26/6/25
The next part of our journey was set to be predominantly downhill. The payoff from the previous days climbing. As such we monged in our room till late morning. When we came downstairs we were offered breakfast. As it was still raining outside we thought it foolish to refuse. A bowl of noodles, some multicoloured sweetcorn and eggs were duly delivered. We were just glad the eggs weren’t in our bowls of noodles.
When we set off we got less than 2 minutes up the road before it began to rain again. We took shelter. A light shower turned heavy. The radar suggested it would pass soon. We waited. It didn’t. We donned our waterproof coats and shoe covers for the first time since Turkey. Then went for it. We had the rest of yesterday’s climb to finish off. Then began a long unwieldy downhill.
The rain didn’t let up. We contoured round the edge of the awe inspiring mountains. Their terraces like the stairs of giants houses. We stopped multiple times for photos. Each turn gave rise to even more phenomenal views. The deep valley spreading open the mountains. The road was smooth. It was also like a river in places. The water criss crossing the road as it took the path of least resistance.
At first there were piles of red soil and rubble by the side of the road. Landslides were evidently a frequent occurrence. Later on plenty of them were blocking half the road. 500 miles to the east there had been heavy floods. We’d have to hope we wouldn’t be confronted with them. There were a couple of little bumps we had to traverse. Then we began rapidly descending. The road had at least a dozen hairpins on the way down. The air became warmer. We were soaking wet. The rain got heavier and heavier. We were passing through low lying clouds.
We just wanted it to be over. Our hands ached from braking excessively. Sharp corners, soaking wet road. This wasn’t the descent we wanted it to be. We joined a main road. We thought we were already on it. China’s roads are in a constant state of flux. Bigger and flatter pathways are always being added. The gradient was less. We cascaded down several more stretches of suspended road joined by hairpin bends.
There was a turning that led into the valley. Our initial plan was to follow this smaller road to cross the valley and up and over the hill ahead. Now we revisited our decision. The G248 had two very straight and flat sections. One was definitely a bridge. We could see it spanning the valley on the way down. We decided in light of the weather to skip the extra elevation and take this shiny road.
After a slight incline the road curved round to present us with the second straight section. As we’d suspected. A tunnel. We hadn’t needed lights in a while. Frankie had some charge in her rear light, Jonathan had the front light. We took off our waterproof jackets now. The entire kilometre of the tunnel was gloriously downhill. We sped through and out.
We soon arrived in Dongchuan. A city of around 300,000 people. It was nestled in the mountains at a mere 1200m. Huge 4000m peaks surrounding it. We went to Tongdu Hotel. A medium class hotel with what looked like comfortable rooms. We managed to convince the receptionist that our bikes could come in. Our room was on the lucky 7th floor. As usual two beds and a giant TV.
We went out in search of dinner. We skirted the market first and found a little restaurant with two kinds of tofu as well as a cabinet full of vegetables. The kind family fried it all up together. Potato, cauliflower, aubergine, stinky tofu and normal. An additional bowl of rice. Dry chilli powder. We gladly wolfed it down. The local people amused by our presence. Jonathan was even asked to hold the owners baby.
After dinner we strolled around buying some fruit and then hunted for something more like a traditional dessert. China was flooded with eggs and milk. They had a lot of indulgent food that we didn’t want to/couldn’t eat. Just like home. We were starting to understand why their rates of obesity were so much higher than neighbouring Vietnam. We found some gelatinous rice strips that looked a little sweet.
We went back to the hotel room to relax for a few hours. Despite the absence of hills the ride had oddly still made us tired. Probably the concentration and holding the brakes. It was nice to have a slightly longer rest in the evening. It was warmer. We’d descended and were back to relying on air conditioning.
Surly They Won't Make It 