April 1, 2007
To Bensilan: we are becoming a tourist attraction
Another cold night but we stay warm and cozy under two thick cotton comforters. At 0730 we rise, pack up and head to the Tibet Cafe for museli, fruit and yogurt. We are expecting a lot of downhill today since we are starting at 3250 meters and will end up more that a kilometer lower at the Yangtse River.
But first, we climb. Wrapped in our fleece jackets, windbreakers, gloves and a hat for Patrick. We leave the city and climb slowly through the wide bleak valley dotted with Tibetan homes and big wooden racks that we suspect is used to dry stuff upon. On the horizon are snow capped mountains, and down in the valley we see the monastery we visited yesterday.
The climb gets more serious once we reach a lake at the end of the valley. We provide entertainment for a group of Chinese photographers equipped with nice Nikon and Canon cameras along with high end lenses. They are taking pictures of birds and then include cyclists as it seems. We climb to over 3500 meters and feel the lack of oxygen, then a downhill to a small village that specializes in ceramic cookpots, and the junction with the road that follows the Yangtze North before climbing more than 1000 meters up here.
We ride through a forest of Chinese Lacebark Pines, just like the one by our driveway. Wild Cherry trees are blooming, a deep valley to the west and big mountains! After another climb, we finally descend into a deep river valley to meet up with the Yangtse River. It's now drier and warmer, irrigated green fields contrast nicely with the brown, red and yellow sails. Just before Bensilan, we see Helane and Steffan, the older travelers we met at "Woody's" in Tiger Leaping Gorge, as they get out of a bus to stretch their legs. We decide to stay in a hotel in Bensilan instead of starting the huge climb up to the triple pass that awaits us between the Yangtse and the Mekong Rivers.
Most cyclists seem to tackle it this way so instead of wearing ourselves out this first day on our way to Deqin just to get another 10 or 20 km further, we decide to take our rest today and be better tomorrow. We have a nice dinner and watch snooker on CCTV5.
Tomorrow will be all uphill!
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Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 7,399 km (4,595 miles)
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