Yunnan 2005

[chinabiker]

Thank's, Tim and Dan, I try to finish the reprt today.

Andy

[chinabiker]

We decided to stay off the bikes for a day and pay a visit to the Yak meadow some 40 kms away.



View into the courtyard of our guest house


Courtyard 2


Courtyard entrance


Old town road


On the way to Yak meadow


I almost regretted the bike off day


Up with the chair lift


Another view that made me feel sorry of the bike parking in Lijiang


Edelweiss


Local sna(c)k(e)s


Yak


We took a walk around the large meadow - it looks like in the European alps


The team


Fresh water from the glacier


This water was really chilly


Lijiang landmark


Typical Lijiang street


Lijiang is quite good to hang out for a day or two, a little touristy though.

Andy

[chinabiker]

We knew we wouldn't make it to Kunming from Lijiang in one day without rushing, so we decided to take a short riding day to Dali,
have a relaxed afternoon there and return to Kunming the next day.

We had a very nice European style breakfast in Don Papa Pizza, owned by Alexandre, a French guy.



Don Papa Pizza


Once again - attraction of the day


On the way to Dali


Good road - low traffic


A little break in the sun


Dirt detour


Northern shore of Erhai lake


Old town Dali in sight

We reached old town Dali around noon, had a short lunch and went to the lake to hire a boat for a little cruise.


We got one of these for the four of us

Not long after we left the the jetty, some had a good sleep


Echo


Claudio


Andy


View from Erhai


Cormorants


Fisherman repairing his net


After the boat trip Claudio and I went out to refuel and to see if there is a spot where we could enter the expressway. We found one on construction site for a new expressway service station, which we decided to take the next morning. After a nice shower, we just walked through the streets of old town Dali to eat some snacks here and there instead of sitting in a restaurant.



Snacks


Lobby parking of course


Andy

[chinabiker]

Claudio and I explored the secret entrance to the expressway the evening before, so we went straight onto the expressway.
Our photographers felt not so comfortable with it and we also didn't stop, therefore only a few pics from this section.
We also knew that there is a big tollgate which we had to circumvent.
After a good while on the expressway we left at a gas station, passed the tollgate on the country road before we re entered at the next gas station.
Before we came close to Kunming, we used another service station to leave the expressway for good.
We came out in a village and had lunch there, before we took on the last 80 kms to the BMW dealer.


Lunch place

We arrived at the dealer in the early afternoon, cleaned the bikes and put them back in their boxes. Herbert's bike was already packed.


Tired pilot Andy


Happy pilot Claudio


Wife and me left Kunming to Beijing the next day, while Claudio and Echo spent another day with her relatives.

All six of us met in one of Claudio's restaurants a few days later for some nice Italian food and drinks . Herbert was recovering well and we planned to go out once again some weeks later.


So this was Yunnan 2005, and I planned ever since to go there again, but it didn't work out so far.

Cheers

Andy

[DanKearney]

Andy,

Thanks for a good story and photos. I loved LiJiang when I visited there. I was also there in 2005 (November) Quite a tourist spot though.



More LiJiang photos at: http://www.coloradopeaks.net/LiJiang...rge/index.html

How badly damaged was Herbert's GS? I'm curious to know how expensive it is to get a BMW fixed in China.

Cheers,

Dan K.
Black Hawk, CO

[ChinaV]

Andy,

That was a great ride report, thanks for sharing your adventure .

Nujiang, amazing, when are we going?

I enjoyed your tales of getting on the freeway, looks like their is a little bit of the devil inside you after all . I used the same technique in Guizhou province and was fortunate that nobody really seamed to care.

CrazyCarl and I stayed in Lijiang for two days and didn't have any trouble riding our bikes to our hotel in the old town. It's a very comfortable city even though it's a bit "touristy".

Cheers!
ChinaV

[chinabiker]

Andy,

Thanks for a good story and photos. I loved LiJiang when I visited there. I was also there in 2005 (November) Quite a tourist spot though.

A tourist spot indeed, but not as annoying as many others, probably because not everyone can afford to get there. However, quite nice to hang around there for a day or two

More LiJiang photos at: http://www.coloradopeaks.net/LiJiang...rge/index.html

I enjoyed your pics too

How badly damaged was Herbert's GS? I'm curious to know how expensive it is to get a BMW fixed in China.

Miraculously the fork partly survived. Obviously the front wheel took most of the impact - the rim was egg shaped. The para-lever plate was bent too and needed to be replaced. Some plastic parts were also broken.
I don't know the exact repair cost, but something around 30k RMB, if I remember correctly.
Main issues with repairing a BMW in China are the availability of parts and workshops. Meanwhile they have most of the wear and tear parts on stock, but have to order everything which goes beyond regular maintenance.
To my knowledge, there is only the importer's workshop in Beijing BMW certified. If you have a repair manual, the opportunity to use a garage and you are not having two left hands , most of the things can be done.


Andy

[chinabiker]

Andy,

That was a great ride report, thanks for sharing your adventure .

Nujiang, amazing, when are we going?

I returned from Yunnan a week ago, not for riding but a family visit.
I didn't see any other long nosed foreigner for 10 days First contact to a Westerner was at Baoshan airport when we left. A Canadian lady, who was part of a trekking group, just returned from Gongshan. One of the guys (Taiwanese and a motorcycle rider too) told me that the route from Carawong to the North and vv, is a definite no-go for a bike, no matter how small or light it is They also mentioned that at least until Summer several areas of T....t will be restricted for foreigners - some unwanted anniversaries are scheduled this year. However, there is a "road" under construction which seems to bypass the impossible sections. I am investigating.

I enjoyed your tales of getting on the freeway, looks like their is a little bit of the devil inside you after all . I used the same technique in Guizhou province and was fortunate that nobody really seamed to care.

Police told us that actually motorcycles are allowed on all freeways in China if their max speed is above 70kph and the rider is wearing a helmet, but most provinces just want to avoid any bikes on expressways - for good reasons I believe

CrazyCarl and I stayed in Lijiang for two days and didn't have any trouble riding our bikes to our hotel in the old town. It's a very comfortable city even though it's a bit "touristy".

Cheers!
ChinaV

I was allowed to ride the bike out in the morning, but in the evening when we arrived there, it wouldn't have been possible to ride through the crowd anyway.


Andy

[chinabiker]

Oh, I still owed you the map.


Overview - click to enlarge


Probably the best section on this trip : Liuku to Pianma - click to enlarge

Andy

[peterkue]

Hi Andy,

Great story, great pics. Yunnan is probably the best place (in China) for such Motobike trips, if you're looking for dramatic landscapes, many winding roads etc. Unfortunately I haven't been since 1999 and only traveled around as backpacker for some weeks , between Zhongdian (nowadays mistakenly named Shangri La) and Kunming with Lijang, Tiger Leaping Gorge etc. Every spring I am thinking about visiting Yunnan again, preferably going around by motobike. So far I only made it to the grasslands and deserts of Inner Mongolia (which is great for real off roading), and only with my Jeep. But this spring I put my bike on my Jeeps rear rack and take it there.

Let me know, when you go again, but then I have to rent or buy this Jialing Bike, because my Yamaha YZ450 is a pure Motocross bike (no plates, lamps). BTW: I am thinking of buying this (ugly) Jialing 600 bike, which is also a bit overweighted (if no fat, 195 kg) compared to this 40hp. But then I will strip it down, replace some with lighter and better components, improve the suspension, maybe tune the engine a bit. Then I have an affordable nice and street legal bike (at least with plates Jing-A plates on it).
Ok, will never be a BMW or even KTM, but good enough to follow (and overtake ;-) you.