September 25, 2015 Chengdu to Zhuhai

Back on the bikes after a busy rest day in Chengdu, we faced the city traffic, with Alex once again riding with the group.  Ida told him he needed to finish the ride, and that she will be fine recovering from her broken leg with the help of her family and household help.

The traffic was heavy and chaotic, but somehow with a rhythm that prevents major accidents.  Once again, we were stopped by the police on the way out of the city.

Smog prevented a good view down the road, and at times burned our eyes and throats.

We passed the worlds largest mall on the way out of Chengdu.

About an hour into the day, we came across a roadblock, but they let us through and it was a great half hour of riding with virtually no other traffic.

The last few days of travel have had us in very long tunnels; one, two and three miles long, very poorly lit, or no lights at all, and no ventilation.  The worst!  We hated seeing them ahead on the road.

I don’t know why the authorities feel the need to put these fake police statues on the roadside, although at least they don't harass us.

Today we noticed backpack baskets for the first time.  Every other person seemed to have one variety of basket or another on their back.  We are now in Southern China, moist and verdant by comparison to other places we have been.

 Some even had woven panniers for their scooters.

As usual we attracted attention at our "coffee break" in the morning,

but what caught my attention was the dental chairs.  Anyone for a teeth cleaning?

Mike was by far the most popular person in our group because of his height (and good looks).  All the women wanted Mike to hold their babies and have their pictures taken with him.   It was quite amusing for us and Mike took it in stride.

Even at the construction sites, some people couldn’t help pausing work to stare at the bikes.  This particular operator’s machine was still drilling!

We are now into rice growing territory.

Rice paddies are regularly part of the scenery.  Mud and water are plentiful in this part of China.

As is road construction…

At least they keep the road and dirt free of dirt.  Beyond stupid - sweeping dirt!

Tunnels are plentiful as well.   We passed through three tunnels that were two and three miles long.  There were ventilation fans, but they weren’t operating.  The only lighting were small lamps placed low against the wall – yellow on the opposing traffic side and white on our side.  They flash by so quickly it almost mesmerizing.

Today we passed over the Yangtze River.  The suspension bridge and surrounding city stood magnificently over a milk chocolate river.  Nothing beautiful about that.  The Yangtze River is the  third longest river in the world and the longest in Asia.  It flows 6300 km from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau towards the East China Sea at Shanghai.  As dirty as it looks here, I can only imagine how badly polluted it is by the time it reaches Shanghai.  It's sad to think that the beautiful rivers we saw just yesterday are so poorly treated that they look like this today.

On the other hand, the ingenuity of the locals is astounding.  It amazes me how they manage to carry so many different items on their scooters.

We wrangled our way through city buildings, construction and traffic – why can’t cars stay on their own side of the road?   We were reduced to one lane on this turn because the opposing traffic took over a lane and a half going around the corner?!

I got one last shot of the Yangtze as we moved into the countryside once again.

Here we saw more small towns built closely on the riverbanks.

 And then we passed through 12 kilometers of the famous Bamboo Tunnel - a national park and the best tunnel of the day.

Bamboo flourishes here.  The climate is warmer, more humid and wet.  The payback is in the beautiful rolling green hills, terraced hillsides and rice paddies.  It’s beautiful.

Tonight we’re staying at the Eden Resort - a large complex of buildings and amenities. 

Dinner was a flashback to Russia.  We were the only customers in the restaurant.  At first they tried to make us use iPads to order the meals, but not everything was on the iPad.  After half an hour, we managed to get the meals ordered.  First thing out were delicious cross hatch fries.  Then a couple people got their very thinly cut T-bone steaks – before salads or soup.  Then we waited and waited and then one salad came out and we waited.  An hour into the meal, the waitress comes out to announce they are sold out of my lamb chops.  Ummm…it took an hour to find out?!  Needless to say, some left the table without eating.  Only ten people in the restaurant and they can’t manage to serve us?  It’s baffling.

But the beds are soft, for a change, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s ride through Sichuan and Guizhou provinces.