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We finally reached the hotel at 9 pm riding in the dark day one. We managed to find a decent Chinese Bbq/grill place and again our driver ordered up some interesting and delicious food.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4479/...041a6181_b.jpgIMG_9723 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4467/...f2d09cf5_b.jpgIMG_9725 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Chinese hotels are interesting and different. Only some are “available” to receive foreigners. When you check in you must pay a cash deposit that is up to twice the room rate, but usually less and 100 RNB (20$). Because we checked in “late” or after 6 we had to pay more for the rooms as well. Breakfast is included about half the time. The cleanliness of hotels here is below NA standards (its hard to have clean carpets when you use a broom and not a vacuum). The general wear and tear is evident from the about of use they see. It is not unusual to have your breakfast in a dining hall half filled with stacks of piled up furniture for example. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4509/...1c209b63_b.jpgTo Beijing by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
This morning we did have breakfast in the hotel and paid about 5$ for the buffet. They did have Nescafe and at least a few food items we could identify. Today we will try to get back on track with our itinerary. This means 486 km from Wulanchbu/Ulanqab to the Great wall at Mutianyu to get back on schedule and make up for getting such a late start yesterday. This will not be achievable in day light!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4351/...aa87a445_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-09-22 at 21.33.15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We were out of the hotel by 845 and to our first Chinese fuel station. Getting fuel in some districts especially in a city can be challenging. We pulled up to the pump and the women refused to put gas into the tank of a motorcycle. We had to park in the designated motorcycle parking and then fill a old dented leaking rusty kettle with a rubber tube attached to the spout with 4.5 L of gas at a time. This is so stupid and gas is dripping all over the place. Not to mention that you have to refill the kettle numerous times for each bike. Apparently on the highway (where motorcycles are not allowed they will refuel with the pump…..go figure). We needed 11 refills for the 4 bikes and so this took a while. We had 3 litres left from Trevor’s gas as he went first and put it into Dan’s jerry can. The attendant started yelling at us and said that if we did not stop doing that she would not sell us anymore fuel. You need a special permit in China to fill a jerry can. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4339/...87c20d16_b.jpgTo Beijing-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/...cc517c17_b.jpgTo Beijing-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4361/...8e097bf0_b.jpgTo Beijing-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4484/...b1db08e5_b.jpgFILE0932 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We managed to get back on the highway with no issues today and past 4 tolls today. They are so much easier when they are busy and especially with large trucks as we can pull up along them and pass on the far right. Today only one girl tried minimally to stop us at one exit gate. This is a bit stressful and Dan and I don't feel all that great about breaking the rules, but how else can you get around when the choice is roads that are “toll highway” or secondary roads with lines of trucks.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4507/...b5ee4f2c_b.jpgFILE0982 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr "Don't Try Fatigue Driving" https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4474/...5abf433d_b.jpgFILE0994 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We stopped after 100 km for a rest and met some Chinese bikers doing the same toll gate running as us. It is very convenient at every service center on the highway there is a “boiler room” to get hot water to make coffee, tea, or a noodle soup. They all also have free bathroom and usually a buffet restaurant. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4485/...6fb4779e_b.jpgIMG_9736 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4458/...675a1581_b.jpgIMG_9735 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Snacks!?? https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4448/...3a586e7c_b.jpgIMG_9732 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
After lunch at one of these places we still had 140 km to go at 130 or 3 hours according to the guide to get to the Great Wall. The scenery gets even more hilly as you get closer to the capital. There is more and more traffic as you approach Beijing.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4458/...87836915_b.jpgTo Beijing-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4348/...ebe8fafa_b.jpgTo Beijing-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4400/...14b4db62_b.jpgTo Beijing-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had to stop for 30 min at the police check so our driver could get a permit to drive inside the Beijing city limits. You have to have special license plates to drive in the city center. The police on the road and here at the check did not even give us a second look, which seems strange since we are not allowed on the highway. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4505/...b1b62d50_b.jpgFILE1014 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We had views on the distant hills of the Badaling section of the wall that is about 50 km from the center. This is where we think the guides made their next mistake. We drove right past the Badaling section of the wall (which I think is the nicer), “because the itinerary said so”. If we had changed plans here we would have avoided the rest of the issues of the day (almost missing seeing the wall, issues getting gas, and driving in the dark DAY 2). They did not communicate to us actually how far it is to access the Mutianyu wall and how long it would take to go so few km.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4511/...dbf76990_b.jpgFILE1021 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had to go into the 6 th ring road and then back out 50 km on the very busy windy secondary road to the Mutianyu section of the wall. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4434/...7d04ec88_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-09-22 at 21.36.28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4506/...275cb4d8_b.jpgFILE1027 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Huge group of Harleys!! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4488/...d7c5efff_b.jpgFILE1042 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Looking good as always, whats with the crazy gas fill up situation? What do they think will happen if you put gas straight in the tank? Strange people indeed :thumbup1:
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I know insane! Leaking dripping kettle being carried thru the station
From my ADV RR explained by a Chinese rider and I quote " The gas station staff explained, "refueling with aluminum cans is for safety.". The motorcycle exhaust pipe / engine is hot, the pressurized gasoline if directly pumped into the fuel tank, afraid of splashing oil on the exhaust pipe / engine to cause a fire... There may have been many unfortunate accident!" :oops2: To be honest this was the worst station. I Tibet they have good jerry cans that poured well and held 10 L. You still had to register each time with the police to buy gas and then fight the local for a can. Getting gas for 4 bikes could be 20-60 min! SP |
We got the last of the gondolas down, but had to wait 20 min for the bus to go down again. Its rapidly getting dark. The initial plan had been to ride another 60 km to a hotel near Honda at the 5 th ring road of Beijing and stay 2 nights, but that distance will take about 2 hours. We decided to change hotel plans for tonight and stay much closer to our current location. In Beijing city you can gas at the pumps and so this made getting fuel tonight easy. We left the parking at 1830 and had 11 km to the gas station and then 10 km to the hotel in Huairen, which is located between the 5 th and 6 th ring road. They have unique numbering systems here in Chinese hotels.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4492/...d2969c0b_b.jpgIMG_9790 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had another amazing dinner ordered by Mr. Tang including a very delicious squid dish and a tasty donkey stew. They have these prepackaged dish sets in all the restaurants. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4385/...b5492261_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-09-22 at 21.35.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4399/...64993f5e_b.jpgTo Beijing-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The air quality in Beijing is listed as unhealthy, but so far today the ski looks clear! We had another “special” Chinese breakfast at the hotel (included can you believe it) and then set out the 44 km or an hour to Dreamwing Honda, where Trevor has service booked for his valve check etc.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4508/...5fc0a197_b.jpgFILE1050 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4445/...fc5928827a.jpgScreen Shot 2017-09-22 at 21.39.34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4355/...47c9f01c_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-09-22 at 21.39.22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had all ordered tires that Ride China arranged for us and they are in the driver’s van. It is not that far to Honda, but took over an hour. We had one storming of the toll gate today right off the bat and then one car accident that slowed the traffic to a crawl for about 4 km. We arrived to Honda and the shop is very nice. They set out to work on Trevor’s bike, but also agreed to swap out all our tires and balance them for a reasonable price. The local tire shop near by wanted double. We are beginning to find out just how expensive almost everything is in China. They agreed to do it for us after we said we would take off the wheels from the three BMW’s. They gave all the guys new wok gloves as well. They also ordered take out lunch for us. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4413/...d8218464_b.jpgBeijing-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4400/...804c3f7a_b.jpgBeijing by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4331/...22605cbb_b.jpgBeijing-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4369/...54828b1b_b.jpgBeijing-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The hotel is only 2.5 km from here and so we were checked in by 1. Trevor picked up his bike at 530 and all seems well. We had deciphered the Beijing subway map and headed to the nearest station on the Line 14. All along the way walking to the station there are discarded bikes that are part of several share bike companies, but they are piled up everywhere within 400 m of the stations. The official route is down into a sewer “canal” and across some broken paving stones (even on maps.me).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4475/...ca23a35f_b.jpgBeijing-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4447/...58694c47_b.jpgIMG_9811 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is about an hour to the center with changing trains and some walking. You must go thru airport like security screening at every station. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4353/...216fb148_b.jpgBeijing-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4483/...ac16f49b_b.jpgBeijing-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4448/...34acac0d_b.jpgBeijing-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4418/...744b61e9_b.jpgBeijing-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4404/...246f8d0c_b.jpgBeijing-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We arrived to down town and went thru another security check point to get near to Tienanmen square to find all the actual access to the square closed off. We are not sure if this is a nightly thing or due to some construction being done.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4385/...c0fb3b1c_b.jpgBeijing-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4498/...978f5b0c_b.jpgIMG_9816 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4363/...7f20d627_b.jpgBeijing-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4471/...e033643d_b.jpgIMG_9825 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We wandered around the center and found a local place for dinner. It was another hour back on the Metro, but we are getting pretty good at it. It is surprisingly orderly. When you enter and exit the train and when you have to move up the stairs or escalators there is no rushing or pushing. The flow of people walking between he lines is constant, but ordered. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4420/...3cf5d3ef_b.jpgBeijing-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4397/...9771e3e0_b.jpgBeijing-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4447/...7fd8cdd2_b.jpgBeijing-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4506/...10ca44da_b.jpgBeijing-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4432/...80be3164_b.jpgBeijing-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4473/...a6b71bfa_b.jpgBeijing-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Truly Amazing
I must say what a great RR and truly amazing.
Going by your request for help find to a new rear shock for the BMW. You must be in Laos now. I hope you have sorted out the problem ok. Just 1 question the older gentleman who is riding in the group is he over 70? Not sure if you were aware but China rised the age to 70 from 60 just last year for the age limit to ride a Motorbike. If you were aware then he is over 70? WELL done that man. Looking forward to you next post which will be still in China. |
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Yes we are in Laos now for the last 3 days. YSS shipped us a new shock to Luang Prabang and Daniel installed it yesterday so Lulu is back in action. Orvar is 65 and the limit of age for a motorcycle license in China is still 65. But money talks ans he got one anyway. Cheers S&D |
We have a big day planned today and we are up and out of the hotel and down to the metro station at 830. An hour later we were in Tienanmen square. It was packed with tourist of course. We spent a few minutes to take in its vastness even with the crowds. It is pretty hot in the direct sun so you can not hang out here too long.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4359/...b6cb98fe_b.jpgBeijing-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/...c54b582c_b.jpgBeijing-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4337/...75412ef2_b.jpgBeijing-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4455/...ed9c5473_b.jpg |
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