Today I cycled through some spectacular scenery in the lovely bright sunshine and the strong headwind. I climbed up to a grassy, sometimes rocky, wasteland where the sun and clouds played beautiful light games. I’m now in Daocheng, ready for a break from cycling – a bus to Shangri La for a visa extension.
Grassy plains
Looking down the pass
View from the top of the pass
Grassy plains
Rocky plateau
Descending from the plains
Many towns in the mountains in Sichuan are huge construction sites. Everything, but everything is being built new. The heavy trucks driving around results in all the roads being a quagmire. I have seen it over and over. China is rebuilding itself. A big leap forward.
Mudbath Litang
In my search for dumplings for breakfast, I saw Litang in all its muddy glory. The main road was nearly impossible to traverse – even just pushing the bike. But, once I left the town, the road was pristine.
Mud bath in Litang
Today was always a bit uncertain. It was 40km to a town, then 80km of nothing, climbing 1000m to the high plains. The 40km town was not far enough, so I proceeded up, planning to camp somewhere. It was lovely and sunny, and the road smooth. Progress was slow due to the sizable headwind, and I called it a day at a little service area where they offered me an empty room.
Hore racing
On the way up
My humble abode
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