Monday 12th July 2010:

All up early and excited about the border crossing into China.  The Customs inspection point at Boten is now not operational so we drove the another 20kms to the new border crossing point.

The sign above the road reads Boten International Customs Checkpoint. A reasonably new building, with papers in hand, we fronted up at the counter exactly on opening time - 8am. The guy the other side did not even acknowledge our presence despite the very obvious coughs, feet shuffles etc. We gave up and walked to the left side of the complex. Finally someone appeared, and with lots of sign language we handed over our green temporary vehicle papers, asked if we were returning to Laos, and then waved us on.

Next was the immigration, 2kms further on, this was straight forward other than they wanted Kip 20,000 for each vehicle for ‘police stamp’. For the US$2.50 it was not worth holding up the process. Between us we did not quite have enough so topped up the pile of small Kip notes with a US$1 note. Deal was done.

Our passengers had to walk separately the 30 metres as we drove the vehicles across the no-mans land.

Arriving on the China side was like landing on a distant futuristic planet.

Gleaming stainless buildings, wide gardened roads, new and colourful shops and hotels, all a far distance from the broken narrow bitumen, and grass thatched huts only 20kms back behind us.

The vehicles first were driven through an automated mist spray and parked up.

Inside the stainless steel spacious foyer of the immigration building we met Andy our guide for the next 43 days for China and Tibet. It is a complicated and endless paperwork pile that he works through with the customs officials.

But they are incredible efficient. Just as one lifted the stamp for my entry visa in the passport, the Chief Officer announced to the group “Please be advised shift change”. With that the officer stood up, almost at attention, turned to the left and another officer took his seat from the right. Within a blink of an eye the stamp descended and I was officially entered.

Within an hour or so, we were driving away. Now 11am (China Time, 10am Lao Time) only 2 hours for the entire process, however our agents and myself have been working on this for 5 months.

For the technical side of all that paperwork see. Overland China and Tibet

In the town of Ming La our vehicle inspections had been pre arranged at 3pm.  So lunch is on the agenda and general travel arrangement discussions. Andy is 29 and has been working in the travel industry for about 8 years. He speaks good english, is outgoing, and will be a good travelling companion which is important as we will be living together for some time.

Andy orders 9 dishes all different meat and vegetables. He reminds us that we will have a culinary experience as we travel through the different provinces, something we are all keen to experience. The tab including soft drinks total Yuan150, about US$2.50 each.

At the Meng La police vehicle checking station the mechanics do only a brake test and check the steering linkages, with that we are soon issued our Chinese Vehicle number plates and out Chinese Driving Licences.

Roads are impressive, high levelled bridges that span the valleys then the road punches through the mountains in long tunnels, some up to 3 and 4 kms long. All swept of leaves, and with maintained garden median strips and sides. Tolls are before most provincial towns and are Y4 to Y7 per vehicle.

We camp in the car park area of the Botanical Gardens that we plan to visit tomorrow. We are in the town of Mengha and this is a major attraction. Andy has a guest house for Y60 (US$10).

Camp 40:   Camp Tropical Gardens

N21* 55.988 E101* 14.571

 

Distance Today: 100 Kms

Total Distance: 7466 Kms

Tuesday 13th July 2010:

The gardens are supposed to be the biggest in China that may be the case, but I would not call them the best. Yes very well laid out but not photographic. Overcast today so that may have something to do with it also.

All major roads are toll roads, and you tend to drive too fast for the scenery so we are pleased to eventually be driving on smaller country roads.

We have rigged up a rear seat for Andy, and it seems to work well, thus Lyn has got back her front seat which is better both for her and photography.  Refuelled and now heading north to Lancang although we will not get that far today. Raining, heavily at times, so driving is slow because all the local vehicles drive at about 20 to 30 KPH in the rain, and on this secondary road it winds as we climb up to 1,200metres so passing is difficult.

The scenery is different. The steeply sloped mountains are forested from top to valley bottom with horizontal lines of deep green rubber trees, and in the final part of the ‘V’ shaped valley floor are small triangular rice paddies of a much brighter green. Occasionally are extensive groves of banana trees. Everything is green and every inch of ground used extensively. Only occasionally is the greenery broken with a farmers’ dark timber house.

The major towns are modern and brightly coloured. We can see the development happening before our eyes, the older houses and business are flattened and up the road major complexes are growing. Apartments, shop-houses and office buildings; modern and bright golden yellow or baby blue are the fashionable colours. The streets are wide and gardened. Multi levelled stainless street lights finish the scene. This is no third world country!

We reach Mengzhe at 4.30 and call it a day. This is an older town, where nothing has changed for many years, although the court house is new and again in blue paint. Camp is in the inner town square next to the library and court house.

Old diesel engine farm carts and modern Chinese cars drive the streets as we have dinner at a two tabled restaurant. Dinner really nice, sweet & sour fish, egg and greens, potato and something, a pork dish, a meat dish, beans, and rice + 3 local beers  RMB115 (US$17 for the 9 of us )

Camp 41:  Mengzhe Library Camp

N21* 59.244 E100* 15.964   

Distance Today: 140 Kms

Total Distance: 7606 Kms

Wednesday 14th July 2010:

Walking the street in the early morning was very different to the quiet street of the night before. Now it is a hive of activity, colour contrasts, and street selling, everything from several chilly preparations to dresses.

Wonderful old ladies and men, showing the marks of a hard laborious life, wait patiently for a passing customer.

I love these tractor trucks that hall up to 7.5tons on a single cylinder diesel motor.

We tried to update the blog from the internet library amongst the young boys and girls who are actively playing their computer games, however because our blog is Google based, and China is having a dispute with Google,  hence we could not access to update.

Strange also was that we checked our blog was working correctly here yet after that, our family stated that it was down for a few days, I guess big brother IS watching. My son Brett is kindly updating the information via e-mails so it will be challenging...thanks Brett!

The trucks  we filled with water from a car wash place – all trucks 15Yuan (US$2)

After lunching at Lancang our beautiful scenic road abruptly ends.

We are now in the midst of a massive road rebuilding program. The road is now a muddy and slippery track that winds around machinery, detours, and is slow travelling.

What we did not know now was that this would continue for the next 300 kilometres. Incredible is the construction considering the terrain is only mountains and valleys with slopes exceeding 45 degrees and run between 1,200 metres and 2,500 metres.

Many times we are driving on a wet greasy track only a vehicle width wide with a near vertical drop thousands of meters on the right. Our guard rail is a piece of red tape slung between sticks pushed into the mud. The road is an unbelievable task and something special when finished, but until then Lyn is holding her breath as we edge ever closer to those edges.

Outside of that, the scenery is amazing. Vibrant green rice planted onto terraced that start from the valley floor and continue upwards into the clouds. Where the terraces cannot get water corn grows, or bananas.

At Zhan Ma Po it is 7.30pm, we have had more than enough and find a small square of red dirt big enough for 4 trucks.

Just above us, is a farmers house and the old lady arrives home with her three buffalos after a day in the fields. Andy said they were inquisitive so Lyn, Gay and Liz went for a visit.

The family were extremely gracious, very poor, and the ladies were invited into their cooking area. The fire was going and dinner being prepared, a few vegetables in boiling water.  The family shared some corn and wheat wine with our ladies before they invited them back to our vehicles for a look.

We took a family portrait of them and had it printed out on John’s printer and presented it to them.

Camp 42:     Corn Wine Camp

N22* 50.244 E99* 46.729

Distance Today: 147 Kms

Total Distance: 7652 Kms

Thursday 14th July 2010:

Up early at 7am and the mountain top is shrouded in mist. Andy tries for his first time muesli in a bowl but cannot get his head around having milk from a bowl instead of a cup.

For the last 5 kms the road has improved however we realise we are no longer on road No214, we had missed a turn in the construction site last night and this road leads to Burma, which is not on our itinerary.

Returning we find easily our mistake and continue to slowly push on. Today we are in 4WD because the orange clay is very slippery.

The construction of this project although is enormous in scale is very basic. All the large dikes they build to hold the road into the hill side are handmade. The concrete is mixed by small mixes, every stone is hand cut from a pile of rocks dumped by the trucks, and the finished item carried and put in place.

Sometimes we have the pleasure of travelling on the original road. This is all cobble stone made and winds its way through the tea plantations

At the ‘wild west’ town of Shangyong we stop for lunch and are invited to park our trucks behind a building.

To our surprise here is an old teahouse where we are invited to share tea.

The tea was not really to our liking but the experience made up for it.

On the road again we reach another road block where they have just finished blasting yet another slab of rock from the hill side. It will be 2 hours before the road is cleared.

One of the little bus drivers suggested we follow him up and around the obstruction. He asks all his passengers to disembark and walk to 2 kms, he stated it is too dangerous for them to travel, but we follow. 

The track is only wide enough and made up of numerous switch backs as it twits itself up the near vertical slope.

Below our two other vehicles as we zig zag up.

It was a challenging drive and in the 5 kms we rose over 500 metres up and down

The coal truck drivers had with them their pet parrots. So we all waited – two coal trucks, one mini bus and 4 Ozzie vehicles.

By 9.30 we are still waiting so decided to pop the roofs and sleep where we are. In the roadside cutting, apart from the time lost, it is the concern of the loose rocks from the recent blasting above us.

At 10.30 there is movement, the bus is dragged by a bulldozer and in some discussion the coal truck driver advise us that when they can find a safe place to pull over they will let us pass.

With all spot lights going we drive to Xiao Hei Jiang. We have been driving for 17 hours and travelled only 100Kms!

And our night was not over.

There is a police inspection station at Xiao Hei Jiang, in fact it is not a town –just an inspection point. Four strange trucks , mine with 6HID’s blazing up front was too much for them and the six uniformed security police ran to stop our convoy.

“Wake up Andy”...”Wake up”, he was sleeping in his deck chair in the rear.

They demanded licences, passports and number plates very abruptly.

Andy had been talking to then for about 10 minutes when he turned to me and said “Are we in danger?” “No!” Was my reply, I think he was still a little asleep and had not yet grasped the situation. These were young police men doing their job and were impressing their senior guy standing off to one side. Anyway our paperwork was all in order and rather than drive more we camper just outside the inspection point.

At 2am we retired.

Camp 43:     Inspection Camp

N23* 22.752 E99* 42.022

Distance Today: 102 Kms

Total Distance: 7754 Kms

Friday 15th July 2010:

It was a difficult few hours sleep with the tractor trucks with their loud dong dong dong diesel motors passing us all night.

Lyn needed a toilet visit and wished not when she found what was on offer, but had to go back for a photograph although I resisted an inspection visit. Those three holes just where cut holes in the concrete and everything just dropped to the ground below! Smelly does not describe it.

We leave at 7.30, the road is still under construction, at the next town we are told it will be closed till 12 noon. It is only 9am.

Making most of the time, Michael’s 4WD is now working but the front shudders, so with inspection we find the Fuso drive shaft is the wrong way around and take the opportunity whilst we have a ‘clean’ road, and time to do the changes.

Once the road is open the one way road is flooded from both ends causing a grid lock for some 5kms. Lyn went up front and asked drivers to stop coming into the gridlock. She had success as I managed to find a small path beside the heavy transports and open up the flow of traffic.

Feeling hungry there are no towns and we cannot afford the time so we have what we have. I a frozen bread sandwich with peanut butter and banana, Andy frozen bread with condensed milk (his choice)

Now it is raining – heavily. Very fortunately we are on sought of paved roads and manage to catch up our schedule. Then good highways but the tolls are frequent. – Cannot have everything

Now at Lancang and dinner is a hot pot – chicken cooking in a soup with vegetables. Sounds good but we were not told that all the chicken went in actually all 3 chickens – head, intestines, all offal....and it was black chicken

We were hungry – but as you can see not THAT HUNGRY!

Walking the still busy streets we found the local equivalent of a Mackers!

Whilst Andy stayed in a hotel in town,  our camp was in a cleared area beside the road outside of town.

Camp 44:     Black Chicken Camp

N25* 41.387 E100* 10.062

Distance Today: 211 Kms

Total Distance: 7966 Kms