We checked the bikes over that were to be used for this China motorcycle tour all looked fine.
Long range tanks installed so no fuel worries.
Managed to get the Garmin Montana GPS mount all taped on — it seems to be fine so far for this China motorcycle tour.
Then say good bye to all that helped us and off we go. Gotta love the danger notice around a huge hole
Beautiful, old, traditional Chinese house south of Kunming
Finally out of the city, the driving in China is terrible, makes Thailand look safe.
Now on the beautiful roads through the mountains
Just before hitting the mountains we saw this lady towing a multitude of junk
The switch back trail on the other side of this mountain looks like it might be fun
It was a thin concrete road weaving its way south through the mountains, because of a strong breeze the viz. was great, no haze
We could see the rolling hills for miles from this point
It was starting to get really enjoyable
The sun in the same area breaking through the clouds in the afternoon
Then at last some signs of civilization, with beautiful looking farm access tracks
As we got further south we could see the tiered rice terraces, very ingenious work by the Yi, Tai, Maio, Hani and several other minority tribes.
A couple more with the Lumix LX5 wide angle
The switch backs we would take to descend into the valley below, still a long way to go to Jian Shui.
Through the village in the valley, some kind of storage loft for vegetables, made from home made bricks
Onwards, south and some more great twisty roads north of Jian Shui
I wonder what this looks like in July-October when the NE Monsoon rains fill this area up?
With China’s GDP growth at an annualized 8.1%, signs of the government spending was everywhere, new highways littered the region
Then came across the farmer, who didn’t even need to look away from the camera
Looks like these will link up pretty soon
Over the next mountain and another rural village –all the combined, bright colors were great to photograph
A long old day and finally into Jian Shui in the dark, with its beautiful cobbled roads
Quick shower – then off to find some food in Jian Shui , this restaurant had top quality food
Beautiful traditional designed buildings
Next morning, hunt for some food
Then a quick tour of Jian Shui
The Confucian Temple in Jian Shui is the 3rd largest in China, with the Xue lake leading to it
The lake is tranquil
A few KM’s up in the mountains and some amazing rural views
Down that mountain and it becomes pretty obvious where we’re headed next
Communicating here is a huge issue – no one speaks English – highly recommended that you have a English speaking contact that can help you while you’re in China
There wasn’t a dull moment – you end up riding along at 45km/ h staring at the amazing scenery
Villages on the ridgeline to the right
The road followed the river for about 10km’s , fish farms scattered the area
Looking down-stream after the dam
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Finally into Yuan Yang, it was slow going through the mountains and we find the flashy Qeifi hotel
Even had a computer with free wifi in the room!
Didn’t look much fun being a laborer next door building these steps, humping cement
Typical shop house noodle shop in Yuan Yang, they were everywhere
The chicken and duck production line
All manner of things get carried around in strange ways in China
Elderly Chinese ladies in Yuan Yang
Same old fantastic riding conditions were ahead
You can make out the main rd in the valley below that we came off to go over the top of the mountain
Farming village in the mountains west of Gejui
It did go through after all – early approaches to Gejui
Gejui is a very new looking city, built around a huge lake. The lake was “naturally” created in 1954 when some torrential rain filled a limestone cavern swallowing 1/2 of the down town area in the process. About 95% of Gejui’s economy comes from tin mining and smelting, its seems to be a very prosperous area.
This temple on the top of the mountain in Gejui looks worth a visit
Ticket booth at the entrance to the Chinese highway
More dirt on the way to Mengzi, with some interesting hydraulic controls along the way
one of the coolest houses that was knocked up pretty quick
An old lady with bound feet on her way home at the end of the day
Looks like the sun and wind had taken its toll over the years
A walk around this new town was pretty interesting.
Wouldn’t mind one of these tops for the 990 Adv for rainy season
A nicotine bong hit
Some very fancy restaurants in Mengzi
A quick bit of sight seeing around the lake in Mengzi
On the way back, loved the military-style pep talk the boss was giving the staff at this restaurant!!
The road signs in the newer towns had English translation, but there wern’t any printed maps, so their use was limited
Early morning in the new town of Mengzi
The town had a very affluent feel to it with it’s manicured side streets
Then off to Mengzi morning market to see if there was anything interesting – this wasn’t bad next to the steamed bun seller
Noodles everywhere
We found the livestock area curious to see if live dogs were for sale to eat here too
Only chicken and duck were on show
Young boy just outside the market
Time to get the bikes packed up and on our way
The road north we took from Mengzi was so new that the GPS was trying to route us a different way for about 50km
Not far up, we came across this set-up, she didn’t look too happy at all
The road was a bit dull, so we took a detour off to the west into the mountains
After about 20km we came across the biggest open mine i’ve ever seen
The road basically went around the mine in a loop
Carrying the veg home
Typical Chinese farming village
Beautiful village further north
These guys were in a spot of bother in the middle of no-where. Wasnt until i was leaving i saw that they had the back axle and diff. assembly all off!!
Was a pretty fun road NE back towards the main road
We found a short cut into Mile, but it looked like they didnt want the truck traffic going this way
A fancy restaurant in the Mile area
Sugar cane sellers on the main street
Some kind of special rice dish which they add pork
Off to work
Female construction workers in Mile, hoping to get day work
Tongue anyone
This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip
Weighing chickens the old fashioned way
The veg. here was some of the biggest and best i’ve ever seen
Babies are strapped on the mothers back and work goes on
We took a bunch of small roads north from Mile. It was rice harvest time and the farmers lay the cut rice in the road for the big trucks and tuk tuks to run over so that the rice husks are released
Timeless horse and buggy
About 40km south of Shilin, we started to see evidence of the “stone forest” attractio
Into the town of Shilin which is famous for the rock forest, the tourism board has a saying “you haven’t visited Kunming until you’ve been to the stone forest”.
The stone forest in Shilin is well worth the visit, quite unique. There are several in the area, the most popular one is about 1km square.
This place is very popular with the Chinese, looked like we were the only westerners there
My bike was making some nasty crunching noises, thought it was a stripped grearbox spline problem but turned out to be a worn out front sprocket.
Off we go north, 20km the great scenery starts
Ancient brick furnace along the way
Making new friends
Big old baskets they were using here’
Back to the big smoke a walk around the old city of Kunming
This makes for a great Chinese motorcycle tour!!
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