to dunhuang without that big circle
you should go from deqin to lhasa (G318), thats more of an adventure and landscape is incredible.
the funny thing was that the 109 at kunlun shan was totally fucked for a part. dunno what happend there, but it was the last place I expected a bad road...

The info for that road was changed a while ago when an adventure cyclists gave me an update of the road conditions. Just goes to show the bad roads are running out fast! The route from Xining to Dunhuang is much less exciting. I though you were looking for adventure?

ChinaV and I were just on 318 at Litang and at the time it was a definite no-go.

109 at Kunlun Mountain was hit by a large earthquake right at the pass a few months back so what you saw was likely the damage from the quake. Got any pics of it?

The pic below is a pic of that river you crossed with a bridge. It was taken at the middle of the river on a sand bar. You cross those kinds of rivers by riding diagonally across deep water channels between sand bars until you get to the other side...like a zig zag. At first I didn't know what to do and was about to shit in my pants but then saw a local run through it on one of those little red 125's. He waited for me at the other side and we rode together for a while. Nice guy!

-click on image to see it in Panormaio-


That town you crossed was an old work camp during the revolutionary days. I used to know the name but have since forgotten. A pic below...




Glad you made the trip safely! How did your wife fare?

CC

[tokyokid]

The route from Xining to Dunhuang is much less exciting. I though you were looking for adventure?

ChinaV and I were just on 318 at Litang and at the time it was a definite no-go.

Glad you made the trip safely! How did your wife fare?

CC

We wanted to see the Total Solar Eclipse at Hami on 1st august and where to quick in Xining, so we had time left, thats why we choose to go to YuShu and your "adventure" road.
btw the tibetian horce rase festival in Yushu was forbidden by government this year.... till managed to find one on the way to qumalay.

why "no-go" in Litang? weather or police? usually you can go anywhere you want on a bike. i got catched soo many times this year but never needed to pay any fine.

My wife was fine on the trip, she just complained that she was often hungry on the tour. Right now we have arguments because she dont want to go to australia by bike...but lets see when it gets colder and more grey here...

[tokyokid]

Here you can see the map of my 2008 trip from Shanghai to Europe.
The points are the places we stayed overnight.

Click on the picture to have full view in Google Maps.

[CrazyCarl]

That's an impressive route TokyoK! Any more stories to tell? I'm sure you must have had some crazy situations.


CC

[berker]

I also have to say ,its impressive route TokyoKid.
I think ride from istanbul to shanghai , mybe acouple of years later.

[petedeuxwheels]

Fantastic. Congratulations. Are you going to publish an account of the tour? A book might be a hit with other bikers of small cc machines.

Happy New Year

Pete