Xiāngchéng (乡城 ). April 25, 2014

Friday, April 25th

Everyone hit with the tummy bug were strong enough to get back in the cars and head North. We had a long-ish drive planned for the day and wanted to get going. Lun advised us to travel in convoy today, as we cross into Sichuan Province and there was anticipated to have a Police checkpoint. So we drove just like ours first day in China and pretty much in sight of each other. En route Kuipwagen decided he needed some attention. Coen, Marijke and Vaughan performed a wonderful roadside field repair and Kuipwagen got two new fuel filters.

Amazing scenery. We continued to climb throughout the day with the landscape becoming increasingly austere. Pretty much all if the buildings were in the Tibetan style.

Just before lunch we crossed the Police check without incident. Actually we did not even see the checkpoint or any police. There was a traffic control point to prevent construction and truck traffic into the massively jammed up town. Clearly the traffic control measures were not working. The scenery for even more beautiful during the afternoon drive. 

We arrived late into Xiāngchéng, around 6pm. Lun encouraged us to visit the local Monastery. As we arrived all the local construction workers were knocking off for the day, and we were sure that we had arrived a little too late. We couldn't have been more wrong. Buddhist monks emerged from somewhere and were extremely welcoming. In fact our little group got a private tour of the Monastery. It was truly delightful. We were shown around the assembly hall with each if the Buddhas being explained to us, along with several painting being interpreted. We even saw the large Buddha which was in a hall under construction. They had to find someone to open it up for us. Typically photos are forbidden of the relics, but the monks were almost pleading us to take photos. So Caroline was in heaven snapping away. It was a most wonderful visit.

We had a little celebration over dinner, in honor if Kim and Vaughan who had been on the road exactly 1 year. We shared two rather dubious quality bottles of red wine.

During the night Stephen was also struck down with the tummy bug others already had. It was a sleepless night for us both.

Field Repair

Beautiful mountains.

The roads weren't always good.

Lovely Tibetan houses.

The road winding through the mountains.

The cars outside the Monastery.

Map of China

Fast Facts

Day: 335
Date: Friday, April 25, 2014.
From: Jiàntáng (建塘镇)
To: Xiāngchéng (乡城 ) 
Distance Travelled: 307 kms (191 miles)

Stayed at:
Located at: 27.826385º N, 99.71661º E
Hotel notes: Very nice hotel. No Breakfast. Secured parking under cover. Wifi would not work for us, but worked for others. ¥180 (~$30 USD).