Plunging into Chaos, Humidity and Heritage Sites

Location:	Xi'an
Mileage:	12,000

It’s all change now. Mount Emie is hot, sticky and humid and we wander through the tropical paths amidst monkeys and monks. We’ve lost the altitude and remoteness. But we’ve gained modern development. It’s tarmac all the way to Beijing now. This also means we are in the populated areas – congestion, pollution and McDonalds!!

Beijing is finally in our sights and it would be easy to lose focus. The other road users mean you just cannot. The traffic is mayhem, it’s chaotic, it’s from anywhere at any time. The smog and humidity is also getting to everyone. But the suicidal drivers are even more so. No one can quite believe the “muppetry” that is happening on the roads. This part of the journey is not pleasant motorcycling – it’s the miles we need to make to get to Beijing and pass through some of the most famous sights in China.

Chengdu and Xi’an are big tourist spots on our route to the north. There’s a lot of traffic to fight on our way in and out, but I dodge through some of the jams local style and have Darran and Robert playing at “Chinese Driving” too! Chengdu is famous for the giant panda reserve and Xi’an for the Terracotta Army. We devour a dumpling banquet and get to see the Chinese acrobatic shows and the famous “Changing Faces”.

I can tell we are all travel weary – we’ve got that build up of cumulative tiredness that is from being on the move in demanding and arduous conditions day in and day out. Today, Charles had an altercation with a driver when his pannier caught the other driver’s car. It almost led to fisticuffs and the police stepped in. That’s symptomatic of bad judgement that comes from being knackered. We’re only a few days to go and it’s time to remind everyone to take a breath and concentrate on getting to the finish line.