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  1. #21 Re: Jiayuguan 
    Life Is Good! ChinaV's Avatar
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    Really enjoying this!

    A great ride report with all the usual frustrations and wonder that only China can offer.

    THANK YOU!
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  2. #22 Zhangye 
    C-Moto Regular cryptographicide's Avatar
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    Zhangye July 17
    Odometer: 4561 (+323)


    I am the Spectacle!

    The night in the hills was cold. We have sleeping bags that zip together and so we could spoon to conserve warmth. We developed a system where we were switch sides at the same time. Every hour or so, one of us would wake up and roll over and the other would follow suit. Regardless, our feet were ice in the morning. It still blows my mind that we went from sweating and being worried about heat stroke to nearly getting hypothermia in the matter of a few days. After the previous night of stress and semi-sleeplessness, we decided to sleep in. Neither of us wanted to leave the tent until the sun shone on it. So, we slept in.


    We made quick work of the Gaosu and had no problems. Our first attempt to get on was blocked by a fat security woman who objected so enthusiastically that she spat. We simply drove ten kms down the road and tried the next entrance where we succeeded. The power problems from the night before went away in the morning. It could have been the headwind and steep climb but I also think it may have been a glitch in the EFI system that went away with a power cycle.







    On the road, I saw the most jaw dropping vehicle sharing the highway with us. It was an honest to goodness Schlumberger truck. It was a shiny, stunning Western Star with a frac pump on the deck. This truck is a familiar sight in our hometown where the primary industry is oil. The truck stood out on the Gaosu. Immediately ahead of the Schlumberger truck was a regular Chinese tractor trailer with Shandong plates. The driver saw our plates and gave us a wave. I saw these events as a great sign and was very excited about the day.


    This is a Schlumberger frac pump truck.


    The kms to Danxia park were uneventful. We got there, used our student id's to get half price tickets. We needed to wear our backpacks because I can't lock them to the bike very easily. I was also wearing my armour. And this park was packed. It's pretty easy for people who live in China to imagine was crowds of Chinese tourists look like. This place had a good crop of very typical specimen. They were yelling and cawing, pointing, waving and taking selfies in the most reliable way. When they saw a 6'2" foreigner wearing boots, knee guards, and admittedly "shuai" body armour, they couldn't help but forget we are people, who despite our strange attire, have paid admission just like everyone else. It seemed like we had a thousand people who had to have our picture taken. Everyone needed to tell me how handsome I looked and how beautiful Andrea was. Those outside of China might not relate to how annoying this situation was. Please understand, the first time you pose for a picture, its kinda fun. The 50th time that day you can't bring yourself to say yes. Week after week of that incessant attention and you wish you could put on a squinty eyed mask and just be invisible. I took off the armour and wrapped it in the backpack. That alone made the rest of the afternoon much more enjoyable.





































    Afterwards, we used Meituan to find a cheap hotel. We found a 88 yuan room with good secure parking and air conditioning. Did some laundry in the sink and went out for dumpling soup and beer.



    Last edited by cryptographicide; 08-29-2015 at 10:24 PM.
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  3. #23 Flower Ocean and Blue Rock City 
    C-Moto Regular cryptographicide's Avatar
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    Flower Ocean and Blue Rock City - July 18
    Odometer: 4868 (307km)

    The Best Road of the Trip



    I woke up early, ready to get a full day in. I did my Chinese flashcards. These got done almost everyday of the trip. I was pretty proud about how diligent I remained with them. I also tightened the chain again, found some grease for the chain, bought some water and snacks. I woke Andrea up and 8:30 and she demanded more sleep. It hadn't occurred to me that the pace we were keeping was getting to her. She thought that getting a hotel meant we could sleep in a relax. She used the argument that we should get as much time out of the room as we could. I consented and we continued to relax.

    The first section of road was green and really quite beautiful. But it was busy and was plagued with strange little dump trucks. They drove in three vehicle caravans at about 50km/h. The locals were familiar with them and didn't slow down or look past them when they passed them. If I saw a caravan of mini dump trucks coming, I started to assume that someone would be lane splitting with them as I past. I was never disappointed. The road was crowded. It was bumper to bumper and traffic was set at a unwavering 70 km/h. I found out I could keep 80 km/h if I stayed on the shoulder and passed everyone on the wild side. This seemed like a fantastic idea until some fool didn't see me and tried to make a right hand turn just as I was about to pass him. He slowed down instantly and gave me almost no time to stop. I avoided it by getting in front of him, but the whole situation was a fantastic reminder of why motorcycles shouldn't break the rules. Bad Brent! Never Again!




    The fields were predominately corn here and corn harvesters were seen everywhere on the road. They would drive along, keeping about 50 km/h. There seemed to be a ton of them that hang around toll gates. These combines were tiny, only a bit bigger than a large van. They were definitely tiny compared to N.American corn harvesters. The road was heading towards the mountains and as we got closer, the corn changed to canola. The yellow flowers were really blooming. Chinese families stopped on the side of the road and started walking through the fields. The husbands all had DSLR cameras and took pictures of their wives and children holding scarves blowing the wind. Admittedly, it was a great picture.


    When we got to the mountains, I realized why it was so busy on the highway. It was the weekend and everyone and their dog was headed to have a picnic in the hills. There also appeared to be some festival. When we got near the picnic areas, I had to drive in the ditch to get past the traffic. It started to threaten rain, so we got all geared up with rain gear. I had bought these 25 yuan booties that covered your shoes. I love them and still do. It was such a cheap, simple solution to getting wet feet. As we were putting on the rain slicks, a super friendly Han guy came over and handed us 4 apples. I pocketed them and thanks him. He said, he was just being friendly and wanted to make sure we felt welcome. Wow. I wish that kind of random hospitality happened more often. I will be certain to remember to hand out apples to people who are suiting up for a more grueling part of their lives.




    It did start to rain, but only a sprinkle. It would get on my visor and fill my vision with little dots but those dots would never bead-up and roll off. I was constantly wiping my visor and my hands got damp pretty quick. We got passed by a few bikes with long-haul tour rigging: Two Zongshen RX-9's both with the special aluminum cases, a Yamaha sport bike with hard bags, and a few others. The slope of the road was slowing me down and the Chinese riders rode aggressively and unsafely. They were totally comfortable lane splitting and weaving on a curvy road that was still jam packed with cars. This was mind boggling and I wasn't interested in joining them. I still stopped and asked them a few simple questions. They didn't seem at all interested in talking with me, so after finding out they were heading in a different direction, we separated.



































    The mountain climbed to 3500 m then descended about 500 m into a plateau that was filled with yak, sheep, t!b3tan architecture and lots of nomadic homes. The people were totally t!b3tan and they lived it. Most people lived in tents right next to their herd of sheep and yak. Many folks raised bees and sold the honey on the side of the road. As with all places on the plateau, there were no trees here. Also, it was cold. It's amazing was altitude does to the climate. This plateau lasted about 40 km before climbing another pass at 3500m. Then the road descended into a fantastically picturesque valley filled with canola. The mountains in the background, the blue sky, the flowers, and the bright sun made for more amazing pictures. Andrea and I didn't stop because we didn't want to be so cliche. But, you know, I wish we had spent a little while taking silly pictures.








    We did stop and buy some honey at one of the tents on the side of the road. This couple had several bee-hives and sold both unpasteurized and pasteurized honey.





    A mosque in a village. Chinese style roof with Islam symbols.

    We had early supper in 花海 (huahai, flower ocean) in a town called 青石 (qingshi, blue stone). We parked outside and saw there was no one inside. There wasn't anyone eating in any of the restaurants. We walked in an four pre-teen boys swarmed us and helped us sit down and get comfortable. It was an awkward frenzy of untrained well-meaning waiters. We felt like snow white, being helped by all the multitudes of forest animals. The mom came in and shoo-ed them away. She gave us the menus and we found out why no one was eating. It was amazingly expensive. We settled on some gaijiao which was a dish I had independently invented during University. It consisted of meat and vegetables in gravy-goop dumped upon a bed of rice. Mine was a cumin based dish and I enjoyed it a lot.


    We began climbing the big mountain to the south at 5:30. I knew that we needed a place to sleep soon. It would be dark in two hours. We climbed for forever. These were steep switchbacks and the traffic was packed. Happily, I can report that I've found the level of difficultly that a road must attain before the typical Chinese driver will realize he may no longer drive recklessly and behave himself. It's a 12 degree road with switchbacks every 300 m where about half the vehicles are fully loaded trucks. Driving carefully and driving without stupidity are not the same thing. I was approaching a switchback when I saw a semi-truck coming downhill from the other direction. I have driving transports before, so I know that in a switchback, he is going to need the entire road. I hold back and wait for him. The guy behind me doesn't understand why I am so stupid. Stupid waiguoren stopped in the road. He passes me and gets himself right at the apex of the switchback before he realizes the trailer is going to run him over. So he starts to back up, but there is already a fool parked behind him. I laugh and go around all of them. Nobody passed me for a long time after that. A car might be more comfortable and you can cover more km's, but had I been in a car, I would have been parked there and countless other places on our trip.






    The road wound up and up before going through a tunnel and beginning it's winding journey down. We drove another 50 or so kms before we found a decent campsite. It was underneath a bridge in a little a valley. It was at about 2000m and at dusk it was already getting chilly. The traffic couldn't see us and we had a decent view. Also, the height of the bridge made it so the noise was ignorable. This campsite was comfortable, disregarding the cold, and we were pretty relaxed. We weren't too worried about getting caught.


    Last edited by cryptographicide; 09-01-2015 at 03:38 PM.
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  4. #24 Re: Flower Ocean and Blue Rock City 
    C-Moto Regular cryptographicide's Avatar
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    Hongya Village - July 19th
    Odometer: 5024 (+156km)


    The Birthplace of the Dalai Lama




    During the night we spent under the bridge, we heard something like the squawk that a cop car makes when he wants you to terrify you. Both Andrea and I startled awake and remained motionless. It's totally black. I would have expected to see some red and blue if it were cops. Cops in China seldom turn off their red and blue lights. We waited for another sound to happen. We didn't hear any voices nor any foot steps. Nothing happened. After a few minutes I left the matter to rest and fell back to sleep. I think Andrea worried awake for a while longer and eventually returned to sleep. In the morning we discovered the disturbance.

    My phone's low-battery alarm sounded. The phone was right behind my head and was connected to the charging battery but the battery wasn't on. I found it in the morning and saw that I hadn't responded to the alert. I changed the sound to a dove cooing. That is so much less jarring that a police car squawk. We had to wear all the warm clothes and rain gear to keep warm in the morning. The first stop was a little restaurant owned by a Hui family. Ethnically Han, but religiously Islamic. They wanted to serve us some beef noodles. I saw that beef noodles were over 20 yuan but fried rice was 8 yuan. Usually these dishes are the same price. So, I told him I wanted fried rice. He said that we would have to wait 15 minutes for the rice to finish cooking. He seemed reluctant and his facial expression suggested that we should just have beef noodles. I said we didn't want beef noodles. So, we waited for rice. It turns out that 15 minutes is actually 45 minutes. But, you know, warming up inside wasn't so bad. We also had some hard and thick baked bread and honey while we waited. This was great filling stuff and by the time the rice arrive, we just took out our to-go containers and packed it up for lunch.


    As we got closer to Xining, the road got busier. About 40 km outside of the city, we got to a traffic jam. I scooted through it. The first side of the jam was already about 5 km long. We drove through the ditch, used side streets, it was fun. But, I got thinking, what could possibly cause this kind of jam. The answer: nothing. The closer we got to the center, the more road the cars took up. A single lane road eventually consisted of four lanes of traffic with no room for cars in the opposite direction to pass. The same was true for the opposite direction. Imagine thousands of cars parked on a highway facing each other. I had literally no conceivable means of untangling that mess, but on the bike, I eventually passed right by it.

    Getting into Xining we met with out friend and co-worker Isabelle. She was waiting in Xining to take the train to Lhasa. While we were doing our trip, she was doing an almost identical trip in the opposite direction. But without a bike, of course. The visit was fun. We got to swap stories and tips about what to do and where to go. Our plans changed a little bit. We decided to add some locations while travelling around Gannan Prefecture, a t1b3tan area in South Gansu. Then, because we couldn't find an affordable hotel, left Xining and headed to East.





    The road out of Xining was well maintained but busy. We turned off onto a totally destroyed gravel road. The first few km was a dirt road with giant heaves and waves that made driving really slow. Then we were stopped by a guy on the road. He said something about dirt and rocks and pointed at the hill. Clearly this was a landslide area. I said we would only wait for a few minutes, so we did. A blue bike arrives shortly after with a well dressed local. A hoe at the top of the mountain was pushing rocks down the mountain onto the road...for whatever reason. I asked the road stop guy but he seemed confused.

    "Why are the rocks falling? What are you making here?"

    "uhh", He looked at me like my question made no sense. This is most likely because I have no idea how to ask the question I just asked and probably asked it completely incorrectly. So, I don't know the reason for this silliness.

    Then a bus came. It rounded the corner blowing it's air horn. It didn't stop, but just kept on driving through. There is simply no way that the hoe at the top of the mountain had time to stop rock from falling, taking into account the time it takes for the rocks to reach the bottom, before that bus was directly in the rocks path. Like, that was dumb. While we drove past, we kept a pretty good eye on rocks falling down, but no came at us.



    The roads was pretty rough in the valley, but when it exited the valley, everything was awesome. Perfect roads, amazing hills covered in rural farmland. The hills were red. There were flowers and trees. This ride was a highlight of the trip. I made sure I took some video and lots of pictures.




























    We saw a large Buddhist temple about 2 km away from the Dalai Lamas village. It appeared brand new and was really well kept.












    At the village, we had to park the bike with a police man and walk through the village. This was fine. The police man was really relaxed and friendly. At the house of the DL, we found a tall brick wall and closed doors. I guess that house was closed. But, it had all been replaced with new everything. The interesting thing was the village itself. Hongya is about 40 houses on the top of a mountain that overlooks some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. We walked around and saw three old men who made sure to scowl at us and a family of five pigs. The old men clearly did not approve of all the attention their famous village received. It felt disheartening to get such unwelcoming looks, but it reminds you that being a tourist is an intrusive activity and your presence is not always warmly accepted.











    We continued riding into the valley. After a few failed roads, we found a campsite down into the valley. It was really sheltered and protected by trees and shrubs. I felt really secluded but Andrea was still nervous. We had some snacks. I wrote in my journal and we went to sleep when the sun went down.





    Last edited by cryptographicide; 09-01-2015 at 09:14 PM.
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  5. #25 Re: Flower Ocean and Blue Rock City 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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  6. #26 BingLing Grottoes 
    C-Moto Regular cryptographicide's Avatar
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    Bingling Grottoes - July 20th
    Odometer 5250 (+226 km)


    Don't Tell Me it Can't Be Done


    This morning started early. At 6 am, I was more than happy to sleep in a little bit but Andrea was worried about getting caught by the early rising farmers. We were on the road and quickly put 50 km behind us. The first leg of the day was awesome. Quiet roads in the morning sun casting soft shadows on my shoulder. There was a chill but not freezing. After grueling days, the mornings become the best riding. It's not too hot and the traffic is totally manageable.

    Our first stop was a little road side baozi shop with delicious soggy baozi for 7 yuan a steamer. A cement truck stopped outside and the driver grabbed a little plastic bag of baozi to go.

    The road got a little busier after Pingan, but it was still nice to drive. We turned off the national highway. Our goal today was Bingling Grottoes, now, the guide book says you can't make it Bingling except by taking a ferry across a lake and down a river. The ferry costs 150 km. But, Baidu maps seemed to think that there was a road to the Grottoes. So, I went to find it. About 60 km after leaving the national road, it started to get really nasty. The pavement started doing that awesome thing; where it alternates between terrible gravel and halfway acceptable tarmac. Pick up speed on the pavement and then grab the brakes when it turns to gravel around the next corner. It remains wavy pock marked gravel for 100m before the pavement comes back. That pavement might last 300m. And so it alternates. Nasty nasty stuff.

    We needed another oil change, and stopped at a busy little shop. The mechanic was working on a project with three other patrons standing around. I wasn't sure whether these guys were waiting to get their bikes fixed or if they were just hanging out. I asked for an oil change and to add grease to my chain. My oil was changed first. Everyone excitedly gathered around and watched. I made sure that all the oil was drained. Then the new oil was added. I walked around to the other side of the bike to hand him the money. Meanwhile, he changed sides of the bike and grabbed the used oil pan. While I was looking down to get out my wallet, he took a ladle of used motor oil and dumped it all over my chain and rims. He even made sure to cover my axles and bearings in used oil! How thoughtful of him.

    Andrea, sitting by the bike on one of our stops.

    With about 60 km left before the temple, the road changed completely. Before, where it was a large road that wound through valleys and generally kept a straight line, it became a high mountain road, curving and twisting languidly through the mountains, villages and steppes. The road was in terrible condition at first, but as it become more remote and the number of heavy trucks decreased, the road become amazing. This 30 km was really great riding. No car traffic at all, views everywhere. The countryside was breathtaking. Every 5 minutes Andrea and I would need to stop and take a look around.























    A mosque in town.




    A mosque in the countryside

    The last ten km of road was gravel and some seriously bumpy stuff at that. But 10 km is not too much pain. We got to the parking lot of the place that had no road access and found two other vehicles. Two Chinese made sedans. We locked down the gear and started exploring the grottoes. There were about 200 grottoes carved into the shallow recesses of a cliff. Bingling has statues and fewer paintings. This is not a tourist trap and really worth visiting, especially if you are on a bike. Take the time and go out of the way to see this place. It was an amazing day of riding and a really remarkable destination. Two major highlights were a 24m Buddha Maitreya and a large statue of reclining Buddha.

    Bingling Grottoes riverfront area

















    We ate some 10 yuan cold noodles and I had 4 bottles of ice water. I was really feeling the head and starting to feel weak. The ice water put a stop to that. Next, I went to the river and had a bath. Strip down to my undies and jump in the river, which was far from warm. Hop out and soup up from head to foot. There were some people on the other bank and could probably see what I was doing but didn't seem to care. After covering myself with soap, I hopped back in and rinsed off. It's the rinsing off that is the most difficult. I jumped back out and dried off before putting on clean clothes and heading back to the bike.

    The boats that take tourists back to the other side of the lake.

    We found a place to camp nearby in a small valley where someone had being doing some excavating. They had made four walls of dirt ten feet high with a small opening in it. It was a perfect little courtyard for us. You couldn't see us from outside the walls unless you walked around and did some serious exploring. Some black birds kept us company as we relaxed in the evening twilight and set-up camp. Andrea was surprisingly comfortable and relaxed here and our sleep was excellent.

    Last edited by cryptographicide; 09-01-2015 at 09:44 PM.
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  7. #27 Re: BingLing Grottoes 
    KING of MCM LOL prince666's Avatar
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    Hi

    What a great RR and thank you for posting.

    Did you entry the Bingling caves from the north over the mountains and not by way of the main entrance?
    see map from Google Earth.

    Was in that area 2 weeks ago but had no information about the Caves so i missed them, maybe next time .


    bingling.jpg


    bingling1.jpg

    Click on image to enlarge
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  8. #28 Re: BingLing Grottoes 
    C-Moto Regular cryptographicide's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by prince666 View Post
    Did you entry the Bingling caves from the north over the mountains and not by way of the main entrance?

    Yeah, thats exactly what I did. The gravel back entrance can be reached via a paved road. It's about ten km. The road is marked in Chinese but not English and it doesn't show up exactly where Baidu Maps says it does. it's about a km off. You come down a hill and on the third switchback (?maybe?), instead of taking the next switch back you follow a gravel road into the hills on the other side. I saw a Chinese brand sedan take the road, it's not tough to do but coming from Lanzhou, the ferry is a better use of your time. On a bike trip however, you're gonna wanna see this stuff.
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  9. #29 Re: BingLing Grottoes 
    C-Moto Regular cryptographicide's Avatar
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    Tongren - July 22
    Odometer: 5418 (+168 km)


    毛牛!


    I think that it's common knowledge on a bike trip, that one shouldn't be rushed. Nothing makes a trip less pleasant than deadlines. On this trip, if we wanted to sleep in another hour...we got to. This morning, we slept in another hour.

    We had to backtrack through those thirty km of awesome twisties. Just as the pavement started to go to shit, we changed roads and headed south on a tiny cement track that was too skinny for trucks or transports. Only small cars and bikes could fit. There weren't any traffic besides an Imam heading for prayer and a few farmers. The cement track wound through twisties and switchbacks like a dream. This little road climaxed in a series of switchbacks into a great canyon that reminded me of Zion Canyon in Utah. I was so thrilled.


    After the canyon, we joined the main road again. It was busy and racked by heavy transports until it took on moonish characteristics. Ya'll know how it goes. So, we cruised along, barely able to keep 50 km/h. We stopped in a village that had some stores and restaurants. There we grabbed some water. I filled up the water bottles and downed a few bottles. Then handed the empties back to the owner, who didn't understand why we didn't just throw them on the ground where they belong. So, she took them from us and threw them on the ground...oh well. We did our due diligence. She has the right to litter her own town, but I don't. Then, I hear Him. He has become a sort of prototype of mine. When I see this sort of person, I immediately start adding other stereotyped qualities to my assumptions about who this new person might be. The stereotypes are based off a prototype Chinese person that I keep in my head. My prototype drove past me in this town. He was medium height, medium weight and had no distinguishing features besides beady eyes that were only capable of staring blankly and directly forward. His face had a stupid glazed look to it. He was driving a mianbaoche, a white cheap little van. When he entered the area of the village where logical people would slow down, he maintained speed and held down the horn. He only let go of the horn when he left the village. At no time did he slow down. He held that horn for close to a minute while he drove over a km. I remember being shocked, but looking back, I shouldn't have even noticed.


    The road eventually did even out and the craters went away. This is the only time in the trip where Baidu Maps steered us wrong by more than 100m. The map told us to cross the river and keep going on the other side for about ten km. We showed up on a road without traffic and found that the road drove off the cliff and into a river. About 50 m away was a bridge to the other side. Another bridge had been built and the road we were on just dead ended into the cliff. So, we backtracked ten km and we were set. That's it. The worst map issue of the trip. Without Baidu Maps, the hassles and problems would have been endless. When I woke up in the morning, I would input the destination into Baidu Maps. Then it would grab some data and it would tell me the fastest, easiest, shortest, or cheapest route to where we wanted to go. And it was never wrong. The only time it didn't work was if data wasn't available. But, all the maps were offline and even if I had no data, I could just look at the map and figure it out. That actually happened a few minutes up the road from the bridge. We got to a village where the road forked. One branch went downward into a tunnel and the other seemed to keep climbing in the mountains. I couldn't get a reading on my phone so I guessed based on which branch had more tire marks. I ended up being right. When we exited the tunnel, I picked up signal and baidu maps happily chirped at me telling I was on the right track. Seriously, learn the characters you need to use this app and never touch google or bing or mapquest while you are in China. The whole country is offline capable. Every destination is already programmed in and includes accurate prices, opening hours, and telephone numbers. Also, you can sync starred destinations from your mobile to your computer. So plan your trip, then sync your phone and have access to all the planning information while you're on the trip.




    From outside the tunnel, we entered a wide valley suitable for growing wheat. It was harvesting season, so the fields were being swathed and sheaves of wheat were being stooked in the most unusually intricate way. Then the wheat would be spread out on the road so that cars would have to run over them. I thought this was weird but it was pretty easy to figure out what these farmers were up to. They were cheating. Instead of flailing the wheat, they were letting cars drive over them. Instead of winnowing the wheat, they would just use throw the wheat up in the air and the chaff would blow away. Then they would sweep up the kernels of wheat. The only thing less sanitary would be to let cows and horses walk all over the wheat instead of flailing it. But, because there were horses and cows on the road and I drove through their shit, it wasn't actually much better. Oh well, you probably won't be able to tell you're eating bits of horse shit in your flour because of how much bleach they use.

    Here are some stray straws of wheat stuck to the bike.

    We stopped at a little store that had a Jialing sign above the store saying they repair bikes.

    I ask if they had Jialing parts.
    They said, "Oh, of course".
    Do they have new bearings for my front and back axles?
    "No, no no, not for that bike."
    "Ok, do you have a spark plug."
    "No."
    "Ah, how about a new mirror"?
    "We don't carry mirrors."
    "What do you have"?
    "A new chain."
    "Good bye"

    From this valley, we moved into the Huangnan (Southern Yellow) T!b3tan Autonomous Prefecture. This means high altitude and yaks. The architecture changed as the altitude increased. We cleared a pass and then descended slightly onto the plateau. From there, it was a short ride into Tongren. Tongren is a city with more Han influence than T!b3tan. We had a hard time finding a decent hotel for less that 250 yuan. We found one inside the bus terminal for 120. It had two queen beds and a separate living room. It did have a squatty, but honestly, I don't mind them anymore. I find that the job gets done far faster and with much less effort.




    We went off to check out some temples. Our first stop was a temple famous for it's painters. The monks are very practiced in making Thanka paintings. We didn't see any painters, but we did get to see a great statue of Avolakateshvera, the Buddha of Compassion with 11 heads, 1000 eyes and 1000 arms. This is one of my favorite Buddhist images and I find it strangely inspiring. The idea is that Avolakateshvera uses her many appendages to help individuals struggling in the trials of reincarnation to achieve enlightenment. To me, she embodies a sort of strength and endurance that is required to maintain compassion towards people. We met a cute couple who instead of asking us for a picture asked us pleasant questions about our travels. They treated us like fellow travelers instead of an attraction. We talked with them for a bit. They asked if we wanted to split a cab back to town but we explained that we had a bike. Then it started to pour. I had a jacket on but Andrea was soak by the time we got back to the bike. In the rain, we weren't really interested in seeing more temples. We had kinda been through so many temples we weren't interested in them anymore.






    We returned to the hotel and Andrea passed out. I drank a few warm beers and listened to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy being read by Steven Fry before joining her.
    Last edited by cryptographicide; 09-03-2015 at 06:59 PM.
    1995 Suzuki Intruder (2005-Present){Canada}
    2003 Daelim Daystar (2011-2012){S. Korea}
    2014 Jialing 200 GY5A (2015-Present) {China}
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  10. #30 Re: BingLing Grottoes 
    Senior C-Moto Guru zhu's Avatar
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    Had to laugh at the "jialing shop with no parts"

    As far as wheel bearings go , once I change them the first time I make a note of the size (usually 6303) then you can buy them at any hardware store. Because you know you will be changing them again ad infinitum...

    You know you can get those panda mascots in keyring size right?
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