Shaxi to Zhongxing

As we set out in the morning from Shaxi we met a cycle tourist guide who advised us we would have two mountains to get over heading north of Shaxi. We politely acknowledged his advice and set off on our merry way towards what we anticipated to be a smooth ride up a valley. Funnily enough, the guide was right, and we shamefacedly made our way up one of the steepest hills we have come across in China.

With the morning slog over, the road opened up in to a very wide valley, and we rode on until we reached the almost nonexistent village of Jiuhe. We saw two lycra clad cycle tourists (destination, Lhasa) in the restaurant and approached them to ask where we could sleep for the night. We were ushered over the road. After a quick shower and snooze we soon noticed that the flies we had taken note of outside were quickly filling up our room. Leaping around with our jerseys and maps as swats we soon carried out Flymaggedon 2017.

The ride into Jiuhe

The next day promised to be a short day so we decided to take a road that was present on two of our map sources, but absent on the third. As soon as we turned on to this road it was a rutted and bumpy four wheel drive track. About half way up the hill it turned into cobble stones. We now knew that these aren't so bad as long they are on the up hill leg. We spent a quarter of our day climbing and the other three quarters of our day descending as we wound our way down the valley, hands clasped tightly on the brakes to reduce the juddering downhill and saving pannier bags from jumping off the rack, or breaking their clasps.

View from almost the top

Bumping on down

We then rolled in to the town of Shigu. This is a town known for being on the first bend of the Yangtze River and has been a strategic military point in the past. We planned to stop in Shigu for two nights so we could have a day off the bikes for Kate's birthday. Feeling nostalgic for Shaxi we set about finding somewhere tranquil and a little bit special to spend the two nights. The first place we found was perfect - a quaint guesthouse in the middle of the market with an open courtyard to relax in, WiFi and a non-squatting toilet. We unloaded our bikes, lugged our bags up to our room and then realised there was no power. No power from 7am to 7pm. And not just today, tomorrow as well. Deciding this wasn't what we had in mind for our rest days we lugged our bags back down stairs, loaded our bikes and set out looking again. We found another place, no courtyard, but it would do. Unloaded our bikes, lugged gear upstairs, no power. When we enquired we were told electricity would be from 6:30pm until 8am. It finally dawned on us that as we rode in to town there had been no lights on in any of the shops, despite it being market day. And in fact the whole town had the rumble of generators. This town had no power for most of the day.

Looking down to Shigu with Yangtze River behind

Making their way over the Yangtze when someone is
still trying to sell them some baozi

The usual 5 minute drain to get hot water to flow

As Kate was not wanting to spend her birthday listening to the incessant and persistent humming of generators, and not feeling like Shigu had much to offer, we set out following the Yangtze river upstream. Much to Calvin's delight as we rode the mountains got higher as we headed towards the Tibetan Plateau. After an hour the wind picked up and we had our first taste of a head wind in China. Then the sun disappeared behind the clouds. And then it started to gently spit. We hadn't made it to the Judian Village we were aiming for, however we found a nice hotel with a view over the river just as the rain set in.

We quickly changed and decided to take a taxi 20km inland to Liming and the mountainous scenic spot we had seen signposted on our ride. This turned out to be outrageously priced, but we had already paid for the taxi, so in we went. We agreed that we would climb to the top and descend rather rapidly so we still had time to get back to the hotel and have a wee 30th birthday celebration. But it felt like the top would never come! We finally reached it to be rewarded with beautiful vistas of the surrounding orange and red mountains (a bit like Australian soil) and tortoiseshell rock formations.

Heading back go the hotel we loaded ourselves up on beer, Chinese spirits and the closest foods we could find to treats. In the mood to celebrate we decided drinking games were in order and made a night of it. A very successful birthday!

30 years of maturity