Mr. Resnikoff's account of our ride from Dali SE to Kunming
Shangri-La Here We Come - A Motorcycle Touring Blog from Chiang Mai, Thailand to the Tibet-China Border - Asian Motorcycle Tours - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam Motorcycle Tours
Dateline: Midnight, Sunday, June 9, 2013).
Welcome to the "Shangri-La Here We Come" Blog.
Present location: Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province.
Riding distance from the east bank of Dali Lake: 375 ks.
Below is the GPS track of this ride:
Day's ride from Dali Lake east bank to Kunming
Driving (moving) time: 5:09
Moving average: 73 kph
Highest elevation reached:2394 meters
Total trip cumulative distance: 3374 kms.
Complete trip GPS track below:
GPS track of trip so far: Chiang Mai to Tibet Border, return to Kunming
Tomorrow's destination: Jian Shui
Riding distance: 220 kms
Approximate riding time: 4:30
Phil Gibbins is taking a ton of photos, way more than me. He is posting them online on his RideAsia.net rider forum. But this url changes daily. To see the photos from our ride to Kunming, you can view them at the following url:
http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...karpo-6-740-meters-22-113-a-11.html#post29949
Hello Interested Parties,
Were back in Kunming for the 2nd time this trip as we head south on our return to Chiang Mai.
Still plenty of incredible stuff before us, but we only had a little bit of it today. The little bit was the ride around Dali Lake. On our drive northwards at the beginning of this tour we overnighted in the charming town of Dali. Its situated on the western bank of the lake, the same side of the lake where the major thoroughfare runs. So on our southward swing we decided to explore new territory on the east bank. We got off to an early start for a change and drove through a slew of fishing communities along the lake shore. Some interesting sights but nothing mind-blowing along this 50+ kilometer ride. It was rural and nice and traffic was light with no commercial freight haulers or dump trucks to dodge and pass. (it seems like one of the largest commercial activities in China is moving dirt, rocks, gravel, and sand from one place to another, and man, do they make a mess of it.)
After this we jumped on the main highway. It was a 280 kms high speed stretch on a restricted-access dual carriageway whose surface was in excellent condition. Phil and I kept the needle mostly between 120 and 130 kph and not a soul passed us. But George, riding a 250 cc dirt bike could not keep up, plus his range between fill-ups was only a third of ours. So Phil and I had to wait at least 15-20 minutes for George at rest stop service stations every 100 kms or thereabouts. At each station Phil and I downed Red Bulls because both of us find this type of riding boring. For those of you who drive Harleys and Goldwings, you would have loved this section because it was mountainous and scenic and nothing too hairy. Phil and I like hairy.
In China mcs are not really allowed on the highways, and they are more strict about enforcing this rule in large urban centers like Kunming. So we had to jump off the highway around 40 ks before the city and take local roads all the way in. It was a traffic-choked, dirty, dusty, and dangerous ride to our hotel. The Chinese drivers on the open road are pretty much okay, unless they are driving a large luxury car which makes them think they own the road and everyone else can go to hell. But in the city everyone, including trucks, buses, taxis, farm vehicles, whole families on a motor scooter, drive like maniacs. The only rules of thumb I have figured out in the city is that whoever is driving near you will do everything in their power to get in front of of you, and the concept of right-of-way does not exist. I almost bought the farm a couple of times on the ride in, and the amount of curse words that I uttered were uncountable. I even gave up using my horn and started screaming at anyone around me who was trying to pull a sleazy move. Sleazy moves in my book, that is, but perfectly normal driving behavior for Chinese drivers. They couldn't understand a word but it did get their attention. We have been told the government is tightening up their driving test parameters, but I see no indication of this.
We pulled into our hotel at around 3 p.m., took a quick shower, and George packed his belongings because he was flying back to his home in Hong Kong that evening.
For those of you who hate McDonalds, as I do, here is a sure-fire way to change your opinion: eat fourteen straight days of Chinese food. For the three of us, our McDonald meal was like manna from heaven. I ordered their Surf & Turf; A Filet Of Fish sandwich and a Big Mac with fries and ice cream for desert. I never thought I would say this in my life, but I relished every bite.
George departed for the airport. Phil went to his room to work on selecting photos for his web site, and I went to the hotel health spa, which was a most refreshing experience. I am kicking myself I did not take advantage of this during our two-night stay at the beginning of this trip.
The first thing I did was shower, then scraped two-weeks growth of hair off my face, needing three razor blades to accomplish this. I took a dip in a Jacuzzi hot tub that could easily accommodated 200 persons (there were four people using it when I was there). Climbed out and jumped into the steam room, worked up a sweat, back into the shower, Jacuzzi again, into the sauna this time, another shower, Jacuzzi, steam room, shower. When my pulse hit the 200 rpm mark, I sat down for a while to readjust to earth surface temperatures. Then the staff led me to a private bedroom where an Asian beauty gave me a 90-minute oil massage.
I stumbled up to my room and slept the sleep of the dead. Have another big day coming up tomorrow. Will tell all soon. Bye, bye.
