Category: Blog

After the great dinner with the others, I had a good sleep and a lazy start this morning. Did some ‘office’ work. Will drive to the other hotel of the two from Indonesia and see if they have the bigger allan key I need for my foot pegs, Which I need to ‘loctide’ and tighten again.

Will see

Today will be an interesting drive when I drive up to the lake and then cross a bridge which in some ways is a masterpiece of modern highway construction in a stunning landscape. Well let’s see.

As I had time and it was early, I decided to take the longer but more interesting looking National Road option. The first part was a straight wide road westwards, with very little traffic but great views to both mountain ranges left and right. At a bigger junction I turned south towards the lake. I recalled I saw some switch back roads when I planned for that stretch back home, however, when I reached that stretch, it was simply breathtaking. I didn’t count but I would say, that there were easily 40 switch backs through an alpine landscape with green valleys, brown cows and pine forests along the flanks of the mountains. Considering, I started in a grey desert, and in a short time, I was catapulted to 2,000 m elevation with a stunning green alpine landscape that was a nice surprise.

However, when I stopped and tried to make some drone videos, it turned out, the drone was grounded and I was asked to download an application to register the drone in China. But with no internet connection in those mountains, I couldn’t register the drone and I had to pack it again and stored it in the bags. That means, there will only be some photos from my mobile.

After reaching the highest point of that road, a five km long freezing cold Tunnel upend up and when I came out of the other end, the lake lay in front of me.

Nothing had prepared me for the fact, that this very remote place, is also a very popular winter ski and summer photo resort with modern hotels popping up like mushrooms all over the place and the coastline road was one big festival of photo taking for weddings and other family events. It was so busy, that I decided to skip the coastal road and instead drive back to the highway entry gate to get on the highway, which conveniently also goes along the beach, only with no parking lots. While the lake is certainly picturesque, it’s hard to describe the frenzy along the beach line with its 100s of cars, motorhomes, motorcycle clubs (saw one big group of HD riders) and the photographer Studio Teams between. Must see to believe it.

Next stop were two tunnels and that great bridge, however, it looks like the tunnel was under repair and all the highway traffic, with all the trucks and cars and vacationers were guided to a narrow national road detour, which was also under repair. It got a bit crazy with the way some drivers couldn’t be patient and others completely scared about the narrow, curvy, bumpy mountain road, paired with endless long and super slow trucks going downhill. Glad, I could skip a lot of it, by simply overtaking everything and getting in front of the trucks and long queues. At least we saw the bridge from below, which is equally impressive to see and drive under the bridge in that narrow, beautiful valley. Everything has an end, and we finally ended up on the highway again, and after a number of curves and bridges, the canyon very suddenly opened up to a wide plane and we were back to the sand coloured deserts with agriculture patches and settlements. At the end was another, final security check, where I met Marek, another motorcycle traveller who also runs a motorcycle rental and touring business in Almaty.

However it gets even better, after tye check point it was only a few km to Khorgos and I saw suddenly two bikers standing under a bridge and it turned out it was Heri and Eltoroluwuk, the two guys with whom I crossed into China four weeks ago. We arranged for dinner and Marek also joined, and after four weeks, we all had our first biker talk evening, talking about things bikers talk about.

A great dinner at the end of a great day and a great China leg.

Had a good sleep last night and packed now for the next  4 hours on the road. I had a brief encounter with a Thai couple who is also travelling in China, in a tour bus. The world is getting more interconnected.

Looking at the weather forecast, I might hit some rain at the end and it is getting cloudy here as well. Will report after I arrived in Bole.

The highway to Bole was quite an interesting trip, partially absolutely flat desert, sand dunes desert with some brushes and then wide agricultural areas with green fields as far the eyes can see while to the south the snowcapped mountains are not too far away. It was a bit cloudy with some light drizzling rain between ant temperature around 32°C which feels not as warm as back in steamy Thailand. Had another security check at a smaller exit from the highway, which took a bit longer. I guess, they did not see too many foreigners there, but all friendly with a lot of woah and good, when they worked off a list of questions they had looked up. Made group pictures at the end and off I went again. I arrived from the east in Bole and was greeted with wide boulevards, green parks left and right, and it became quickly clear, that Bole is a big garrison for the military forces stationed here. It’s definitely a modern bigger town with high rise apartment blocks and wide roads. Used the afternoon to visit a museum, which nicely presented the history of the region and this western province. While it was not part of the early Silkroad routes and became later an alternative Northern Silkroad route to reach what is now Kazakhstan and Russia. It is now the main trade flow artery to the West with trains and 8 lane highways.

Here is a brief summary of this place:

Bole (博乐 / Bortala) — A Snapshot

The Name
From Mongolian boro tala — “brown steppe”. Apt for a city sitting in the Dzungarian Basin between the Dzungarian Alatau and Borohoro Mountains.

History in Brief
– Tang Dynasty (7th–10th c.): The Chinese empire established the Shuanghe Protectorate here, a frontier garrison to control the northern Silk Road approaches.
– Yuan & Ming (13th–17th c.): The region was firmly Oirat Mongol territory — the westernmost of the Mongol confederations, who would later produce the Dzungar Khanate.
– Qing Dynasty (18th c.): After crushing the Dzungars, the Qing resettled Chahar Mongols from Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) and Torghut Oirats returning from the Volga — a remarkable migration of a people who trekked back east to escape Russian encroachment.
– PRC (1954): The Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture was formally established on July 13, 1954, with Bole as its capital.

Current Status
– Population: ~270,000 in the city proper (2015); ~475,000 in the whole prefecture
– Demographics: Despite the “Mongol Autonomous” designation, only ~5.5% are ethnic Mongol. Han Chinese make up ~65%, with Uyghur, Kazakh, Hui, and 31 other ethnic groups.
– Economy: Anchored by Alashankou (阿拉山口) — the border crossing into Kazakhstan. This is no sleepy checkpoint: it handles 90% of all Xinjiang’s import/export volume and is the second-busiest land port in all of China (after Manzhouli on the Russian border). It’s a key node on the New Eurasian Land Bridge (the “New Silk Road” rail corridor linking Lianyungang on China’s Pacific coast all the way to Rotterdam).
– Transport: The Northern Xinjiang Railway and highways connect Bole to Ürümqi. Alashankou is both a rail and road port of entry.

Trivia & Highlights
– Sayram Lake (赛里木湖): Less than 50 km from the Kazakhstan border sits Xinjiang’s largest and highest alpine lake — 458 km² at 2,070 m elevation. Fed by glacial meltwater, it’s nicknamed the “Clean Sea” (净海) historically. Designated a AAAAA National Scenic Area in 2021, it’s a stunning turquoise splash in an otherwise arid landscape. The name comes from Kazakh, meaning “blessing.”
– Ebi-Nur: The prefecture’s other major lake, and one of the saltiest and most rapidly shrinking lakes in Central Asia.
– Notable native: Nur Bekri (努尔·白克力), who served as Chairman (governor) of Xinjiang from 2007–2014 and later headed the National Energy Administration — until his fall from grace in a 2019 corruption case.
– Climate extremes: Bole straddles the line between cool arid and semi-arid — brutally freezing winters, very warm summers, and precipitation that comes almost entirely in summer. Classic Dzungarian continental.
– 35 nationalities in one prefecture — it’s a genuine crossroads where Turkic, Mongolic, and Sinic worlds collide, and has been for well over a millennium.

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This was maybe the most eventless day so far.

When I started planning this China leg, I kept the last days a bit loose and easy, to have a buffer towards the end, in case I have a delay somewhere between. So, the trip today to Kuitan was only a bit over three hours on the eight lane G30 highway which goes through a wide plain intensely used by agriculture for all kinds of agricultural produce, from wheat, to potatoes to grapes and other vegetables and pulses. All flanked by big industrial warehouses and all kinds of industrial sites.

As this was a short riding day, I used the morning to do a check-up on the bike, cleaned and oiled the chain, even when the Scottoiler system did a good job to keep the chain lubricated, but the fine sand from the last desert runs are certainly not healthy for the chain. Did a walk around and checked all the screws and bolts, all good, tire pressure is normally one of things that needs attention, as motorcycle tires can loose air, especially on slightly bent rims from the off road sections, but no, all good. Oil and water all on the mark, the engine was definitely not stressed the last 5,000 km.

Arrived in Kuitan shortly after 2 with only a petrol and quick drink stop between. From all the cities I have been so far, Kuitan is the least exciting, least orderly with clear signs of economical stress.

I’m not sure, but this is the second Holiday Inn hotel I’m staying in, which looks like it has absolutely nothing to do with the Holiday Inn brand we know from other countries. Maybe, that name is not protected in China and some hotel operator simply adds the name to the hotel name. While the rooms are clean and ok, as in spacious and functional, they are simply not Holiday Inn and there was no sign of the usual brand alignment at the reception. Anyway, the room is spacious and has everything so I don’t really care, but will be aware about it next time.

It also means no pictures today.

Tomorrow I’m off to Bole, should be a bit more interesting and will see how it will be.

This was a fast drive today on the highway to Ürümqi, the capitol of the Xinjiang province, which is an Uyghur Autonomous Region, with a higher security protocol. Had one more security checkpoint on the highway, but again, all quick, a face photo (with helmet) and a photo of my passport and it was done. I started a bit after 9:00 but the temperature was already at 38°C. There is a reason why the Chinese call Turpan the ‘hot pole ‘ of China. Yesterday afternoon, while I was walking through the ruins, the temperature was 45°C, however, as it is bone dry, it feels more like 30 in Thailand which is considered as not too bad.

Going up north to Ürümqi, means also you ate peeling off the traditional ancient silk road, which is following the line between the TianShan mountains and the Taklamakan desert until it reaches Kashgar, the other major silk road town where central Asia starts. Instead, I went North, following in some ways the modern Silk Road highway with the trucks lining up to get to Khorgos at the border to Kazakhstan, which has quickly become the main port between China and every other nation, region and continent to the west. Literally, the 49 t trucks are driving the goods all the way from the industrial zones in eastern China to Kazakhstan, which is now the part of the main artery or Chinese goods to any country in Central Asia all the way to eastern Europe. I’m sure, the goods get repacked and redistributed across other trucks and trains until they are reaching the destination in Russian, Poland, Georgia and further into Europe. The ratio of trucks to limousine cars is maybe 30 to one. There was also no other motorcycle on the road I saw, except one Chinese Bike in the other directions. I guess, except for the new Autobahns, there are not so many other paved roads here in the TianShan mountains. Will see how it will be further up towards the next two towns, before I’m arriving in Khorgos.

On the other topic I described yesterday, the massive gigantic fields of wind turbines, this was all topped by a factor of 10 or even 100 today. More or less, I drove for over three hours along one wind turbine Forrest after the other as far the eye could see. When I was guessing there had been 1,000 turbines, today we talked about 100,000 turbines if not more and most of them were turning.

I was thinking about, what great news this must be for Americans, as solid research by the US administration described the fraud of wind turbine Installation and it’s money loosing effect to the economy, when clear proof was presented that only oil, American oil, is the profitable energy in the future and with every turn of the rotors the Chinese economy must loose a lot of money.

But what do I know about wind and Solar Energy and the economics behind.

It also means, I’m having only videos from my helmet camera of the flat desert, the flat straight highway, the wind parks and the journey through the canyons of the TianShan Mountains. No Photos for today, at least for now, let’s see what I can find for dinner, as I’m staying in a nice new hotel, which is located in a new highrise apartment block township outside the main town and I’m not sure I’m keen to get back on the bike to find some dinner. Let’s see what the neighbourhood has to offer, the people in those apartment blocks must also eat somewhere.

Had a nice dinner next to the hotel in a friendly Restaurant who even ask for a picture together at the end. Seems western foreigners are still a curiosity here.

In the meantime, the motorcycles at the hotel multiplied. First time I see such a number of big bikes in Thailand.

Another day with surprises. I set the alarm clock to 6am to get an early breakfast before getting on the highway towards Turpan again. Well, as I moved further west, sun rise and sunset is changing and so are business and opening hours. First observation, it was raining, second, the breakfast starts only at 8:00. So I skipped that, packed my things, put the rain jacket on and looked up a petrol station on the way to the highway. Got to the petrol station and expected a complicated process with identification, picture taking and so on as it has been described by other travellers, but besides that I had to pass a gate which opened promptly, no difference to Amy other petrol station and the petrol assistant was happy to use her few words English to get the tank filled. Same on exit, the gate opened and off I went into the grey rainy day on the highway. One hour into the drive, the sky slowly cleared and at a rest stop in the middle (again, most service stations had been closed and dysfunctioned because of the ongoing highway construction left and right from four lanes to 8 lanes), I took the rain jacket off, has a snack and went onto the highway against for the remaining 200 something km. And yes, as the highway descended from 1,900 slowly to 200 m, the temperature went up to 38°C , however, as it is bone dry, it feels not as hot as we are used to it Thailand.

Towards the end, the navigation directed me onto a different highway, which went through a stunning desert landscape, simply amazing.

I finally arrived at the hotel after 2pm.

I must say, I cannot get enough of Chinese Hotels, this is another great place, great room, great view, great bed and the topper was some music that started playing, when I started the shower.

Tomorrow I’m having a rest day here, I will see what to do before I’m off into the mountains again towards Ürümqi, the capital of this most western chinese province.

After a lazy morning, I went for a cultural excursion to Jiaohe ruins not too far from the hotel and to fill the tank again for tomorrow.

Jiaohe is considered as the best preserved place of any ancient silk road town along this stretch of desert. The main reason is, that like Donhuang, most buildings at that time were all built by straw-mud bricks (Adobe???) which naturally disintegrates over time by rain and wind.

Jiaohe was instead dug into a cliff plateau into the soft stone earth which lasts until now, even when the place was abandoned after the Genghis Khan onslaught and was never resettled again

Here is a brief summary of this place and some trivia about it:

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Jiaohe (交河) — The “River Junction” Citadel

Location: 10 km west of modern Turpan, Xinjiang, atop a leaf-shaped plateau (1,650m × 300m) carved by two converging rivers. The 30-meter cliffs on all sides served as natural walls — the city needed no fortifications.

The Indigenous Jushi (車師) People

The original inhabitants were the Jushi (also called Gushi), a Tocharian-speaking people of likely Indo-European origin. Chinese chronicles describe them as pastoral nomads who “lived in tents, followed the grasses and waters,” yet also practiced agriculture — raising cattle, horses, camels, sheep, and goats. They were renowned archers. Their kingdom, the Anterior Jushi Kingdom (108 BC – 450 AD), made Jiaohe its capital.

Trivia from the Tombs

– World’s oldest cannabis stash: A 2,700-year-old grave at the nearby Yanghai Tombs (attributed to the Jushi or a precursor culture) contained a shaman buried with 789 grams of dried cannabis — still green, THC intact. It’s the oldest known pharmacological use of cannabis, likely for divination or medicine.
– World’s earliest saddles: Cowhide horse saddles dated to 727–396 BC were also unearthed at Yanghai, predating the Pazyryk culture saddles.

Timeline of Battles & Power Shifts

– 108 BC: Jiaohe becomes capital of the Anterior Jushi Kingdom, caught between the Xiongnu empire and the Han Dynasty.
– 67 BC — Battle of Jushi: Han forces under Zheng Ji and Sima Xi, with 1,500 Han regulars plus 10,000 Tarim Basin allies, defeat the Xiongnu. The kingdom is split into “Nearer Jushi” (Han-controlled, capital at Jiaohe) and “Further Jushi” (Xiongnu-dominated).
– 450 AD: Jushi Kingdom absorbed; Jiaohe becomes Jiao Prefecture under various dynasties.
– 640 AD: Tang Dynasty takes control; Jiaohe becomes the seat of the Protector General of the Western Regions — the highest military command in the Chinese west. Population reaches ~7,000.
– 9th century: Falls under the Uyghur Khaganate, until the Khaganate is crushed by the Kyrgyz in 840.
– 13th century: Destroyed during the Mongol invasion under Genghis Khan. The city is abandoned and never reoccupied.

Religions & Cultures

– Buddhism dominated — the northern district housed temples and stupas; the city was a key node in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism.
– Shamanic/animist traditions preceded Buddhism, evidenced by the Yanghai shaman burial.
– The city cycled through Tocharian → Han Chinese → Uyghur → Mongol cultural layers over 20 centuries.
– Local Uyghurs today call the ruins Yarghul (from Turkic yar = “ravine” + Mongolian khoto = “town”).

Modern Status

– Excavated in the 1950s, protected since 1961.
– UNESCO World Heritage Site (2014) as part of the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor.
– Ongoing joint conservation by Japan’s Nara Institute and Xinjiang’s Cultural Relics Bureau since 1992.

Today was in many ways, one big surprise. When I did my research on the route, the desert runs to Hami and tomorrow to Turpan have always been described as one of the most challenging day routes on this trip, a long and endless desert run through heat and dry desert plateaus. I was advised to carry at least four liter water with me and start at 5 to reach the Hami 9 hours later on a grueling route. The other two of the group who ate one or two days ahead also messaged that it become quite hot at the end and that there is a stretch with 330 km of no petrol station. Obviously I filled up the tank, hoping I will get the usual 550 km out of it, which should bring me over the distance. Now it looks like, there are several options to drive to Hami from Dunhuang, and as we can use the highways again with motorcycles (or at least nobody cares about big bikes on the highway) I checked with the very reliable Amap (Chinese Gmap, only better than Gmap). And picked the fastest route. Amap predicted a bit over 5 hours, after others mentioned 7 to 9 hours. So I double checked and checked with OSM, which, for the same route also predicted a similar time. So I set the alarm clock to 5:30, skipped breakfast and was on the road at 7:00 heading towards Hami, with the camel bag of 1 1/2 liters of electrolyte, prepared for a hot and dry, long dessert run.

First observation was, it was nicely fresh and on the highway, with the light gear it was almost too fresh, second, at 7 o’clock, there was hardly any traffic in town and when I reached the highway, I was alone. This was a brand new super flat, super straight highway through 130 km of little more than sand and stones. For the next one and a quarter hour I saw not a single other vehicle in front or behind me, and maybe four cars in the other direction. You have to imagine, you get on that highway, put the Cruise control a bit over 100 km/h and the next 130 km you go only straight with four wide bends between and no other car around. It’s quite interesting, how you start looking for things to entertain your brain and eyes when there is nothing else then nothingness around you and all you do is keeping the motorcycle upright and trying hard not to accidentally fall off the bike as nothing else is to do. The next thing was, that we started on 1,300 elevation, and I expected a slow but steady decline to lower altitudes, when I slowly climbed up to over 2,000 km again and with it, the temperature fell to 20° C.

Finally, the fork to the G30 came closer and I expected dense truck traffic, similar to the days earlier, and many people have warned me about it. Well, there was certainly more truck traffic than the last 100 km, but not as bad as I expected. But what I didn’t expect were the crosswinds which came with that highway. I had crosswinds before, but today was a completely different league. Maybe one of the reasons why not so many trucks went on that highway. I had to slow down to 80 km/h to keep the bike in control, especially, when I came out of the slip streams of the trucks, and the wind comes from the side and I had to lean the bike some degree against the wind (Guido, if you are reading this, I had to think about your sailing video, it was the same feeling like going full with the wind from 2 o’clock). Getting into and out of the slipstream of the trucks was really something and I often stayed behind the truck and kept rolling, slow but steady. Slowly the sky got cloudy and I was wondering what that could mean in the Goa desert. Beside that, there was not a single petrol Station on the S26 and on the G30, there was not one open or functioning petrol station. It was not really a concern for me, as I had enough petrol, but I needed a toilet.  Remember, I was advised to drink four liter water with electrolytes, which got in the body, but never evaporated and wanted to get out again as quickly as possible. I stopped at a big service station with a big foot court, but again, no petrol station, however, as I had no breakfast, I decided to take an early lunch. Direct after was the big security checkpoint which demarcates the crossing from Gansu Province to Xinjiang, which is under special security controls. Can only say, the control was fast and professional and efficient, even when as a foreigner I had to park the bike and had to bring my passport to the main building to scan my passport and take a photo of me.

And off I went again only to see darker clouds. And then the rain started 50 km before Hami with even stronger wind and neck stretching gushes. I didn’t bother to stop to take the rain jacket out, as it was not too cold and that stretch was one big construction detour with no emergency lane to stop. So I kept rolling and reached Hami shortly before 1 pm, as the Amap had predicted.

So instead of a long, hot and dry dessert run, it was a long, fresh and wet kind of sailing trip.

Nice hotel, good rooms and Hami is a really nice city, with a water park next to the hotel, and a big modern mall I went to in search of dinner and ended up at McDonald’s and World cup burger Menu with ice cream. Definitely not what I would have imagined I would have for dinner today.

Here is a brief overview of the history of this nice, green and we’ll developed town:

Hami (哈密, Uyghur: قۇمۇل / Kumul) is a fascinating Silk Road gateway city in eastern Xinjiang.

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Hami (哈密 / Kumul)

Ancient History

Hami is one of the oldest continuously inhabited oases on the Silk Road, sitting at the strategic choke point where the route from China proper enters the Tarim Basin. For over two millennia, it was the eastern gate of Xinjiang — the first oasis travellers hit after crossing the Gobi Desert from Gansu.

– Han Dynasty (~100 BC): After Zhang Qian’s expeditions, the Han established military colonies here to secure the corridor against the Xiongnu. Control flipped between Chinese dynasties and nomadic powers for centuries.
– Uyghur Khaganate / Gaochang (9th–13th c.): Hami was part of the Buddhist Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho (Gaochang) — a sophisticated, multi-ethnic Silk Road state.
– Mongol Era: Marco Polo passed through around 1274, describing it as a fertile region of “idolaters” (Buddhists) with plentiful fruit.
– Qing Dynasty (1696): The Kangxi Emperor decisively brought Hami into Qing control. The local Hui (Uyghur) kings were allowed to rule semi-autonomously in exchange for loyalty — the Hui Wang Mu (Mausoleum of the Hui Kings) still stands today, a striking blend of Uyghur, Han, and Islamic architectural styles.

Recent History

– Hami became a prefecture-level city in 2016, absorbing the surrounding region.
– It’s now a major energy hub — massive coal reserves, wind farms, and solar arrays take advantage of the brutal desert climate. It’s a key node on China’s west-east energy transmission grid.
– The Lanzhou–Xinjiang High-Speed Railway (opened 2014) now stops here, cutting travel time to Ürümqi to ~3 hours and connecting Hami into modern China’s infrastructure backbone.

Curiosities

– The Hami Melon (哈密瓜): The city’s claim to fame. Legend says the Kangxi Emperor was so delighted by these impossibly sweet melons that he named them after the oasis. For centuries they were shipped as imperial tribute. Today, 哈密瓜 is the generic Chinese word for all muskmelons — a bit like “Champagne” for sparkling wine.
– Barkol Lake (巴里坤湖): An eerie, high-altitude salt lake in the nearby Tianshan foothills, surrounded by Kazakh herder communities and grasslands that feel more like Mongolia than the desert below.
– Ghost City of Wubao (五堡魔鬼城): Just outside town: a vast yardang landscape — wind-carved rock formations that howl in the desert wind, earning the “devil’s city” nickname. A surreal, alien terrain.
– Gatekeeper of Xinjiang: Hami’s famous winds (the Bailifeng — “Hundred-Li Wind Zone”) are so fierce they’ve literally blown trains off their tracks. The modern railway has wind barriers and wind-speed detectors that force trains to slow down or stop.

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Hami is the kind of place you pass through on the way to somewhere else — but it’s soaked in history, and the contrast between ancient oasis culture, Qing-era architecture, and massive modern energy infrastructure makes it quietly remarkable. On your Silk Road loop, it’ll be your handshake with Xinjiang after Dunhuang.

Had a good sleep in an amazing comfortable bed and am enjoying a good breakfast now. Will use the day for some administrative work, booking hotels for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and work off some overdue emails. It’s time to shift my gear from warm to hot weather and to take out the camel bag from the paneer bags so I can refuel myself tomorrow when driving almost 500 km in one stretch through the Gobi desert. The navigation says a bit over 5 hours on the highway, however I know there will be several security checks along the road as I’m entering Xinjiang where security is on another elevated level. I’m expecting no issue, besides the usual document checks.

I will need to top up fuel as much and often as possible, as there is one stretch of 350 km with no fuel station, however the bigger tank on the adventure version will get me comfortably over 500 km, especially at a constant speed of around 110 on the straight highway. The only concern I have ate potential sandstorms and obviously the heat in the desert. I plan to get up early and skip breakfast for the sake of getting onto the highway at 7 and arrive before 1 when it starts to get really hot. Well, so is the plan.

Here is a quick briefing from my travel assistant:

🌙 EVENING BRIEFING — REST DAY C1-20
📅 Monday, 22 June 2026 | China

📍 Base: Dunhuang
🏨 Dunhuang Zhongzhou International Hotel
🔖 1578947200153853
Alt: Dunhuang Yuntian International Hotel / Grand Sun HOTEL

☀️ WEATHER — Dunhuang (Mon 22 Jun)
☁️ Scattered clouds
🌡 High 34°C / Low ~20°C
💧 0 mm rain — dry ☀️
💨 NW wind 23 kph (moderate breeze)
🌞 UV 9 — Very High (bring sunscreen!)
⚠️ Desert alert: Gobi Desert region — sand possible with 23kph wind

📝 ACTIVITIES

1. Mogao Caves (book 30 days ahead)
2. Mingsha Sand Dunes
3. Night Market

🔧 MAINTENANCE
Clean and lube chain; desert sand is highly abrasive.

Recharge tonight. 🔧⚡

This afternoon I was hoping to see a bit of the old Dunhuang, the old oasis trading point in the desert. I was directed to an ancient tower and the White Horse pagoda. It was just around the corner of the hotel however also at the end of town. Sadly, not much was left from the old mud buildings except this tall pagoda. It seems, that Dunhuang was very early influenced by Buddhism. Most likely as Buddhism spread via the silk road and reached china first from the West.

While there was no access to the old mud houses, it was still an interesting visit and with a bit of imagination, one could see how this bigger Oasis was one of the major way points almost every caravan and trader had to go through. The sister trading point on the other side of the Taklamakan desert is Kashgar. There had been only two roads (directions) from one to the other, the southern route and the northern route, which is still the preferred route for many today. Every piece of silk, every jade or gold jewelry and other desirable goods, which had been worn by roman wife’s or Babylonian aristocrats or Venician Traders came through these two places and to to find their ways through these large unforgivable deserts. The name Taklamakan Desert translates in the local Uyghur language to “the place of no return” or “you can go in, but you will never come out”.

Let’s hope the gods of the satellite navigation systems are with me tomorrow and I will eat some Hami melon tomorrow evening and find my way to Turpan the next day.

Here is a brief historical summary of Dunhuang and why there is so little left to see:

Dunhuang: The Blazing Beacon

The Strategic Gate

Dunhuang was never just a town — it was a valve. For over a millennium, every camel, every bolt of silk, every Buddhist sutra moving between China and the world beyond had to pass through it.

The Han Emperor Wu established it around 104 BC as one of four frontier garrisons guarding the Hexi Corridor, that narrow fertile strip between the Gobi and the Qilian Mountains that was — and still is — the only viable land route out of China proper. The name itself gives away its purpose: Dūnhuáng (敦煌) — “Blazing Beacon” — referring to the chain of signal towers stretching west into the desert, lit to warn of Xiongnu and later nomadic raids.

This is where geography made policy. The Silk Road split at Dunhuang: take the northern route around the Taklamakan via Hami and Turpan, or the southern route via Miran and Khotan. Every merchant, pilgrim, and army had to choose here. The Han extended the Great Wall to Dunhuang and built a line of fortified watchtowers beyond it — you passed through on their terms or not at all.

The Administrative Machine

Dunhuang wasn’t just a garrison. It became the seat of Dunhuang Commandery (敦煌郡), a full administrative region. By the 2nd century AD it had over 76,000 residents — a substantial city for the frontier. Under the Tang, it was the prefectural capital of Shazhou (沙州, “Sand Prefecture”), controlling the entire western Hexi Corridor.

The bureaucracy here was sophisticated: tax registers, census records, military dispatches, Buddhist sutras, and even personal letters have survived in staggering quantity — not in buildings, but sealed in the Mogao Caves’ Library Cave (Cave 17), walled up around 1000 AD and rediscovered only in 1900. These 50,000+ documents reveal a multicultural administrative hub handling transactions in Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Sogdian, Uyghur, and Khotanese.

Dunhuang was a cosmopolitan garrison town where Chinese officials, Sogdian merchants, Tibetan monks, and Turkic horsemen coexisted — sometimes uneasily, but profitably.

Why So Little Remains

You’re standing in Shazhou and seeing almost nothing pre-modern. There are four reasons:

1. Mud, not stone. The traditional architecture of the Hexi Corridor was rammed earth (夯土) with timber frames. Unlike Rome or Persepolis — built of stone and marble — rammed earth returns to the desert from which it came. A few decades of wind-driven sand and seasonal flash floods, and a Tang-dynasty watchtower becomes an anonymous mound.

2. The Ming Abandonment (16th century). This is the big one. In 1372, the Ming Dynasty pulled its frontier back to Jiayuguan — 380km east — building the fortress that still stands there today. Everything west of Jiayuguan, including Dunhuang, was deliberately abandoned as a defensive policy. The population was evacuated, irrigation canals silted up, and the oasis began its slow reclamation. For nearly 400 years, Dunhuang was a ghost — outside the Wall, outside the empire, mentioned only in historical texts. It wasn’t reincorporated into China until the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century, and even then as a minor outpost.

3. The Mogao Caves survived because they were dug, not built. Carved into a conglomerate rock cliff face 25km from town, the 492 painted caves were insulated from the elements. Sealed and forgotten after the 14th century, they were preserved by aridity and obscurity. The Library Cave was walled up deliberately. Everything above ground in the town itself was exposed.

4. Modern redevelopment. What the Qing and Republic rebuilt was modest. Then came the 20th century: Dunhuang was re-founded as a modern county-level city. The “old town” you can walk through tonight in Shazhou is mostly 20th-century brick with some Qing-era bones. Authentic, but not ancient.

Another learning example of the rise and fall of powerful places and then a resurrection again.

Today will be another 5 hour highway trip through the desert to Dunhuang. The weather this morning came with a comfortable temperature. Let’s see how it warms up over the day as I will descend further to lower altitudes into the flat Gobi desert.

Here is a quick brief from my driving assistant:

🌅 MORNING UPDATE — C1-19 | Sunday, 21 June 2026

📍 TODAY: Jiayuguan → Dunhuang (395 km)
⛰ Max altitude: ~1,500m

☀️ WEATHER NOW
Jiayuguan: 22°C (Current), High 34°C. Sunny, no rain expected.
Dunhuang: High 35°C. Extreme UV. Very dry (15% humidity).
⚠️ ALERT: High heat (35°C+). Intense glare across the Gobi. Suggest early departure.

🚧 ROAD CONDITIONS
G312 & G215: Route clear. Long, straight desert sections.
✅ Route clear.

Depart: 04:25 drive. 🏍️ Go get it.

Made it to Dunhuang in 4 1/2 hours. It was a wonderful morning start in cool 28°C and crystal clear air, so clear, that I could see the snow capped mountains to the south, all the way for the next hour or so. On the highway, I set the cruise CV control to 118 km/h and cruised all along to Dunhuang, only interrupted by two service station stops, one to fill the tank and to fill me with coffee and juice and one to get get rid of the coffee and juice. I started at 1,900 m elevation and ended on 1,400 m elevation but sure, it got hotter and hotter and at the end it was 35° C but it is a dry heat and feels different to what we are used to in Thailand. One remarkable observation was witnessing the sudden bigger oasis along the road with all kind of agriculture and vegetables, flowers and trees, for 20 or more km, and then suddenly only desert, yellowish gravel sand, sometimes with huge sink holes or wide dry river beds and nothing, absolutely nothing is growing there. Then came the fork where it goes straight to Hami and West to Dunhuang. Shortly after the fork I observed gravestones on the left side sprinkled across the narrow plain between the highway and the mountain range. I would not have mentioned it, when these gravestones had been sprinkled over the distance of at least 20 if not 30 km. There was absolutely nothing else, and almost not a single house or settlement visible on the other side of the highway. Based on the ancient structures, which pooped up in the batten landscape here and there, inclusive one bigger restored fortress like construction, it looked like the highway was in fact built on or nearby of the ancient road that connected those oases since over 2000 years. I made the trip in 4 1/2 hours sitting comfortable on a motorcycle, I wonder how long it took centuries ago to wander or ride from one oasis town to the next to reach Dunhuang.

Dunhuang is a big city, nicely planned with wide boulevards, River Promenades, and generous public parks and gardens. I’m not sure, there is something like old town or down town, but that’s what I will try to find out tomorrow when I have another rest day, before I’m off to Hami what will be a 5 + hours drive through the desert, only it will get hotter. Will see how my special cooling t-shirt will work and if it makes any difference. The other two in our group, who took another route and are two days ahead of me, told me it is getting really hot and there is no petrol station for 330 km. I will make sure I fill up the tank here and top up on the way when possible. I can make approximately 550 km with one filling, so it will not be a problem.

A bit kitschy, but you can also see, that those greens all get watered in the afternoon. Quite impressive.

Tomorrow more

Had another good sleep last night, clearly the air is getting dryer now.

When I had to put on full gear yesterday to get over the freezing last pass and left the last colourful Tibetan prayer flag pole behind me, I’m now at the start of the Gobi desert and its Hexi corridor.

Today will be a relatively short ride on the expressway and I do not expect any spectacular landscapes except being flanked by high mountains in a flat straight wide dusty dry corridor with little to see left and right. However, it will be the last day I will see mountains, when it will be all flat Gobi desert from tomorrow onwards. Such a fast migration from the freezing, green grasslands of the Tibetan plateau to the dry, dusty and hot Gobi desert. And it is the beginning of what many imagine as the ancient silk road which I will follow for the next 5 weeks or so. Wonder how those caravans made it year for year over more than 2000 years of trade and exchange from East to West, and West to East.

Here’s the corrected briefing for today:

—

️ Day 21 — Saturday, 20 June 2026

Segment C1-18: Zhangye → Jiayuguan
The Hexi Corridor — Great Wall’s western terminus

Key Stats
– Route: Zhangye → Western Wall (lunch) → Jiayuguan
– Distance: 210 km
– Driving time: 2:26 (≈3.5 hrs with stops)
– Departure: ~10:00 → Arrive ~13:30 — easy half-day
– Country: China · Gansu
– Hotel: Jiugang Hotel (Jiayuguan Guancheng Fangte Phase 2 Huaboyuan)
– Booking: 1578947200133874 ·

[JYGZIYUG]P26052723000057

️ Weather
– Zhangye (start): Sunny, 19°C, 9 km/h
– Jiayuguan (arrival): ⚠️ Sandstorm, 18°C, 5 km/h
– Sheet warning: 30°C+. Crosswinds can be brutal. Watch for truck tire debris on the road.

️ Navigation
– Kurviger: <https://kurv.gr/LTZBA>
– Google Maps: <https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Zhangye,+Gansu,+China/Jiayuguan+Fort,+China/Jiayuguan,+Gansu,+China>

️ The Ride

“Hexi Corridor. Flat, straight G30 expressway/G312.”

A short, fast cruise along one of history’s great arteries — the Hexi Corridor was the Silk Road’s narrow lifeline between the Gobi Desert and the Qilian Mountains. The G30 runs arrow-straight across the gravel plains. At lunch, stop at the Great Wall’s westernmost outpost — Jiayuguan Pass, the “First Pass Under Heaven.” Afternoon free to explore the fortress, which looks exactly like it did when it marked the edge of the known world.

⚠️ Hazards
– Sandstorm in the forecast for Jiayuguan — if visibility drops, pull over
– Crosswinds on the open plains — keep both hands on the bars
– Truck tire debris on the G30 — shredded rubber snakes that can take out a radiator

 Budget
– Hotel: $35.97
– Food: $40.00
– Petrol: $26.30
– Day total: $102.22

 Tomorrow Preview (Day 22 — Sun 21 Jun)
– Jiayuguan → Dunhuang (395 km, 4:25 riding)
– Gobi Desert — pure desert landscape, long desolate stretches
– Lunch: Guaizitan Service Area / Guazhou
– ⚠️ 35°C+ with intense glare. Departure: 06:30 — avoid riding 13:00–16:00
– Hotel: Dunhuang Zhongzhou International Hotel

 Notes
– ⛽ Short day — fuel from Zhangye easily covers 210 km
–  Jiayuguan Fort in sandstorm light is incredibly dramatic
–  Jiugang Hotel is near the fortress — early check-in, then explore
–  Dunhuang Mogao Caves (in 2 days) require 30-day advance booking — confirm yours is sorted

–

The trip on the highway was straight and almost at a constant speed of 120, which resulted indeed in an average speed of 110 km/h. A bit different than three days ago. I arrived already around one o’clock, took a quick nap and then went to the car wash next to the hotel. They did a good job to each away the dust from the last 10 days on the plateau. Cleaned and oiled the chain as the bike was on the central stand and the oil level was perfect. After the carwash, I drove to the western end of the wall of China, which is a bit out of town in the desert. They did a good job I’m building an underground museum explaining the history of the great wall and specifically this end of the wall in the Hexi corridor which was also an important trading (and taxing) post. According to some description, it was the last true Chinese outpost where Chinese Administration worked under the dynasties rule. Well, I need to see how Dunhuang fits into that picture, because that would be the next town for any trader caravan and I understood it was also the last, most western Chinese outpost. In other words, China, and the reach of the administration ended there and anything further west was outside China and what is now called central Asia, which was more influenced by the Turkic and Persian culture and religion.

Tomorrow I will arrive in Dunhuang and spend two nights there. That was certainly the one oasis town, every caravan which traded between East and West, and West and East had to go through. Will see how it is nowadays.

I got up early to prepare for a potential 10 hour drive. A (motorcycle driving) policeman I met yesterday, told me I can use the highways (Autobahn) even if it is not really allowed. I need to squeeze the bike through the toll stations (right most lanes) and so long as I stay within the speed limits I should be good. Same as what I was told by the Tour Operator.

So let’s see how it works, it would cut the 10 hours to manageable 4 1/2 hours. 

Stayed in one of those big Hotel chains (Wanda Hotels), never heard of them, but can only say, top notch quality for a very reasonable price, including an East West breakfast buffet.

Today was another interesting day. After I had a really long day yesterday, I decided to follow the hints of a policeman I met at the hotel to get on the highways. While I was wondering what would happen when I squeezed myself through the right lane of the toll stations, nobody stopped me, no siren, no police car chased me. It was a great sunny, fresh morning and the highway made its way up to the last pass on the Tibetan plateau and I saw the first snow capped mountains to my right while it got fresher and fresher and at 12°C I decided to stop to add another Windstopper/thermal layer, grip heater on all bars. Then suddenly the highway stopped and all traffic ended up on a partly broken national road, meandering up to the last pass at 3,650 meters. And then the rain started while it was freezing cold. Only after 15 minutes driving through these canyons on the narrow road, I found a thin stretch on the side where I could stop and put the bike on the side stand to put the rain jacket on. This started really getting cold, anyway, after maybe another 20 minutes, the canyon suddenly opened up into a wide valley and I later learned it is the beginning of the Hexi corridor. It also was the transition from the green grassland of the Tibetan plateau, to the earthly brown of the Gobi desert. It was really amazing to see the shift from one to another happening in less than one hour driving time. Soon the highway entry came up again and I was back on the highway following this corridor to Zhangye with the mountain ranges left and right (south and north) and the wide flat land between them. While Zhangye is now a modern planned urban development, its history as an important Chinese Silk Road Town goes over 2000 years back. It is often seen, as the last Chinese administered silk road town, before ancient Central Asia started. There will be two more ancient Chinese influenced and controlled towns ahead, before the traditional Central Asia is starting, with different languages, religions and people.

Had to drink a lot, and to stop a lot at the toilets.

Here is what the road book assistant created this morning (and yes, it got really cold)

🌅 MORNING UPDATE — C1-17 | Friday, 19 June 2026

📍 TODAY: Xining → Zhangye (346 km)
⛰ Max altitude: ~3,792 m (Dabanshan Pass)

☀️ WEATHER NOW
Xining: ☀️ Sunny, 11°C → high 21°C. Light rain possible by evening (20%). Winds light.
Zhangye: ⛅ Partly Cloudy, 19°C → high 25°C. Low rain chance all day (<10%).
⚠️ Dabanshan Pass: Expect near-freezing temps at summit (5-10°C cooler than Xining). Pack layers. Light rain possible late afternoon in the mountains.

🚧 ROAD CONDITIONS
✅ G227 National Highway open and clear. No reported closures, landslides, or roadworks. Paved highway in good condition — China’s “Best Driving Road.”

📋 NOTES

• Stop at Biandukou Pass for photos
• Menyuan rapeseed fields should be in golden bloom — peak season
• Zhangye Danxia Rainbow Mountains at the end

Depart: ~5h ride. 🏍️ One of the best riding days of the trip — enjoy G227!

And yes, it was one of the best riding days.

I got up a bit earlier to check on the weather after it was raining last night, only to get greeted by sunshine. It is looking like a promising day. While it is only 300 km or so on national roads, the navigation system predicts a 6 hour drive. So better I get on the bike early and make my way up to another 3,800 pass and then down to Xining.

This was the longest day so far and really a bit of a mix bag of roads. From nice national roads, to single lane off-road detours. But all good

Here is what the road book assistant generated in the morning:

🌅 MORNING UPDATE — C1-16 | Thursday, 18 June 2026

📍 TODAY: Xiahe → Kanbula Geopark → Guide → Xining (409 km)
⛰ Max altitude: ~3,800m (La Ji Pass / 拉脊山)

☀️ WEATHER NOW
Xiahe (departure): 4°C, feels like 4°C, partly cloudy ☁️ → high ~18°C
Guide (midday stop): 14°C, patchy rain possible 🌦️
Xining (arrival): 14°C, patchy rain clearing → high ~22°C
⛰ La Ji Pass summit (~3,800m): ~0-2°C with wind — possible light snow flurries above 3,500m
⚠️ ALERT: Pass temps near freezing this morning. Dress in full plateau gear — cold crosswinds likely at the summit.

🚧 ROAD CONDITIONS
✅ G213 / provincial roads Xiahe → Guide: open, paved
✅ G227 Guide → Xining: open (use G227, no expressways — motorbikes restricted on expressways)
⛰ La Ji Pass: standard high-altitude pass conditions for June. No closure reports. Watch for loose gravel and temperature drop above 3,500m.

Depart: 05:54 drive. 🏍️ Big day — 409 km over the pass. Layer up, take it steady on the descent into the Yellow River valley. Go get it! 💪

Had a good start of the day with a local breakfast and a Tibetan monk joining me and asking me all kinds of questions and invited me to visit another monastery. Unfortunately, his mandarin was not very clear, so the goggle translator had problems translating what he was saying and I had not downloaded the Tibetan language set. Anyway, it was all good fun and we had a good laugh about it.

I then embarked on a long walk along the Kora and around parts of the monastery, which is a healthy 3 km walk. And no, I didn’t spun the koras (prayer wheels) but kept walking along with the Tibetan folks. Many Tibetans who are living here are doing this every day, and some multiple times a day. Keeps them young, but don’t want to know the conditions in Winter.

Went back for a good coffee to the little cafe around the corner and now back to the hotel to wash things and to prepare for the afternoon walk to see the monks doing the afternoon ceremonies, if the ticket is still valid to get back into the core monastery. This is a small town of monastery, and only a small part is open to the public. It is really big.

Unfortunately, the internet is a bit slow here, and the picture uploads are failing. Will need to do it later again.

Not a long riding day, but a long walking day. Good preparation for tomorrow’s pass crossing. It’s only 260 km, but the navigation tells me 6 1/2 hours. So I better prepare for another long, but slow ride on national roads, which are mainly good two lane roads.

Today will be a bit shorter with 5 hours or so. Still on high altitudes but at least on straight, and wider roads with less traffic. Had a good night, with a bit of breakfast. I’m sure I will find something along the route.

This was another great riding day, with the sun coming out and fluffy white clouds in the sky over the wide grassland on the Tibetan plateau. Arrived in Labrang after a nice 6 hours with a number of breaks. Average speed increased to 66 as most roads a straight and speed limit increased to 80 on most parts. Witnessed a lot of infrastructure work for the upcoming train line and an elevated four lane tollway through this high plateau. How it will shape the economics of the region and the people needs to be seen.

The hotel is a kind of Tibetan Inn, and I guess they gave me the presidential suite, simple but comes with all amenities. I’m sure, I will sleep well, without ac.

Tomorrow I will explore the Monastery, and enjoy a rest day here at this place.

Friendly rest stops

Found this out of its place cozy cafe just around the corner of my hotel.

Will be back tomorrow for more coffee.

Another great day on this trip.

Had good sleep and as the hotel offered no breakfast and I had at least 7 hours drive ahead, I started at 8:00, filled the tank full and joined the endless stream of trucks, and busses and cars and everything between.

Average speed on those major roads is around 55 km/h. After another number of tunnels (this time better illuminated) the landscape gets flatter and suddenly you find yourself on a wide plane, 3,500 to 3,800 m high and the temperature drops to 10° and below. I changed my gear a bit late, and also tested the Parka I brought along for such stretches, however, i felt really cold when I finally arrived at the hotel. Zoigê is nothing else than a modern cross roads town on the Tibetan plateau with plenty of hotels and the overnight stop for many Tour busses, what I realised, when the hotel carpark slowly filled up with busses and exciting groups of elderly ladies flooded the lobby, lifts and the hallways.

I slowly got warm again, and dug out the warm clothes from the panniers and rearranged my gear towards riding in temperatures at 10° rather than 30°.

The hotel guided me to a nice local (Tibetan) Restaurant and the food was simply good. Topped up my cookies and juice at the next convenient store and called it a day, going to bed early in another really comfortable bed.

After a good night and good breakfast I said goodbye to the Holiday Inn staff and made my way out of the city. Well, even as it was as Sunday morning, it took me over an hour before I reached the outskirts of this megacity and after maybe another 10 minutes it becomes immediately very rural, dusty and grey, with the 8 lane ring roads turning into bumpy 2 lane national roads. That would not be a problem, if you would not have to share the same road with endless chains of trucks into both directions, and the navigation girl is reminding you, you, you are in a 15 km long Speed enforcement zone and you are ‘significantly speeding ‘ while you are getting chased by the cars behind you. After two hours I made a cookie and juice stop at another petrol station and people started chatting with me about where I’m from, where I go and how old I am. Pictures are taken again and after I brought the morning coffee away and replenished it with grapefruit juice I went off for the next two hours.

I have passed a fair share of tunnels on this trip already, but today it was a bit over the top, not so much because of the lengths or number of tunnels, but because of the conditions in the tunnels. The vast majority had not a single light and are pitch dark and I have not seen a single ventilation system, so sight ahead is limited to maybe 50 meters. This ate all single tube, two lane tunnels without any emergency strip, not 10 cm. In one tunnel, one of the cars was standing (broke engine or running out of battery/fuel), no hazard lights on, people running around in absolute darkness and the truck drivers had to negotiate who goes first. So you stand in the tunnel, completely dark and wonder how this fumes having an impact on your health system and if you will still remember when you suddenly drop to the side losing consciousness.

But the best was the bicycle group that used the same tunnel, with only a few having something like a headlight, and the trucks had to overtake them in the tunnel. The only good thing about that was, that it convinced me that if they can make it through a 5 km long Tunnel on a bicycle in darkness and in fumes, I should be good on a motorcycle, even when standing.

I arrived at the hotel around 3pm, all together relaxed, and once I saw the hotel apartment, I decided to stay in the hotel and not drive up to Taoping, to visit the ancient watch towers from the ancient Quiang society (1,200 BC). Instead, enjoying the view after a good shower and reading about the details of this mysterious society, what, I think, will give more insights, then driving up the mountains over an hour and back on steep slopes, challenged by trucks and cars … And other big bikes. Today was the first day, I saw a significant number of bigger bikes and big scooters, including the first BMW 1250 GSA I saw in China.

Here is the Road book briefing of today.

Cronjob Response: Morning Expedition Brief (Weather & Traffic)
(job_id: e3b05e0e6390)
————-

🏙️ MORNING BRIEF — Saturday, 13 June 2026 · Day 14
REST DAY — Chengdu (C1-11)

—

☀️ Chengdu Today

Morning
• Condition: Smoky haze
• Temp: 26°C (feels 27°)
• Wind: ↙ 5 km/h
• Rain: 0%

Noon
• Condition: Partly cloudy
• Temp: 28°C (feels 29°)
• Wind: ↖ 9 km/h
• Rain: 5%

Evening
• Condition: Sunny
• Temp: 31°C (feels 32°)
• Wind: ← 11 km/h
• Rain: 2%

Night
• Condition: Patchy rain poss.
• Temp: 28°C (feels 29°)
• Wind: ↖ 9 km/h
• Rain: 10%

Currently: Smoky haze, 23°C, 78% humidity, visibility 10 km. Classic Chengdu summer day — hazy but dry.

—

🎯 Today’s Activities *(from roadbook)*

1. 🐼 Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding — go early, pandas are most active 8–10 AM before heat sets in.
2. 🏛️ Wuhou Shrine — mid-morning, mostly shaded.
3. 🛍️ Jinli Street — afternoon stroll, touristy but photogenic.
4. 🍵 People’s Park tea house — mandatory “slow life” immersion. Go late afternoon when the heat breaks. Order a jasmine tea, let the ear-cleaners find you.

💡 Dining tip: Try a proper Sichuan hotpot tonight (Shu Daxia or Haidilao near Wuhou). Last chance for Chengdu-level spice before you climb into Tibetan-influenced cuisine in Aba.

—

🔴 ⚠️ DIAMOX PROTOCOL — START TODAY

**Trigger**
• Detail: Day+2 (Mon 15 Jun): Wenchuan → Zoige

**Zoige altitude**
• Detail: 3,500m+ (Alpine plateau)

**Current Zoige conditions**
• Detail: Light sleet, +6°C, 87% humidity, 0.8mm precip

**15 Jun Zoige forecast**
• Detail: Sunny 11°C morning → Partly cloudy 15°C noon. Clearing trend. ✅

**Diamox pills remaining**
• Detail: 33

**Action**
• Detail: 💊 Begin 125 mg twice daily TODAY (first dose now, second this evening)

**Rationale**
• Detail: 48-hour advance prophylaxis. Tomorrow (Wenchuan, ~1,300m) is your step-up acclimatization day. By Monday morning the Diamox will be fully active for the 3,500m+ plateau.

🔑 Zoige is your first true high-altitude segment. Don’t skip this. Diamox side effects (tingling fingers/toes, carbonated drink
RIDING DAY: Chengdu → Wenchuan (C1-12)

**Route**
• Detail: Chengdu → Taoping → Wenchuan (汶川)

**Distance**
• Detail: 152 km

**Est. time**
• Detail: 2h 17min

**Road**
• Detail: G317 — “Gorge Climb, entry to Aba Prefecture”

**Max altitude**
• Detail: ~1,300m (Wenchuan)

**Hotel**
• Detail: Wenchuan Zhiyunwuyou Homestay · CNY 52

**Kurviger**
• Detail: https://kurv.gr/SytbU

**Alt Kurviger**
• Detail: https://kurv.gr/xrnPB

—

🌤️ Route Weather — Sunday 14 June

**Chengdu (6 AM)**
• Condition: Smoky haze
• Temp: 23°C
• Humidity: 78%
• Wind: ← 4 km/h
• Rain: 0%

**Taoping (midpoint)**
• Condition: Sunny
• Temp: 14°C
• Humidity: 46%
• Wind: ↑ 4 km/h
• Rain: 0%

**Wenchuan (arrival ~10 AM)**
• Condition: Sunny
• Temp: 24°C
• Humidity: 55%
• Wind: ← 5 km/h
• Rain: 3%

Wenchuan evening
• Condition: Patchy rain
• Temp: 29°C
• Humidity: —
• Wind: ↖ 12 km/h
• Rain: 0.2mm / 18%

Wenchuan night
• Condition: Patchy rain
• Temp: 22°C
• Humidity: —
• Wind: ↗ 4 km/h
• Rain: 0.1mm / 19%

✅ No precipitation during riding window. Late evening patchy rain is negligible (0.1–0.2 mm, <20% probability). No fog — 10 km visibility all points.

—

⚠️ Risk Assessment

**Fog**
• Level: 🟢 LOW
• Detail: 10 km visibility across all waypoints. Morning mountain fog unlikely at this elevation.

**Rain**
• Level: 🟢 LOW
• Detail: Zero rain during riding hours. Evening sprinkle is cosmetic only.

**Road surface**
• Level: 🟡 CAUTION (1/2)

• Detail: G317 is paved but winding. Roadbook: “High landslide risk on G317 in June.” No active precipitation = low trigger, but structural hazard exists. Stay alert in gorge sections.

**Rockfall**
• Level: 🟡 CAUTION
• Detail: Baseline June risk on G317. With dry conditions today/tomorrow, probability is low but not zero. Watch for fallen debris in blind corners — standard mountain-road discipline.

**Temperature**
• Level: 🟢 LOW
• Detail: 23°C → 14°C → 28°C. Pack a wind layer for the Taoping mountain segment. Shed it in Wenchuan.

**Fuel**
• Level: 🟢 LOW
• Detail: Fill up in Chengdu. Wenchuan has stations. Only 152 km — easily within one tank.

**Altitude**
• Level: 🟢 LOW
• Detail: Max ~1,300m. No acute risk. Diamox will be active by this point (prophylaxis, not treatment).

—

🟢 VERDICT: GO ✅

All clear. No weather showstoppers. Dry roads, good visibility, short riding day.

—

⏰ Optimal Departure: 07:30 AM from Chengdu

**Beat the haze**
• Detail: Chengdu smog thickens by 10 AM. Clearer air on G317 earlier.

**Golden light**
• Detail: Sunrise 06:00. By 07:30 you have good light on the gorge climb into Aba.

**Arrive Wenchuan by ~10:00**
• Detail: Before any afternoon mountain weather instability. Plenty of time to settle in, explore Wenchuan’s earthquake memorial if desired.

**Avoid PM rain**
• Detail: Patchy rain only hits Wenchuan after 18:00. You’ll be showered and fed by then.

—

✅ Pre-Flight Checklist — Tonight

– [ ] ⛽ Fuel: Top off in Chengdu tonight (avoid morning scramble)
– [ ] 🧥 Layers: Windbreaker/jacket accessible — Taoping mountain segment drops to 14°C
– [ ] 💊 Diamox: Take second dose this evening (first dose NOW)
– [ ] 🔗 Kurviger loaded: https://kurv.gr/SytbU
– [ ] 🏨 Hotel confirmed: Wenchuan Zhiyunwuyou Homestay · 1578947199927464 (Trip.com)
– [ ] 📱 Offline maps: Download G317 segment; Aba Prefecture has patchy cell coverage
– [ ] 🎒 Rain gear: Pack on top — while rain is unlikely, G317’s June reputation earns the precaution
– [ ] 🐼 Pandas first: Get to the Panda Base by 7:45–8:00 AM today for best viewing

—

📅 Day+2 Look-Ahead (Mon 15 June): Wenchuan → Zoige

**Distance**
• Detail: 337 km · ~5 hours

**Max altitude**
• Detail: 3,500m+ (Alpine grasslands)

**Zoige forecast**
• Detail: Sunny 11°C → Partly cloudy 15°C. Cold but dry.

**Road**
• Detail: Open plateau, wide roads. Sudden hail is a June hazard.

**Fuel**
• Detail: Fill in Wenchuan. Stations sparse between Chuanzhusi and Zoige.

💊 Diamox will be fully active. Expect 3,500m — hydrate aggressively on Sunday and Monday morning. First sign of headache: slow down, don’t push the pace. The road is straight; there’s no hurry.

—

Ride safe tomorrow. Today: enjoy the pandas, the tea, and the last proper Sichuan meal before the Tibetan plateau. 🏍️🐼🍵

Wenchuan was quite an interesting surprise, neat and lots of park walk ways along the river in perfect temperatures. Tomorrow is a long day, divi went to bed early.

Today is a rest and inspection day in Chengdu, one of the many multiple million people cities in China with underground MRT systems, 8 lane crowded ring roads and wide avenues.

I’m not sure, where the next proper (big bike) Honda Workshop is, so I take the chance for a round check up of the bike, change n tension, oil and coolant level check, some drain tubes and check on all the usual systems like brakes, etc.

I must say, Honda knows how to offer very affordable post sales services fees, at least in Thailand and here in China. For the complete work on the bike with a proper chain cleaning I’m paying 15€. I’m feeling so cheap – Charlie.

Interesting observation, it’s Saturday morning, and in the service area I’m seeing mainly the 500 cc class bikes and the big Gold Wings, same in the show room. The 650 to 1100 cc class is not present at all. I guess a result of Chinese brands have moved up the chain and with recent improvements in quality and competitive pricing moving into that space in the Chinese market, giving Honda and other Western brands a hard time.

It will be interesting to watch how this will work out in the South East Asian markets, when they open up to Chinese brands in this segment, what will happen this year.

Today is also the first day to take my first diamox (high altitude sickness) medication in preparation for the higher passes I will cross over the next few days until it gets down again to Jiayuguan, at the western end of the great Chinese Wall.

Tonight I will have a Sichuan dinner and show with QS from Road Pioneer, the tour operator I’m driving with.

Let’s see

After a great sleep in a great resort it’s the last day to get to Chengdu where I will have a rest day tomorrow.

It’s one of those places, where you could easily stay another day or more to relax and soak in the calm atmosphere.

Here is the road book briefing of today.

—

️ Day 13 — Road Book: Leshan → Chengdu

Segment C1-10 · Friday, 12 June 2026

—

 Key Stats

– Route: Leshan → Huanglongxi Ancient Town → Chengdu
– Distance: 152 km
– Driving Time: 2h 23m
– Lap Time (with fuel/photo stops): ~3h 00m
– Departure: 07:00 (beating Chengdu rush hour)
– Arrival Window: ~10:00–10:30 AM
– Max Altitude: ~500m (Sichuan Basin descent)
– Country: China · Sichuan Province

—

吝 Navigation — Triple Redundant

**Kurviger (motorcycle routing)**
• Link: kurv.gr/RMnLz

**Kurviger Alt**
• Link: kurv.gr/pz3Km

**Google Maps**
• Link: Leshan → Huanglongxi → Chengdu

**OSM / OsmAnd (offline)**
• Link: OSM Directions

—

️ Weather

**Leshan (07:00 departure)**
• Conditions: Smoky haze, ~21°C, NE 5 km/h, 62% humidity

**Huanglongxi (~09:00)**
• Conditions: Smoky haze → clearing, ~23°C, SSE 6 km/h, 58%

**Chengdu (~10:30 arrival)**
• Conditions: Sunny → cloudy, 25–28°C, SSW 8 km/h, 39–47%

Chengdu forecast: High 28°C / Low 21°C. Smoky haze lifting to partly sunny by midday. No rain. Visibility improving through the morning.

⚠️ Sheet warning: Chengdu Heat (35°C forecast in planning). Actual today is milder at 28°C, but humidity + urban heat island will push felt temperature higher. Hydrate.

—

️ Route Narrative

The Sichuan Basin Descent

You’re leaving the foothills behind. After 4 days grinding through the Daliangshan ranges — Yi highlands, G348 Dadu River canyon, Meigu’s deep gorges — today is the final gravity-assisted glide into the Sichuan Basin. The road flattens. The G5 Expressway corridor pulls you into one of China’s densest urban agglomerations.

Leshan departure: If you haven’t already, the Leshan Giant Buddha (71m, UNESCO) is 2 km from the city center — the largest pre-modern stone Buddha in the world, carved into a cliff face at the confluence of the Min, Dadu, and Qingyi rivers. Even a 15-minute glance from the riverbank is worth the detour. It took 90 years to carve (713–803 AD) and was designed to calm the treacherous waters where the three rivers meet.

Huanglongxi Ancient Town (黄龙溪古镇) — your lunch stop at roughly the 80 km mark. This is a 1,700-year-old water town with Ming and Qing dynasty wooden buildings, stone-paved lanes, and seven ancient banyan trees. Known for its “one street, three temples” layout. The town sits at the confluence of the Fu and Luxi rivers. Try the local huanglongxi douhua (tofu pudding) or river fish hotpot if you have time.

The approach to Chengdu: The final 50 km is the psychological transition from Silk Road expedition mode to urban China. Chengdu’s outer ring roads and G5 Expressway traffic require full attention. The sheet warns about heavy traffic and smog — this is real. Chengdu has 21 million people and the air quality in the basin can be rough. The 07:00 departure is timed to get you into the city before the 08:30–09:30 morning peak.

—

 Accommodation

Holiday Inn Express CHENGDU WUHOU NEW CITY by IHG
– Booking:

1578947199904581

– Confirmation:

75609 - 1578947199905635

– Rate: ¥108.76

—

⚠️ Practical Notes

– Smog/visibility: Smoky haze throughout the morning — keep auxiliary lights on even in daylight
– Traffic: Chengdu ring roads are aggressive. Lane discipline is… interpretive. Motorcycles can lane-filter but watch for sudden lane changes

Well, it is already after 9 and I’m enjoying breakfast, no rush today and I will see how to manage the Chengdu traffic.

This was the most relaxing riding day so far. The route first went along a wider river , then suddenly deviated into orange/mandarin plantations on single lane side roads up and down the hills on curvy terrain, before it ended again on a major national road on the way to Huanglongxi, which is an ancient water town in the downtown area, while the new town around is peppered with new high rise apartment blocks, some are populated, most not.

However, what also became obvious, as attractive as it is, only half of the downtown area was in fact open and maintained, the remaining streets, as original as the other fell apart with close houses and shops and faded facades. Simply not enough tourism to allow a full restoration of this beautiful example of ancient Sichuan.

After a good walk through the old town, I got back on the road and Chengdu came quickly closer and the roads got more and more lanes, only to end up in standing traffic jams on 8 lane ring roads.

Arrived at the hotel as predicted. The Chinese navigation app is really impressive in terms of arrival prediction and routing.

The main reason why I chose this hotel is because it is close to the Honda Dream motorcycle workshop where I get a quick inspection and cleaning and oiling of the chain.

What I didn’t know, it is located in a dead business district with no restaurants or even a convenient store. Had to walk 2 km to get dinner. At least that was great.

Did my laundry, all done, even the pants. Ready for the next segment what will be the end of the tea horse road and the beginning of the silk road. But first I need to get up to a couple of 3,800 m passes over the next few days, until I have planned another rest day in Xiahe with the second biggest Tibetan monastery just under 3,000 meters elevation.

After a good night, I departed earlier as the hotel also offered no breakfast and I was happy to use my deposit of Cookies with the coffee the hotel offered.

To cut it short, this was maybe one of the best (or at least most interesting) riding days so far. Mainly for two reasons.

First: a good national road with surprisingly almost no traffic (I became a bit suspicious and was not disappointed).

Second:, one of the most breathtaking sceneries through the mountains and valleys of Sichuan. I wish only, there would have been some sun as it was cloudy all day, however, not a Single drop of rain. Roughly one hour into the ride, I came to a fork where road signs pointed right to Lishan, but both navigation systems pointed straight ahead. As the road was really good and only built recently I simply followed the navigation. It went higher and higher towards 3,000 meter, had to pass two open bars, clear signs that this road is closed during winter or other times (there had been some major mud slides and rock falls), then out of nowhere a three km long dark (absolutely no lights) tunnel came up, gladly, halfway I saw a truck coming the other way, what could only mean it goes somewhere. The problem was only, the Garmin and OSM navigation got completely out of track, however Amap, the Chinese navigation apps showed sturdy a road ahead until we came to a closed tunnel entrance when the road suddenly turned onto an old single lane dirt track. The last village was 20 km away and there was no sign of anything else ahead. However, another truck approached from the other side, we managed somehow to pass each other without pushing each other off the dirt track and I kept going. These are then the moments where you discuss with yourself, what will be conditions you will turn around to drive back all the way to that last fork some 30 km or so back. This was clearly the old, single lane road, now completely broken down in some parts. Anyway, things got better and not very surprisingly, the end of the blocked tunnel and the road appeared again and after a bit of needed momentum to get up the ramp I was back on the road again. I guess the tunnel was never finished or some accident forced a closure of the tunnel and the detour via the dirt track. An easy explanation, why no other car and only very few trucks took that route. The reward was almost no traffic, on a new road through those stunning mountains rolling on good speed and good asphalt towards Lishan, still 3 1/2 hours away. I need to get the videos from my helmet camera and try to cut out some pictures or short sequences.

It’s hard to put it in words, but it’s a bit like driving through those chinese paintings, with these deep gorges, vertical mountains, along creeks and rivers, which finally turn into wide streams. It was simply stunning. I finally made it to Lishan, after a couple of desperate pitstops at the petrol stations, after I followed the advice to drink at least two liters more in high altitude, what , in the cold air (12°C), only means you do not sweat it out but have to visit a toilet every 2 hours or so. On one of those stops, I got invited to join the station staff for a simple lunch and they asked me all kinds of questions of where I come from, where I’m going and so on. It was teal fun. And even in those remote areas, there is always somebody who can speak and understand a bit of English and the rest is done with the translator app.

Have not seen a lot of Lishan, but can say, ot has a lot of good vibes street life under thick and old trees, with people sitting and chatting and eating and drinking along those roads. Plenty of chic looking coffee shops and restaurants.

However, I booked a hotel a bit outside in the high Bamboo grooves and I was not disappointed by the hotel design. Absolutely chic, modern, functional in a very rural setting, somewhere hidden in a valley.

I will see what dinner will be and I know already it will be noodle soup for breakfast.

Well, I just got my dinner, yummy looking noodle soup

Here is the road book briefing for today’s trip:

 Tomorrow: Meigu → Leshan (Day 12)
– Route: 214 km / ~3h13m — descending from Yi Highlands into the Sichuan basin
– Hotel:Leshan Zhuyu Hidden Luxury · Mountain View Designer Hotel (乐山竹雨隐奢·山景设计师酒店)
– Kurviger: https://kurv.gr/5vmpL

⚠️ Road Notes
– Rougher asphalt, remote S307 through Yi territory
– Dense fog likely in mountain passes — 10–20°C, dress in layers
– ⛽ Fuel: Stations sparse between Meigu and Leshan — fill up before departure

 Day After (Fri 12 Jun): Leshan → Chengdu
– 152 km / 2h23m — easy highway ride back to civilization
– Hotel: Holiday Inn Express CHENGDU WUHOU NEW CITY by IHG
– Kurviger: https://kurv.gr/3xWeM

️ Diamox Status: NO ALERT
– 2-day altitude forecast: well below threshold (Leshan ~350m, Chengdu ~500m)
– First >2,500m not until September — no action needed
–  Pill count: 36 (decremented from 37)

 Dinner in Leshan — Top 3 Picks
Leshan is one of Sichuan’s great food cities. All in 市中区, walking distance from the hotel:

1
• Restaurant: 冯三孃翘脚牛肉
• What: Qiaojiao Beef
• Why: THE signature Leshan dish — cross-legged beef hotpot, legendary

2
• Restaurant: 记老四钵钵鸡
• What: Bobo Chicken
• Why: Leshan’s other classic — cold skewers in numbing chili oil

3
• Restaurant: 九九豆腐脑
• What: Tofu Pudding
• Why: Local breakfast/snack institution, silky-savory comfort

Also worth a look: 崇州曾老五兔头 (rabbit head) and 刘二孃味精素面 (MSG noodles).

—

Summary: Easy descent day into Leshan — one of China’s best food cities. Fog is the main hazard. No altitude concerns. Enjoy the qiaojiao beef — you’ve earned it after the Yi Highlands. ️

Ok, no beef, as I’m really happy to have a Sichuan noodle soup for dinner at the hotel.

Good morning from Xichang. Had a good sleep and I’m looking forward to today’s route. Here is what the road book briefing from last night tells me

 Night-Before Brief — Day 11 | Wed 10 June 2026

—

 Tomorrow’s Route
Xichang → Meigu (Sichuan, China)
– ️ 167 km | ⏱️ ~3h 46m
– ️ Yi Highlands — rougher asphalt on the remote S307. High elevation terrain, mountain passes.
– ️ Weather: 10–20°C with dense fog in mountain passes. Rain risk moderate.

⛽ Critical
Fuel up at Xichang before departing. Stations are sparse until Zhaojue — the next reliable fill point is 100+ km away. Do not leave on a half tank.

 Hotel Tonight
Xilai yunting hotel (喜来云庭酒店) — Meigu 
Reservation: 1578947199865162 · Confirmation: 1578947199867083 
Cost: $35 USD

—

 Dining in Meigu
Meigu County is deep in Yi minority territory — zero restaurants appear on any online platform. This is as remote as it gets in Sichuan. Options:

1. Hotel restaurant — 喜来云庭酒店 almost certainly serves dinner. Safest bet after a long ride.
2. Bapu Town center — Walk toward the main street along 国道 348. Look for small 彝族餐馆 (Yi eateries). Try 坨坨肉 (Yi-style boiled pork chunks), 荞麦粑粑 (buckwheat cakes), or 杆杆酒 (bamboo-tube corn liquor).
3. Ask the hotel desk: “附近哪里有好吃的彝族菜？” Local knowledge is your only guide here.

—

 Looking Ahead: Day 12 (Thursday)
Meigu → Leshan | 214 km | ~3h 13m 
– Deep gorges along the G348 Dadu River canyon. 
– Valley heat (30°C). Watch for livestock on the road (pigs/goats common). 
– Hotel: Leshan Zhuyu Hidden Luxury · Mountain View Designer Hotel — a step up in comfort.

—

️ Altitude / Diamox
No alert. Still in Sichuan lowlands/valleys — altitude well under 2,500m. First threshold day remains September 1 (Day 94, Pamir approach).

 Diamox count: 37 (decremented from 38)

—

 Budget Snapshot
Hotel
• USD: $35.95

Food
• USD: $40

Fuel
• USD: $20.90

**Total**
• USD: $96.83

—

Ride safe, Carsten. Fog in the passes — take the S307 slowly. ️

From other descriptions, this must be one of the most remote places I will pass through. Hope it also means less traffic and more time for stops and photo shots.

Seems it will not be a long ride, I will take it slowly.

16:22

Arrived in Meigu on good roads through impressive landscapes. This is clearly an off the beaten route and location and route, far away from the big towns. People are very friendly and the majority are part of the minority population here, wearing the rich traditional costumes every day. Open markets are everywhere and like in many other places, local produce is sold along the roads every here and then. Looking at the people and way of life,it does not make me feel I’m too far away from Thailand. In fact, at the petrol station along the road, the cashier spoke some Thai with me. I was really surprised. I should have asked her where she learned it.

The weather is pleasant, even when it is cloudy, spanning from 12°C on the high plateaus (3,200 m) to 24°C here in Meigu in the afternoon.

I will check, what there is to explore here and will have dinner at the hotel, which seems to be a safe choice. For breakfast I need to find something along the road tomorrow.

Time to take a shower

I think this will be an interesting dinner, ended up next door at a local BBQ place

_——-

This was a great dinner experience. I went to the BBQ next door and the owner came and sat with me. Helped me with ordering everything. He spoke a bit of English and was very interested in the trip, about life in Thailand and we discussed even the problems with Chinese scam syndicates in South East Asia and how those countries ate seen as dangerous now by most Chinese, due to the many abductions of Chinese tourists who disappeared in the scam centres and has been forced to the scams. Sadly, it is true, that some tourists, including known actors and influencers have been kidnapped and brought over the border to work in the centers, just behind the borders. We had a good chat, agreed on many things and these are those moments where you know humankind in general is good and follows morals.

Went to bed early, as he also confirmed it is a long day on the national roads to Lishan.

Good morning, today it’s Lugu Lake to Xichang, while it is only around 250 km, the navigation app predicts a 6 hour drive. Can only mean, small streets and traffic I guess.

Lugu Lake and especially the hotel here is certainly one of those surprising gems. The hotel is for now the candidate or the best hotel in terms of design, facilities, location, comfort and luxury. I could easily stay a week here and explore the surroundings of the lake and interesting communities. Another time.

As the weather is a bit cloudy, I will take the shortest route directly back down to the main road to Xichang, instead of driving around the lake. On top, temperatures are around 15° C, which means I will wear one extra layer and the light rain jacket.

17:10

Arrived in Xichang at the hotel, another nice room.

Today was certainly an interesting driving day and as expected, it is as all on narrow, curvy roads with thick traffic from scooters, three wheeler, cars, SUVs, vans busses and endless slow trucks. In parts,  the speed was around 20 km/h and seldom over 60. However, the first part down from Legu Lake was a ride in an unforgettable stunning landscape with deep gorges, steep hills, lush green highland pine tree forests and everything between.

Sadly, that came to an end when I approached and passed parking traffic for ca 12 km only to witness an accident we do not want to see. On one of the many tight bends, with the rock formation obstructing the view into the bend, two trucks crashed into each other at full speed. Both driver houses are completely smashed, window screens shattered on the street, and both engines are crashed. Even when I arrived maybe an hour after the accident, they were still working out how to get at least one truck pulled back so there is a lane where the ca 200 cars could pass through. A sobering reminder that traffic and driving etiquette is , are least to say, different with room for collective improvement and respect towards the others. I quickly got the feeling, that most drivers are demanding respect by sometimes spectacular risky overtaking maneuvers and measured by the size and age of the car, with motorcycles (big or small) at the end of the chain. Or sometimes, I can feel, it must be a special challenge to overtake a big bike, even on the gravel parts, damaging their own undercarriage as it became obvious by the crashing noise when they smashed through the gravel parts only to get in front of me, to slow down to a crawl again.

Well, all part of the education for me. I I see a car approaching from the back, I now signal them to overtake me when the traffic allows it. Gives me a much better feeling, rather a SUV is breathing down my neck 1/2 meter from my rear end.

The remaining half was on a standard national road, some stream traffic that is one long chain for 70 km.

As I have crossed into Sichuan, I cannot use the highways anymore (motorcycles not allowed), so it will be national roads for the next few days until I reach the highlands of Gansu.

I need to find some dinner now, after I was sitting on the bikes for over 6 hours, plus the one hour road blockage.

I planned lunch somewhere in the middle, but the cloudy weather, thick traffic and no idea what else lies ahead, I decided to keep going, as I also had plenty of fuel left in the tank. Need to fill up tomorrow again before it goes back onto those roads further East towards Meigu, a town, nobody knows in China it seems. Will see how that will work out.

The hotel is in a great location, next to a big foody area. The problem is only, they are all catering for big groups sitting around a hot pot or on a table BBQ etc. there is nothing where a single tourist feels comfortable. Settled finally for a road side bbq stand with things on offer I do not know what it is really. Part of the adventure.

Good morning. I’m off for my next leg to Lugu Lake today. Here is what the road book of today tells me:

Today’s road book briefing (June 8, 2026):

8-Jun-26 (Monday)

• Date / Day: 8-Jun-26 (Monday)

• Distance: 231 km

• Route: Lijiang → Lugu Lake

Field Briefing
*   Segment: C1-6
*   Midpoint/Lunch: Lake Viewpoint
*   Start: Lijiang
*   Target Arrival: Lugu Lake (Aiming for 16:00–18:00 local time)
*   Driving/Stops: Plan for ~7-8 hours total (including fuel/photo stops).

Deep Dive: The Path to Lugu Lake
You are heading from the urban history of Lijiang toward the high-altitude serenity of Lugu Lake.
*   Historical Context: Lugu Lake sits at the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Historically, this region was a key corridor for the “Tea Horse Road,” but it remained relatively isolated due to the rugged terrain.
Culture: Lugu Lake is famously the home of the Mosuo people. They are one of the last matrilineal societies in the world, practicing a tradition of “walking marriages” (tisese*), where couples do not cohabit but instead maintain separate living arrangements, with the maternal household remaining the center of family life.
*   Scenic Highlight: The drive involves leaving the valley and entering the high-plateau landscape. Keep an eye on your revs as you ascend into the alpine region surrounding the lake.

Navigation & Redundancy
*   Google Maps: Lugu Lake
*   OSM / OSMAnd: Ensure your offline maps for Yunnan/Sichuan borders are active.
*   Kurviger: Plan your route to Lugu Lake to ensure you are prioritizing motorcycle-appropriate roads over congested provincial routes.

Expedition Logistics
*   Checkpoints: As you approach the provincial border between Yunnan and Sichuan, stay alert for secondary military or police checkpoints commonly found on routes connecting these regions. Keep your passport and localized translations ready.
*   Elevation: Be mindful that Lugu Lake sits at ~2,700m. If you feel any altitude-related symptoms, keep your hydration high and rest.

Safe ride, Carsten.

I made it to Lugu Lake. As the weather was really promising, I decided to take the mountain road and I can not say I was disappointed. It was a well built two lane federal road with some hair rising switch backs, I mean tight switchbacks of 190° . As described, there was plenty of rock fall and landslides, but no drama.

Lulu Lake is a picturesque valley lake, surrounded by high mountains, reaching 3,000 m and more. The hotel is a real gem, the rooms are absolutely marvelous with all comfort and facility, including a 3 m screen for watching your movies.

Will go to the lake and walk a bit to get used to the altitude (2,400 m) as it goes higher and higher next week.

The hotel is a bit isolated, but they drive me to the next little (tourist) village with a wide variety of restaurants and shops. Like so often, most restaurants catering for family and groups with hot pot and Table bbq, etc. found a small friendly looking side road restaurant with local food. Will see how it all works out. I can also attest, it is absolutely low season with barely any tourists and can see a good number of restaurants populated by locals, judging from their costumes.

The owner of the Restaurant has a favour for flowers

It also looks like there is only one other family staying at the hotel. It is really a well designed hotel with the best rooms I have been to so far. The driver confirmed, that during the high season it is more busy. 

Tomorrow to Xichang. While it is only 250 km, the navigation predicts a 6 hour drive. So better I get a good sleep and start early enough. I also guess, it’s time to wear some extra layers as I can imagine it will be quite fresh tomorrow morning.