Having rested for a full day, we make another early start into what is now really unknown terrain. A cartload of steamed buns (包子 baozi) and soy sauce eggs (卤蛋 ludan) fill our stomachs and what doesn’t fit goes into a lunch bag. Skies are clear, air is crisp, perfect day for a bike ride.
As we’re climbing out of the messy outskirts of Shangri-La, we’re accompanied by a cloud of ominous buzzards, lazily circling above our heads. Traffic’s relatively busy and we’re hoping to hit the actual old road to Deqin soon. We’re not too sure whether it still exists. On one hand, constructing a new second-class road requires making much more level roads, an ice-free surface and there are certain requirements as to how sharp curves are allowed to be. This means that at least in some areas, the newly constructed road will not just be an upgrade of the old road. They’ll have to switch sides to the south face of the mountain range, and where inclines are too steep, they’ll have to construct a longer road around it. Often, however, the old road is destroyed in the process. It looks like this is the case with this one.
Soon after leaving the urban area, we find a side road that locals claim is the old road. But it lasts only a few kilometres before hitting the new road again. Periodically there are short stretches of old road that require a bit of searching. Moreover, the surface is badly damaged from the new road construction above, but getting away from the heavy trucks on the monotonous new road is absolutely worth the extra effort. We give a herd of Chinese cyclists (on their way to Lhasa, obviously) the go-by. Our load is much lighter and I believe we’re generally more experienced than they are. Some of them are doing pretty well though, but the rest of the group is slowing them down. A guy waiting for his fellow riders hands me a lollypop while I ride be, a nice gesture. Their goal for the night is the same as ours: Shusong 书松 (Book Pine, although it doesn’t make much sense), halfway the climb to the 4400m pass. We get a little nervous about so many people intending to stay in the same little hamlet. We’re not sure if there will be enough room and decide to get there first.
We reach the first 3500m pass before a long downhill towards the turnoff to Weixi 维西, a town on the Mekong river and a possible way to return to Shangri-La and Lijiang. A gravel descent allows us to get off the new road and to the old road again. Some buildings that looked like they have been hotels or restaurants are now vacant. The displacement of the S214 by only a hundred metres has made business nonviable. We see another flock of Chinese cyclists pondering over a choice between a downhill or an uphill to Nixi 尼西. Not wanting to stand around and chat too long, we make an impulsive decision to go downhill and later realise that this is again the new road to Deqin. Pining for altitude, we regret our rash decision and seize the first opportunity to cut to Nixi. It involves a steep 4 km climb but is entirely worth it.
The road through Nixi is lined by beautiful blooming cherry trees and the extra altitude allows us to overlook the mountain folds around and below us. Devoid of any traffic, it slithers through the landscape and brings us to a sudden canyon dotted with Tibetan-style houses, first-aid tents and lined with small green fields along the river. We lose about 1200 m meters of altitude and suddenly find ourselves at Kunming altitude. Sheltered from wind and still dressed for 3200 m, we’re sweating like pigs. We take a welcome break to change clothes and feast on a few Dali bars and the meat buns, eggs and peanuts we brought. We’re back at the Yangtze and looking at another 800 m climb to Shusong. Another option is to stay at Benzilan 奔子栏 but that would make tomorrow’s climb a murderous 2400 m tall.
Climbing out of the Yangtze valley, we’re battling fierce afternoon gales. The going is tough, especially as the old road seems to be completely gone on this section and we’re sharing the small space with giant black smoke-spouting tanker trucks. Underneath a bridge lies a dead yak. I wonder how it got there. Halfway the climb we meet some more cyclists from Hunan, Henan and Guangdong. One of them is trailing behind everyone else and seems to need to push. I give him the snickers bar that I kept for emergencies and he greedily shoves it down his throat before throwing the wrapper into nature, uttering a slushy thankyou in the process. I should’ve just ridden past him. Who rides in full jeans anyway?
A few hours later we finally arrive at Shusong village. Arrows lead us to the 藏滇驿栈 (Tibeto-Yunnan Relay Station) which has been renamed to the 藏滇客栈 (Tibeto-Yunnan Inn). The very friendly and overly chatty owner welcomes us with many courteous bows and announces we’re the first to arrive today. We get to choose our room, which is functional if a bit spartan. It does offer a great view of the surrounding mountains, though, and at 50 RMB for a double bed it isn’t cheap, but also not bad. A warm shower in the shared shower cabin on the road refreshes us and a visit to the adjacent shop (we have to call the owner) provides us with beers and refreshments to go with our dinner. Chinese cyclists keep pouring in throughout most of the night, even until long after dark.
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