Rain, Rain go away, come again some other day
Mileage
| Date | – | 10/1/2019 |
| Travel From | – | Maiji |
| Intermediate Location | – | |
| Ending Location | – | Pingliang |
| Starting Odometer | – | 35,968 |
| Ending Odometer | – | 36,099 |
| Miles Driven Today | – | 131 Miles |
| Total Trip Mileage | – | 11556 Miles |
| New Countries visited Today | – | Czech, Slovakia |
| Countries visited on trip | US, Canada, UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Czech, Slovakia |
Today’s Ride
We departed the hotel, at 8:30 AM, in the rain. The rain remained with us, mostly lightly falling, until about 10:00 when we stopped for a break. From that point forward, we were in dry conditions.
The tunnel of love
At about 10:35, we were just about to enter a tunnel, and were stopped by the police. We assumed that this was another passport check, but in fact, the police told us that there was an accident in the tunnel, and that it would be cleared up soon.
We waited 5 minutes, and we saw several cars coming towards us, in the correct lane. Once thes5 5 cars were out of the way, we were told to enter the tunnel, on the wrong lane, and drive to the far end. We began to do that, but we quickly hit a snag. You see, there were many cars and trucks parked in front of us, in our lane, the lane that is going the wrong direction. So, we got off the bikes, and I took a video.
Moments later, we heard the sound of big trucks coming towards us, also in the wrong lane, but in the other lane. This is the lane that we should be in, but that lane is un-passable, because that’s the lane where the disabled car is resting on it’s frame, in a hole.
We heard lots of horns blowing, indicating to the truckers that they needed to stop right away, as there is a block in the tunnel. Duh, no kidding’. After another 10 minutes or so, the blocked car was removed, and both lanes were allowed to empty the tunnel, so that cars could, once again, enter and exit on the Right-hand side of the road.
What a mess. I guess, in China, this is the standard way to deal with a rainstorm.
Nothing going on here
The ride continued, with a short day of riding. We arrived at the hotel at 1:30, and were glad to have an early day, for a change.
Lunch
While at lunch, we were swarmed by the local folks who were really excited to see the big bikes, and to be able to sit on them for a bit.
Report from the road
Hotel arrival
The hotel is setup more like a resort than a hotel. You check in at the main building, and then you’re assigned a room, in one of the other buildings. We were sent to Building 5, with rooms all located on the 2nd floor.
The hotel internet is blocked, just like every other place in China, but at least the Internet if fast, and reliable.
Let’s wash the bikes (again)
We had just washed the bikes 2 nights ago, but the rain causes them to get filthy in a hurry. When you combine the rain, with a number of dirt roads that we’ll drive on in any given day, it just had to turn out this way. So, we found a facility at the hotel, and were able to do a quick wash on the bikes. They still look dirty, but they look less dirty than they did an hour ago.
What will tomorrow bring?
I’m beginning to hate this question…
