06/05/2019

Fugong

I did find the Liuku Bus station, home of the Yunnan Transportation Company. If you need to find it, it is exactly where it appears on the latest OSM maps and if you need a landmark, it is opposite the Garden Inn Hilton. I left my hotel around 0630 in the morning and pedalled into the station before 0700. When I got to the counter, armed with our respective translation apps, the fun began. Fortunately for me, they have a lovely female agent there who everyone relies on to deal with us illiterate foreigners.  

"No, there is no bus to Bingzhongluo." 

That was the one response I didn't want to hear. Ok then, is there a bus to Gongshan (the town 50 km short of Bingzhongluo)?

"Yes, there is a bus to Gongshan, but it takes two full days to get there. There is construction."

That was another response I didn't want to hear. At this point, I gave serious consideration to returning to Kunming, storing the bike at the Mulan Guesthouse and taking the easy option of joining the Banana Pancake brigade touring the usual sites. 

After a full day's bus ride bouncing my way to Fugong, the halfway point to Bingzhonglou, I'm still bemused that I didn't take the easy way out. 

As recently as 2016 you could find travel journals and cycle blogs extoling the pristine beauty and remoteness of the Nujiang Valley. One I read from 2018 did mention the increased develpment in the valley, but things have changed dramatically here in the past few years. I still don't know how far up the valley the construction and development extends, but apart from a few km of finished road not far from Liuku, the entire road is a mud covered 4wd track. In addition, every small town or village you pass is being transformed into a city with bridges, roadworks, industry and accommodation infrasture projects in various stages of development/dissolution from end to end.     

The scenery is amazing and I can see why so many travellers spoke so highly of the valley. It will be interesting to see if the construction continues up to Gongshan.

I'm staying at the cheap dive hotel above the bus station. My bike is strapped to the bus roof rack. It will also be interesting to see if it is still there in the morning. 

If nothing else, this is proving to be a most unexpected and unconventional journey. 

And I apologise, dear reader, for the dearth of cycling it contains. 

07/05/2019

Gongshan

Well, the bus and the bike were still there in the morning, so all we passengers had to do was stagger over to station by 0700 as instructed by our driver at the conclusion of yesterday's ride and stumble into our seats over the luggage and parcels for delivery along the route. 

Today's ride was much the same as yesterday's: lots of mud, landslides, long waits, precipitous drops down to the river... but mostly just lots of mud and ruts and a lot of time sitting in the bus. Our driver didn't like to stop for toilet breaks, but let us out once during one of our rockslide holdups. I was riding shotgun up front alongside the driver, a privlidged if somewhat cramped position. We left Fugong around 0700 and arrived in Gonshan around 1500 hrs - 8 hrs of bouncing up and down in a semi fetal position is enough for me. 

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The driver had done such a good job packing the bike that it was none the worse for wear when he handed it down from the roof rack. I pedalled off for the "downtown" area, scoped out where I think the bus for Bingzhongluo leaves from and found a cheap hotel. The hotel may not look like much and the room could definitely do with a new paint job, but it is clean, quiet and the water is hot. 

And it doesn't smell of cat pee like last night's lodging. 

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