September 9, 2015 Jiaozuo to Huayin

Today we had a 420km (262mile) ride – period - simply a long ride From Jiaozuo to Huayin with lots of traffic, smog, bad gravel and potholed roads, and construction.  However, this stretch sets us up for a short jaunt tomorrow to visit the Terracotta Warriors, so it should be worth it.

The start of the ride pretty much set the scenario for the rest of the day.  Shortly after this photo, as we were pulling up to a stop light I heard “Stay in your F$%^*g lane lady” from the back of the group.  A young woman, wanting to be in our lane, had tried to push Boz 's motorcycle over into oncoming traffic a couple of times.  The second time she was rewarded with a boot to her door.  When she tried to tell Boz off, he gave her a piece of her mind.  As David said, “Everyone all over the world understands F-you.”

The rest of the day went the same.  It didn’t matter what kind of vehicle was being driven.  Alex and Ida avoided this guy by going to the left, and we dodged right.

Vehicles are often spread all over the road, including against oncoming traffic.  It is a giant game of chicken in many cases.  The traffic in this pitcure is relatively tame compared to many instances, because I can't take any pictures while we are moving through the busy sections.

All types of machinery are used to tow on the road.

While things appear chaotic, it all seems to work somehow.  As John told us in the beginning – if there is a void, it will be filled.  Every vehicle in this picture is in motion, including us, horns are blaring, and everyone gets through it somehow.

That’s us filling a void.  It feels like we could be crushed at any moment, but it never happens, at least so far.

When traffic came to a standstill, we saw an opportunity to the left

 – the parking pads in front of the local businesses became our path of least resistance.

But all good things come to an end, and we eventually had to exit back out onto the road…

Until we saw just smoothed pavement, and scooters on the left…or so we thought.  It was really just crushed rock with oil sprayed over it.  I feel sorry for the ladies in grey riding suits.  Our gear is really dirty.

The new road is set up for local, small vehicle use.

Since traffic on the “real” road was moving, we jumped back onto it, and soon passed John.

But we faced our own problems there as well.  Dave had to be alert to drivers coming into our lane at high speeds.

Yesterday, in the sunshine, we saw corn drying in the road.  I thought this was a leftover from tradition, but since they do it in front of the Institute of Agricultural Science,  it must be an accepted practice.

Heavy truck traffic continued throughout the day.

Dave and the other drivers had to be on their toes watching for drivers who jumped out into traffic. Trucks constantly pull right out in front of oncoming traffic.  Constantly!

As well as from behind us.

The water truck is another challenge the group faces periodically  serveral times per day these guys come along, playing a tune - "It's a Small World".  Seriously.

All day today we drove under grey skies, not because of rain, but because of air pollution.  This is one of the dirtiest areas in the world.  Entering the city of Sanmenxia, we could barely see any of the tall buildings.

The Chinese have devised all sorts of ways to seat their children on scooters. Sometimes we will see two adults and two kids on these little electric things.  They scoot right along, seemingly oblivious to danger.

The monuments placed in some of the traffic circles are usually modern in style.

The view of this river valley must be very pretty when it is visible.

Something that surprises me is how much work is still done by hand.  Street sweeping, ditch digging and now, line painting.

And the size of the load put on the small three wheel pickup carts.

As our travels continue, a dump truck pulls out right in front of John and brings the group to a halt before it backs up.  Note the brake lights.  This driver didn't even look before pulling out.

Today we saw a couple of shopping centers that look like the equivalent to the US lifestyle centers – residential units above, shops below.

 The reason for the smog became evident, as we passed at least six huge coal-fired power plants on our 262 mile trip.

The afternoon involved more traffic and construction and accident avoidance – and added rain to the mix.

Within 30 miles of our destination, and on good roads, we started to dream of a warm shower.But first, we had to take a detour due to yet more road construction.

Down a hill…

..and around the corner, we saw some caves.

The roads were mud and slick.

After a few rights and lefts we motored through this little village wondering if they had ever seen such a sight, and how on earth John was managing to navigate, as none of the roads were on our GPS.

It turns out the villagers had seen motorcylces the year before when John and Janis had scouted the trip.  The road construction hasn’t made any progress, and John followed their GPS tracks from last year to get us to the hotel…

Where we received a warm welcome.

We are staying at the base of the Huashan Mountain.  It is one China’s Five Great Mountains.  It apparently has many shrines and temples on the slopes and peaks.  We, however, will not get to see the beauty of the area because rain and fog/smog are predicted for tomorrow as well.  Sigh.

Huashan in ancient times was also known as the place the Xiake (chivalrous martial arts masters) gathered for Kung Fu contests and instruction.

Tomorrow is a short riding day.  We will stop to see the Terra Cotta Army.  Local farmers made the discovery in 1974 while drilling a well.  There are over 6,000 warriors and 2,000 horses discovered – no two have the same face.