A tour through China with no guide

[KTMphil]

A tour through China with no guide


China has to be of the most fascinating regions to motorcycle tour, with it's mountainous terrain, expanse, traditional way of life & huge population.

With a bit of effort, Som & I managed to arrange 2 bikes and were able to tour through China alone with no guide.

Below gives you an idea of the beauty thats available in China

One of the HUGE problems with China, is public toilets, for most western people it's a huge shock - no doors or walls for the number-2-room, this was the toilet next to the shop that provided us with the bikes.

 

[KTMphil]

From Chiang Mai, Thailand, it's relatively hassle-free to get into China.

1. There is a Chinese Consulate in Chiang Mai, that issues 30 day China tourist visa's in 4 working days (1,200 Thai Bht)

2. China Eastern Airlines flies direct from Chiang Mai to Kunming China in an hour and a half. Being a low traffic route, the flight is expensive, around 15,000 Thai Bht return ticket.




WE'RE STILL ON THIS TOUR THROUGH CHINA NOW -------- MORE TO COME

 

[Steve Canyon]

I would have to pray for constipation...

Jeez..... :RO

 

[KTMphil]

Arriving at Kunming, China airport. The China eastern Airlines planes are pretty small - there were only 20 people on our flight

Then off to the Enjoying International Hotel in the center of Kunming, China for some rest before starting the motorcycle tour the next day.

4 Start hotel, great rooms, 240 Chinese RMB / roughly 1,200 Bht a night

 

[LivinLOS]

I remember being sort of shocked in alaska how it wasnt uncommon to have a shitter minus the door also... Tho at least they were sitter shitters not squatters.

 

[KTMphil]

The fixer, Mr Jah came to the hotel the next morning, we then followed him in a taxi to where we would pick up the bikes. Only bikes with special permits are allowed inside the city of Kunming, we had to go outside the city to pick the bikes up.

Following Mr. Jah

The bike shop that was prepared to rent us the bikes - Som's green tanked bike in the middle. He specailly put long range tanks on for us with 500km range

Managed to get the Garmin Montana GPS mount all taped on --seems to be fine so far

 

[KTMphil]

We took our Wolfman Beta bags with us which fitted perefectly on the bikes ...

Then say good bye to all that helped us and off we go. Gotta love the danger notice around a huge hole

 

[KTMphil]

Beautiful, old, traditional Chinese house south of Kunming

 

[jb2112]

Keep the info/photos coming Phil. Let's see some good Chinese meals as well!

 

[Ally]

Looking forward to the rest of your journey.

Have a good time Som & Phil.

Ally

 

[Grathiam]

WOW, KTM, I'm jealous! I'd love to ride & explore southern China some day.
Many of Hiekel's earlier trip reports planted the desire to see China.

Have fun, post pix and don't fall in the squat toilets...

 

[KTMphil]

Finally out of the city, the driving in China is terrible, makes Thailand look safe.

Now on the beautiful roads through the mountains

There are a couple of huge lakes just south of Kunming

 

[Franki]

Hi Phil,

I am glad that Jah has arranged everything for you and put you on the road. I am in Jiangxi shooting the Hui style village.
Just ride carefully and slowly to enjoy the splandid/shocking things that China offers.

By the way, Jah is his name, not family name.

Franki

 

[Lone Rider]

Great pics and hope that you guys have a good time. How is the GPS map - OK or still problems with the accuracy and how do you navigate as all the town names, etc. are in Pinyin?

 

[KTMphil]

Thx for all the help frankie...

Auke...the map is working good....still off in some places but very uasable....in gejui as i type this

 

[Franki]

Thx for all the help frankie...

Auke...the map is working good....still off in some places but very uasable....in gejui as i type this

You are welcomed, mate. Just want you to have a good experience in China. Enjoy the lake in Gejui and the tasty noodles. Are you heading towards Yuanyang next?

Franki

 

[KTMphil]

Went on the dirt trail over the mountain, some great views from up there with the pine trees...just arrived in a hotel in Mengzli...
Amazing.new big.city

 

[Midnitemapper]

Great report looking forward to more sparkling photos
post12371.html#p12371
Big smiles and anticipation, bet you are not missing Songkran!

 

[KTMphil]

All going well Don, tomorrow we turn left and stsrt heading back north

 

[Captain_Slash]

Enjoy your adventure over there Phil

 

[rhiekel]

It would appear that your accommodations in Kunming differed substantially than the place I stayed at.... :-) Sounds like you are having a great ride !! I am jealous, since I am trapped here in Songkran hell....

 

[KTMphil]

Seeing as we ve been spending nothing during the day, we treated ourselves to decent hotels ranging from 50 to 340 chinese yuan a night (x 5 for Thai bht). Stone forest at Shilin has been thr most expensive at its a tourist trap. The gearbox on my chinese bike is making some nasty crunching noisesand has developed a big juddering in first and second gears so i will nurse it back to kunming.

 

[2wheels]

Well done Khun Som and Phil; something a bit different for us to enjoy reading.
I think you have helped 'open the door' for many of us .... no pun intended.
Hope it all goes well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you both first hand back at the Corner.

 

[KTMphil]

Just got a broken drive chain! Tried towing the bike but the dirt hills were too much for the jialing 175 cc. So submitted to have the bike owner come with a truck..... and only 30km to go back to kunming! Standind on a dirt road waiting for him to come now.

 

[Franki]

Chinese made drive chain, especially the non-O ring type needs to be lubbed every 100-200km.

 

[KTMphil]

We ve been lubing the chains...closer inspection has shown the front chain sproket is completly smooth ...no teeth left at all, chain was continually jumping the last 50km and eventaully snapped.

 

[2wheels]

Phil, hope you give us a complete appraisal of you Chinese contact, expenses involved etc.
Enjoy!

 

[KTMphil]

Will do Ron, trying a budget hotel in kunming tonight to see if its good value. All in all a cheap china tour so far. Im also looking into the cost and reg. arrangements of buying a new bike here.

 

[KTMphil]

Back in Chiang Mai, so can start this report - the Chinese web browsers with no English were a nightmare, so waited till back to do this.


Kunming, China is about 980km NNE of Chiang Mai, Thailand - an hour and a half airplane ride fron Chiang Mai, map below gives a rough idea of the region we were riding in:







& below is our tracks of 7 days of riding, doing an anti-clockwise loop south of Kunming

 

[KTMphil]

So day 2's riding was from Kunming south to Jian Shui, our route for this day was 248km through some beautiful mountains





Just before hitting the mountains we saw this lady towing a multitude of junk

Headed up into the mountains with Xungyung lake disappearing into the distance

The switch back trail on the other side of this mountain looks like it might be fun

 

[KTMphil]

It was a thin concrete road weaving its way south through the mountains, because of a strong breeze the viz. was great, no haze

Pretty remote in some areas!

 

[KTMphil]

We could see the rolling hills for miles from this point

Som coming around one of the switch backs north of Jian Shui, south of Kunming

It was starting to get really enjoyable

 

[KTMphil]

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

 

[KTMphil]

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

 

[KTMphil]

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

Typical building in the deep rural areas - all made of home-baked 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?

The irrigation here looks like it has been designed to control the water in the dry season

With sluice gates opening with a block-and-tackle purchase arrangement

 

[KTMphil]

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

More bridge highway bridge construction, with one of the very few non-shy Chinese people we saw along the way

Motorcycles are forbidden from the toll roads, luckily there is nearly always a secondary road running parallel

 

[KTMphil]

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

 

[2wheels]

Wonderful!
That 'cobbled road' pic is superb.
Looking forward to the next bits.

 

[KTMphil]

We poked around the side streets off of the main cobbled street & found the Wen Miao Hotel - 50 Chinese Yuan/ 250 Thai Bht, a bargain

We were even able to bring the bikes inside the hotel for the night

The co-ords of the hotel are below:






The hotel is down the side street where you see this sign from the main cobbled road (Lin An Road)

 

[Loop]

Great adventure and nice pics.