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.
- The ladies back out on the road -
Leaving Garther Monastery we had 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, 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 guesthouse where you can stay, eat good food, shower and explore an fantastic Tibetan village in the mountains. You've got 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 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. 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 1500cc dual sport was equipped with the best tires I could find in Chengdu and made a great difference biting into the snow...we puttered on by.
At the pass, cars and trucks packed the snow into a solid layer of ice. Snow and fog blocked visibility. A local 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. Take everything you ever learned about Chinese drivers and then add snow!
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. Eventually we slipped through the traffic and continued down to about 3500m where the snow became a misty rain. 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. This area, by the way, is also a natural habitat for wild Pandas as well as a breeding center and research base. The last 40kms of this road is pretty nasty roadworks which becomes quite muddy and tricky when dealing with larger vehicular traffic. Ultimately it opens up to smooth sealed road and the new 40km long Dujiangyan Skyway which winds us back to the basin of Chengdu.
Through darkness and pelting rain we arrived back in Chengdu around 9PM after 12 hours of riding over 470kms, from 4500 to 400m, averaging a blazing 40kph, 2 up on a 150cc. This kind of travel is such a stark contrast to the Bandit1200 I came off in the US and it really made 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. As for me, well...I'm still hungry. There's a whole world of people out there trying to do more with less. For some people it's a lifestyle choice, for other's it's an affordable way to get through the days. Either way, if you love what you do, don't be afraid to create something from it...and post it!
CC
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To supplement the read, I threw together a quick 2 minute video of clips taken from WenLing so you can get a very digitized idea of what the roads are like.