Emei – Leshan – Chengdu

19th May 2014          24-30’C        248 km
Emei – Leshan – Chengdu

Last night the bike was parked in the kitchen area of the hotel we were staying in.  There was a huge amount of discussion with everyone at the hotel about how best to get the bike up the stairs.  Everyone had an opinion, the manager, the chef, random people on the street.  The only person that didn’t seem concerned, was me.   A 1ft wide timber plank ramp was put out on the stairs, and a few bricks arranged under the plank, then repositioned by someone, then the bricks were moved by someone else.  Finally the manager insisted that we would push the bike up the stairs, to which I insisted “too heavy, I’ll just ride it”  I think they were used to pushing scooters and had no idea how heavy this bike is.  I removed the bricks that had been repositioned and now were acting as a lever on the plank and quickly started the bike and rode up before anyone else tried to advise me how best to do it.  In 4 seconds it was all over and I was parked near the kitchen door.  In the process a large fish had been scared by the noise of the bike and jumped out of the fish tank onto the floor and was flapping about.  The manager picked the fish up, plopped it back in the tank and all was good.  Someone’s dinner!

In the morning, moving the bike out became a real exercise, as the tiles were covered in kitchen grease and slightly wet. It was so slippery I could barely walk without sliding, so pushing the bike back to do a u-turn in the restaurant was a challenge, but after a few minutes huffing I was facing the right way and the same discussion from last night about how to get the bike down the stairs now, was all repeated.   I let everyone say their piece and waited.  There was one guy standing right in the doorway, so I started the bike and moved towards him.   I had to tell him I couldn’t get out the door while he stood there, and after some coaxing he stepped aside and I rolled out the door, down the stairs and out onto the cool, misty street.

On the ride out of Emei town, the traffic was completely stopped, 4 lanes going nowhere, as there was an accident ahead, so we turned back and rode through farming backlanes for an extra 40km to get around the blockage. The area was a huge farm for cucumbers, bitter gourd and eggplants, and we passed dozens of scooters piled high with eggplant on the back being delivered to market.

On arriving at Leshan, we took a boat to see the worlds largest carved budda. Carved into the cliff face over a period of 90 years during the Tang dynasty, work started in 713.  The budda was sculpted into the cliff at the confluence of three rivers.  The budda was built to calm the turbid waters where the rivers meet, and had claimed lives from boats capsized.   Today the water was fast moving but calm on the surface and the budda impressive at over 70M high.

After a quick lunch, we rode on towards Chengdu, stopping briefly to get the bike washed, as there is a rule (the only one that seems to be enforced) that dirty vehicles are not allowed in the capital.  So for 10 RMB ($2) the bike was scrubbed clean. Well, sort of clean, the chunky mud was removed, but there is still plenty of dirt that needs washing properly at a later date.

Riding into Chengdu was like playing chicken with the traffic.  The intensity of riding for the last 1.5hrs was seriously draining.  Up until today, I’d witnessed only mildly crazy driving on the Chinese roads, but Chengdu changed that all together, it is genuinely dangerous and I couldn’t let my guard down for a moment.  Trucks, taxis, cars, buses, scooters, bicycles, it’s every vehicle for itself, fighting for position on the road.  Red lights mean nothing, nor do lane markings bear any meaning.  Taxis are the worst, they just don’t look and when they do, they just don’t care and will push everything else off the road in the fight for a place on the road.  The other crazy seems to be anyone in a black VW Santana.  These drivers appear intent to maim or kill anything in their path.  Mick’s bike took a hit from an unobservant driver at slow speed, fortunately he didn’t fall.  The guy who hit him just ignoring our yells.

To add the fun, the pollution in Chengdu is nasty, thanks to the number of vehicles on the road and the position of Chengdu in a natural basin does not help as there is no breeze to blow away the smog.  At one point I could feel the pollution burning my eyes.  It was a great relief to pull into the Traffic Inn hostel carpark, and switch off the bike knowing the crazies were still out on the road, away from me.

After a quick shower to wash the days grim off, we headed out to dinner with Melinda from NAVO, to a delicious Sichuan hotpot meal and a few beers.  Super spicy and lip numbing, we dined on duck lung, beef intestine, pig liver and all sorts of other delights.  The duck lung was a standout, soft and delicate with a delicious taste.