Category: PENNY TO HELSINKI

This post will be up later once we are reconnected with that most important part of modern life – the World Wide Web.

Last night as we met for dinner we received the news the road for today had a lot of road works taking place on the section from 100k to 150k and it is closed every day from 8.00am till 6.00pm. The decision was made to start early at 3.00am and get past that section before it was closed.

Maurie and I left at 2.00am as we are a lot slower at climbing hills than the others and wanted the head start. The first 93k was great going but a lot of climbing so we had that knocked over by 3.45am.

At that time we drove off the good stuff onto the road-works and hit the most horrendous bump on a bridge and Penny ground to a stop. I checked all the usual wires that fall off under the dash on some big bumps and it was not that simple. On opening the bonnet to check the distributor wire my heart sank to the very bottom when I found the carburettor bowl which was very close to the chassis had been broken.

Penny is fitted with an SU and the things that raced through my mind were; I haven’t seen any aluminium welders in the towns; I won’t get parts for an SU in China; how do I get back to fix this?; how do I then catch up if I can get it fixed; and is our trip really over at this point with 12,000k to go.?

My head cleared after a bit and I remembered Frank had an electric drill, I saw a bit of copper pipe on the fuel tank breather I could use to spigot it together; I remembered I had some quick metal to join and seal it; I could remove a spacer between the carb and the manifold to stop it happening again; I had the shorter bolts for the job once the spacer was removed; and hey presto the plan of action was formulated.

Just as all of this came together in our heads the rest of the group arrived to the bad news. A quick discussion was held and we decided to tow Penny through the 50k of road-work with Reg’s Landcruiser, so we got past the road block section before 8.00.

We also needed to do some recon work to find our way on to the road to our night stop. This was soon sorted and Penny was hitched up and we were off with Garry just ahead of Reg looking for the bad bumps and calling them back on the China two-ways wwe got on China Day one.

This tow process was through road-works and bad road over one of our highest passes in China at 4,560 metres. The road was that bad at one time, that Peter in his Peugeot needed a tow up a slippery hill.  By 8.30am we where through the bad stuff and on newly formed and sealed road so at I think about 9am we pulled up for breakfast and to effect repairs on Penny.

I must give special thanks to Mitchell who has smaller hands than me and was such a godsend as some of the bolts that are very difficult with my big paws and usually done by James or Julie for me.

Everyone waited while the repairs were done and all were very pleased when she burst in to life about an hour later. I was especially pleased and happy with the repair, and I’m certain that the repair will get me to the end and beyond.

At this point we were still about 150k from a bed for the night. We all set off with light hearts and great expectations for about 30k until we came upon the road closed for the final coat of hot mixing that section. One option was that we could pay the farmer beside the road 100 yuan each and drive through his place but this was against Alim’s policy as we would be doing it all the way to Town. After some negation we were let through when one machine was moved ahead enough for us to squeeze through the gap.  Off we charged again with great gusto till me met the next hot mix crew working, but this one was just finishing up so the delay was just enough time to eat some fried rice I had saved from last nights dinner.

On the last uneventful run into Shiqu I was getting sleepy so Maurie drove the 40k to the out side of town on which he coped very well with the transition to a 90 year old car. I took over again at the outside of town as he didn’t feel he was ready for that mayhem yet.

Our arrival in town was far from uneventful as we found the hotel we had been booked into had closed for some reason. After some hunting around Alim found us a hotel with shared facilities which everyone was happy with due to the fatigue of the long day.

We had been at greater elevation than 3,900 metres since 5 this morning and our hotel tonight is at 4,200 metres; 13,800 feet in some people’s numbers; so we need to do everything that bit slower.

At 6.30pm we all met in the hotel lobby and headed off for dinner. Some nights we all eat together at a place that Alim chooses or we break up into small groups and walk the streets and find small eat places or street vendors. Tonight we all ate in the one little shop and everything was cooked once we arrived which we were very happy about.

We departed Dawu for a 170 k run to Ganzi in the drizzling rain which had started just on bedtime last night.  Getting going in the morning with the rain in a semi open car it’s always a mission till you are settled inside and warmed up.  About 10 k out of town we came across a small traffic jam waiting for a land slide to get cleared. The road was opened in about 5 mins with the next problem being, sorting out the 2 lines of traffic facing each other, but as always the Chinese get it unscrambled on there own with backing and filling till everyone is going again.

The rest of the day was mostly following the river that had risen a lot overnight and turned Brown. As we pasted the one major town we drove down the main street for a look about and once again created a traffic jam as the local jostled for photos. Out of town about 6 k we pulled up on the side of the road for a morning cuppa in a quite spot. Wrong I don’t think its possible to find a quite spot when you drive a 90 year old car in China, because nearly every car that drove by stopped for photos and they would just pull up on the road and get out of their car and expect people to go around. Later in the morning we drove past a yak that had been hit by a car and the locals where in the process of butchering it on the road with the police directing traffic. We stopped for a photo shoot but got chased away by the police for some reason before I got any good photos.

Since we arrived in town early Penny received some special attention before I headed off around town for a walk.

The blog will have a lot more photos today then will be included with the email you receive so if you want to see some interesting photo from around town you may need to click through to the blog.

Have just found out we need to down the road past some road works by 8.00am so Maurie and I are pulling out at 2.30am as parts of the road are very bad . So early to bed after I push Publish

Today saw our arrival on the Tibetan plateau. We left our overnight accommodation in Kangding at 2700 metres to start climbing for what seemed forever. On leaving town the weather was so nice that Maurie and I decided it was a roof off day so we stopped and removed the roof for what was our silliest decision; as 20 minutes later we are at the side of the road putting it back on as the rain had started and to find warm clothes as the temperature was dropping rapidly.

We went  over the top of the ridge at 4300 metres with the hope that as we went down the other side we would warm up. No – so we only dropped a couple hundred metres and travelled along on the plateau. Another stop was made for the good gloves and more clothing before we got warm and cosy. Reg told us later in the day the temperature was 4^o C at the top – so that explained all the clothing stops.

On topping the mountain pass, we passed the tradition Tibetan flags and Stupa that is on most mountain passes. The rest of the day has been flags everywhere and prayer wheels being driven by water.  Since reaching the top we have been at 3400 metres and higher and it will continue like this for the next 6 or 7 days.

Not long after getting up on to the plateau we all stopped near a roadside shop to make a cuppa and while there tried the local tea made on Yaks milk. Yaks milk tea has a very different flavour, which on the first sip you never want to try again. However it’s a flavour that grows on you very quickly with each sip getting nicer and by the bottom of the cup I’m happy to have a second cup.

On the way to our overnight stay in Dawu, Frank and Ross along with Maurie and I decided to stop in this little town to find lunch. As we pulled up on the street side the chaos started with us being surrounded by about a hundred people with them all over the road and the traffic not being able to get past.  We just shut up our cars and walked off up the street and found beautiful fresh bread in one shop and the nicest hot dumplings in another shop.  We returned to the cars to find people sitting in Frank’s car for photos shots. The only way out was to get in our cars and drive slowly so the crowd parted. It was by far the biggest crowd that I’ve ever seen drawn in by old cars on any trip. Up here on the plateau wheat is grown instead of rice hence the nice bread being available and all the livestock is Yaks and horses.

Till next time thank you to everyone who follows my travels.

I have started this post sitting on the side of the road with 100 ks left to go which is at least 3 hours drive in this traffic on these roads. We have been in the traffic jam for 2 hours so far due to a traffic accident somewhere ahead of us. Parked here is  is still better then the people with the problems of the motor accident. The people around us have been very interesting as we have been talking to a young girl and another man who both spoke very good English.  The traffic gets very clogged around blockages as the Chinese are very impatient when it comes to traffic and you end up with both lanes full of traffic and no one can move.
We have just moved along the road 17 ks to be at another jam. we can at least see the problem about a k ahead of us at a hair pin. So we’re close.
This morning we started the day with a visit to a Panda Sanctuary which was quite interesting. The best part was the visit to the Kindergarten where the babies are raised including one about 8 inch long living in a humidicrib.

I’m continuing this in the hotel at KangDing at 7.00pm were only 2 cars have arrived so far. When we got past the crash site we thought is was open for good, but the road was re closed just after Reg and I got through. On our arrival at the hotel we found out from Alim who travels with Reg that the other car are still stopped the other side of the accident at 7.00pm with at least 2.5 hours drive too get to the hotel with us. 
The drive today has been nothing short of spectacular again and probably more so then previous days in China as the valleys have got deeper and steeper with today’s drive all through forested mountains. I’m glad we are here at the end of the wet season as all the rivers are raging down the gorges with waterfalls coming off and out of the mountains. Not a lot of photos as it’s been a busy day driving.
It’s now 8.00pm and have just received word that the other 3 cars are travelling again and will arrive at about 10.30pm.  
Today also saw our arrival in what is known as the Tibetan region with tomorrow nights accommodation at 3600 metres.