The next morning, to my surprise, I could breath and see again! In one night the fever had run its course and, despite lack of sleep, felt energized. You never appreciate the value of good health until you've just been horribly ill. I also appreciated this turn of luck because we were already a bit behind schedule and this day's ride would prove to be long and difficult.

Leaving Garther Monastery we had a slight run in with the "terminator sunglasses wearing in-keeper monk" who decided he would like to extort extra money from the foreigners for bike parking. This is an old trick in China and, should you ever come here, it's very important to settle ALL the fee's associated with your stay up front. Although I don't like to get angry, he wouldn't let up and insisted on us paying the extra fee. I thought it was especially absurd because we had to pay extra money to make our own food and even fed one of their workers. I reached boiling point and my Wild-West manners kicked in. I started shouting in mangled Chinese, "Do you think we are stupid foreigners? I've come here every year for the past three years and never had such bad treatment. We even fed your friend and now you want extra money from us?"

The words were harsh but really, this is what it takes. Out here the lack of rules means anyone will try to get away with anything they can, especially when money is involved during tourist season. Worse yet, if an individual smells even the slightest bit of fear or hesitation, they'll have no worries in taking you to the cleaners. I had been in MUCH trickier situations in China and there was no way I was going to let him get away with this. This is an ancient and artful game being played here and one must walk a fine line. As usual, a small crowd grew around the shouting and ultimately exposed his crooked intentions to other people. Ignited foreigners are bad publicity and to minimize his damages he eventually gave in. It was sad to leave with such a bad taste in my mouth since the previous years here were nothing but enjoyable. This, however, is "progress" in China and only goes to show sooner is better than later if you want to visit this amazing place.

- The ladies back out on the road -


We decided to ride without a determined destination that day and see how we felt. To be honest though, I think both Zach and I knew we had to make some distance back to Chengdu - from Garther to Chengdu, over 470Kms.

- Yala Snow mountain from the north side -


That's 470kms of passes, mountains, valleys, rivers and roads that follow rivers to another and final 4550m pass, Balang pass, before descending the remaining 250km into the Chengdu basin of 400m/asl. Some may think that that's not a great distance to cover but at 60kph flat out it's like doing 470miles with a more powerful machine.

Stopping about half way through near Danba, I asked if everyone wanted to stay at ZhongLu a mountain top village I'm quite fond of. Only 2kms east of Danba is a small bridge which takes you straight up switchback to the top of the mountain. If you keep following the road you'll find a guest-house where you can stay, eat good food, shower and explore a fantastic Tibetan village in the mountains. You've got ancient watchtowers, fields of corn, barley and endless foot paths. If you go at the right season, around October, women who still wear traditional clothing will be out in the field bringing down the corn, chattering and singing away while they work. Land of valuable photographic memories. Beautiful place. Great times.

- ZhongLu Village in October 2005 -


- Looking west off the mountain 2005, Danba is in the valley below -


Nobody seemed interested in my idea and, at that time, it became clear people wanted to get closer to home. I guess I could have gone either way but a good part of me also wanted to get some rest and take account of only 4 days riding in the familiarity of my own bed. We fired off towards Chengdu to see how far we could make it. Our goal was to sleep at home that night.

Continuing east, we eventually reached the climb for Balang pass. In the high mountains you can get snow year round, especially at passes which range from ~4,200 to 5,000m/asl, average being around 4,500 (~14,500ft). Freak snow storms can cause wicked twisted traffic jams up these winding roads.

- Clouds at the peaks -

(WLP)

As we climbed Balang pass, only a few hours away from Chendu, the weather turned from sunny green valleys to clouds, to rain, sleet, snow, then ice at the top. We passed a local rider on a green Kawasaki Ninja 400 sport bike. As soon as he started moving the bike, the rear tire went sideways. Totally useless. He would have to go back down and wait for tomorrow. This simple 150cc dual sport was equipped with the best dirt tires (ChengShin) I could find in Chengdu and made a great difference biting into the snow. If you plan to ride the mountains of Western China knobbies are a must.

At the pass, cars and trucks packed the snow into a solid layer of ice. Snow and fog blocked visibility. A Chinese rider on a cruiser stopped to wait for his friends still coming up the west side and told us the road was very dangerous ahead. He suggested we wait for a while.

"Why?", I asked.
"The sun will come up and melt the snow."

My watch read after three. Looking at the thick growing clouds, humid air,
falling temperatures and loss of daylight I knew that waiting up here would be dangerous. Spending a night stuck on top of this mountain would have been an extremely unpleasant experience...and that's if you had the equipment to survive it.

- Balang Pass: It's twistier than it looks here -


I told him I didn't think the snow was going to melt and that the sun is going down soon. We said we'll continue on and crept our way down the pass with an over 1000m drop to the side. Before we set off, it was nice of him to say he would carefully watch after us on the way down.

All down the switchbacks various vehicles had slid into each other and some trucks jack-knifed. Here, unless the vehicle is brand new, many of the trucks, busses and cars run on bald tires. Things were moving all-whicha-ways. Larger vehicles were stuck not even being able to turn around.

Steep cliffs and deep drainage ditches off the road-side made squeezing through bumpers necessary. Much of the time WenLing had to walk though quite long sections of cars and was faster than the bike which becomes some weight to keep upright on packed now. Imagine the road pictured below covered in ice with traffic locked in a wild zig-zag of various sized vehicles. Eventually we slipped through the traffic and continued down to about 3500m where the road straightened out and the snow became a misty rain. All the while, cars were still on their way up. I can't imagine!

- East side of Balang pass on a clear day in October 2003 -


The cold bare exposed rock of the pass gradually turned Alpine green trough the WoLong nature center.

- Wolong on a clear day in 03' -




This area, by the way, is also a natural habitat for wild Pandas as well as a breeding center and research base. Although Wolong has a separate center, if you pass through Chengdu, it's worthwhile to visit the Panda research base just outside of town. Not only are the giant Pandas easy to get close to but for a small fee you can feed a "lesser" or Red Panda - an experience I suggest not passing up.

- Panda Toothpick -


- Baby Panda -


- Red Panda Madness -




Now cold and wet, we pulled into the small town of Wolong after 5pm and had to make a critical decision. I pulled over, twisted around and asked WenLing if she wanted to stay here for the night. Only seeing white concrete motels she asked "Can you make it home?" I quickly took stock of my energy and attention levels, said "Let's do it" and got back on the throttle.

The last 40kms of the Wolong stretch is pretty nasty roadworks which become quite muddy and tricky when dealing with larger vehicular traffic. Despite the lack of sleep, crazy roads and weather, we found paved salvation as it opens up to smooth sealed road and the new 40km long Dujiangyan Skyway which winds us back through farmlands to the basin of Chengdu.

Through darkness and pelting rain we arrived home in the city around 9PM after 12 hours of riding over 470kms, from 4500 to 400m, averaging a blazing 40kph (~25mph), 2 up on a 150cc. This kind of travel is stark contrast to the Bandit 1200 I came off in the US and really makes me appreciate the benefits and deficiencies of both. One thing is for sure, don't under-estimate yourself or your machine.

WenLing enjoyed the experience and is trying to get her motorcycle license. Together we're still working on our trip reporting skills and plan to do more in the future. To supplement the read, I threw together a quick 2 minute video of clips taken by WenLing so you can get a very digitized idea of what the roads are like. Music by Doobie Brothers...



As for me, there's still a lot of work ahead. On the macro level China is now launching into an exciting part of it's push into the international motorcycle market and I look forward to witnessing it's impact on the industry as it unfolds. On a personal level there's only one thing you can say...

"Let's RIDE!"

CC