Kellen Smetana
First, I know I’ve been slow to update our GPS map, so many of you only know that we are somewhere between Japan and Turkey. We are actually currently taking a rest-day in Guiyang, by far the largest city we’ve visited since Hong Kong.
Before departing and still today, I had visions of different segments of the trip: big sky and snowy peaks in the Tibetan plateau, arid desert in Uzbekistan, blue Mediterranean coast in France. I didn’t really expect much out of this area of China south of Chengdu. I guess I was envisioning a bunch of dirty cities interspersed with flat, empty farmland ether.
First, I know I’ve been slow to update our GPS map, so many of you only know that we are somewhere between Japan and Turkey. We are actually currently taking a rest-day in Guiyang, by far the largest city we’ve visited since Hong Kong.
Before departing and still today, I had visions of different segments of the trip: big sky and snowy peaks in the Tibetan plateau, arid desert in Uzbekistan, blue Mediterranean coast in France. I didn’t really expect much out of this area of China south of Chengdu. I guess I was envisioning a bunch of dirty cities interspersed with flat, empty farmland ether.
Boom
HELLO!
This last week has been quite the eye-opening experience. The dirty cities are still here – don’t get me wrong – but the ether is filled with beautiful, deep river valleys, Dong and Miao people minority villages, mountains, waterfalls, and rice terraces as far as the eye can see. For most of the last week we snaked along the Duliu Jiang river until its source, a high plain laced with wildflowers. I was surprised how much it resembled the deep blue-green rivers of the Rockies. One of the coolest things we passed is an area called Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces. Here, people have farmed a seemingly impossibly steep area for the last thousand years; a human battle against the immovable mountain that reminded me a lot of Machu Picchu. It was quite a sight!
This last week has been quite the eye-opening experience. The dirty cities are still here – don’t get me wrong – but the ether is filled with beautiful, deep river valleys, Dong and Miao people minority villages, mountains, waterfalls, and rice terraces as far as the eye can see. For most of the last week we snaked along the Duliu Jiang river until its source, a high plain laced with wildflowers. I was surprised how much it resembled the deep blue-green rivers of the Rockies. One of the coolest things we passed is an area called Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces. Here, people have farmed a seemingly impossibly steep area for the last thousand years; a human battle against the immovable mountain that reminded me a lot of Machu Picchu. It was quite a sight!
The Dragon's Backbone
Pretty much the only reason not to travel through this area is that the roads resemble what might have been found in post-WWII Berlin. Lonely Planet calls Guizhou province the little brother (no offense Cory) in comparison with the big names around it – Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, Guangxi – and it was certainly visible in their road maintenance literally 100 meters after exiting Guangxi. Either they have no budget or have simply elected to spend it all on the web of highways we’ve seen going up everywhere.
Whatever the cause, it is incredibly taxing to ride over the roads here and it has made for some very long days. It’s even tough not to cuss to yourself at the bottom of a big mountain pass where you can see a “speed bump” just about every foot. I just start singing Cee Lo Green to myself to make sure it’s at least a cordial cursing. But, as I mentioned, the scenery has definitely been worth it and I suppose we have to live by the adage “no pain, no gain.” People here seem to manage just fine – they just learn to work on their cars! (No joke, we have not gone one hour without seeing someone inside an engine). So we’re crossing our fingers for similar scenery, better roads northward into Sichuan.
Whatever the cause, it is incredibly taxing to ride over the roads here and it has made for some very long days. It’s even tough not to cuss to yourself at the bottom of a big mountain pass where you can see a “speed bump” just about every foot. I just start singing Cee Lo Green to myself to make sure it’s at least a cordial cursing. But, as I mentioned, the scenery has definitely been worth it and I suppose we have to live by the adage “no pain, no gain.” People here seem to manage just fine – they just learn to work on their cars! (No joke, we have not gone one hour without seeing someone inside an engine). So we’re crossing our fingers for similar scenery, better roads northward into Sichuan.
Gimme more Cee Lo
Updated Photos and Stats pages, check them out. And unlike Gmail, nhl.com is not blocked in China. Wings up 2-0!
RSS Feed