The rewarding us with punishment tour

[ChinaV]

Thanks Euphonius, somehow I never imagined it would take longer to write the report than it did to make the trip

Cheers!
ChinaV

[CrazyCarl]

Well that just goes to show there's a lot to say!

I particularly enjoy this last entry because it was my old stomping grounds. Nice to see they haven't changed all that much! That was a real good call to take 317 back... what a 100% better experience. Less traffic and all farm valley up to this rediculous 4300+meter pass just before dropping into the Chengdu basin. People have gotten rocked by weather real hard at that pass... and what a crazy descent down through the WoLong forest before reaching the hills and flatland.

And can I get a hell yeah for the Gonga mountain range.. it's like "Where the hell did THAT come from!?" Just for some perspective... this is what it looks like from the east side. Some people have died climbing it and it was once the center for a small kingdom in the area. There's still a temple at the base of the glacier but it's only accessible by foot. Further north along the range, it gets a little less rocky and there's lots of pristine forest there. I think it's that area you can find the "Golden Monkeys". It would make for a sweet back yard!



Thanks for all the effort you've put into this. It's a lot of work!


CC

[ChinaV]

Well that just goes to show there's a lot to say!

I particularly enjoy this last entry because it was my old stomping grounds. Nice to see they haven't changed all that much! That was a real good call to take 317 back... what a 100% better experience.
CC

Hey CC, I think you meant to say S303, not 317 . I don't recommend 317/318 as they just plain suck. Especially 317 near Chengdu, the whole thing is torn to shreds as they are building an elevated train line above it. Funny thing, as we were going through here I mentioned to Felix and Daniel that I couldn't figure out why the heck you chose to take 318 back to Chengdu during our little 2008 trip. When we reached the earthquake damage, I then remembered all these roads were closed from 2008 until recently, and that was the only way you could get back home at the time.

We will get to Balang Shan in the upcoming post, and yes, it did kick our ass . You were indeed one lucky S.O.B. to live so close to all that beauty.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[kingdm54]

So when you going to do a ride around Yichang or Hubei so I can ninja my way in and join ya. lol

[CrazyCarl]

You're right it's S303. I spent so much time on 303 that I only went on the actual 317 only 3 or 4 times on bike. The actual 317 is still a better than 318 but theyve' started to dam up the once pristine river that ran along it. Should be some newly sealed pavement there now though since they had to build a higher road to get above the new water level. 303 is a much better way to get to the western half of 317 which, BTW is also friggin' beautiful. Plently o' passes there and much less traffic than 318 to the south.

You know.. one could always open a "sattellite" office in Chengdu!


CC

[euphonius]

OK, I'll bite: What would be the ideal location for a satellite office if you wanted to have easy access to these best roads in China? Has to be a major city with good connections. Chengdu? Kunming? Lhasa? Xining? Any secondary/tertiary cities?



cheers!

[bikerdoc]

OK, I'll bite: What would be the ideal location for a satellite office if you wanted to have easy access to these best roads in China? Has to be a major city with good connections. Chengdu? Kunming? Lhasa? Xining? Any secondary/tertiary cities?



cheers!

Ningbo... hehehe

[chinabiker]

OK, I'll bite: What would be the ideal location for a satellite office if you wanted to have easy access to these best roads in China? Has to be a major city with good connections. Chengdu? Kunming? Lhasa? Xining? Any secondary/tertiary cities?



cheers!

Here the list of my satellite offices
January: Guangzhou
February: Nanning
March: Kunming
April: Chengdu
May: Beijing
June: Harbin
July: Baotou
August: Urumqi
September: Lhasa
October: Ningbo
Novemebr: Nadi (S 17.7630, E 177.4422)
December: Home