The Three Gorges Dam and Yangzte River

For the next two and a half days we had a flat road, we were on a highway, not such good scenery and we bypassed small villages so we did not see many people but we were able to make up some of the time we lost due to hills and bad roads. The roads were in good condition with a lane for cyclist. Bypassing the villages meant we had to rely on the garages for drinks, they had plenty but they were not cold and the weather was warm.  The garages are very good about people using the toilets, they are open to everyone, this is also the case with places like KFC, Mc Donalds and their copies, people just come off the street and use the facilities, including people who work nearby, especially the markets. The good road meant we were headed for large cities, the first one was Jingshi, and for the first time we had

hotel staff be uncooperative, this happened twice in a row and in the end we asked someone in the street who took us to a very nice hotel where the people were happy to book us in.

We are now in Hubei Provence and the road numbers are on some signs, which they haven’t been, and it makes finding our way around a bit easier. There are statues of police at intersections, we cannot work out why, perhaps just having a presence.   We were excited to be crossing bridges which go over the mighty Yangtze River and we caught a ferry which put us on the water to reach the city of Shashi.  Shashi is another small city, we are amazed at the number of people out shopping and eating until late.  We went down what we thought was an underpass but under the road was a large shopping centre crowded with people about the size of Chadstone.

We have now ridden 4,000 kilometers since leaving Bangkok, the same amount as it took us to ride from Melbourne to Perth. Our next destination was Yichang, home of the Three Gorges Dam.

It rained heavily in the morning after leaving Shashi and for the first time we got soaked, the weather was warm so once the rain stopped we soon dried out.  Up and down hills all day, one was 15 kilometers up, a long slow ride.  On the descent we passed through three tunnels cut through the mountain, no lights in them so we went from bright sunshine to darkness and a wet bumpy surface. The first one was curved so for a while we could not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the other two were straight and not as scary to ride through.  For the last 12 kilometers we had a very bad road running parallel to a new freeway which we could not use and we were glad to find a hotel at the end of the day,  The following day we went to the dam site, security was high, just like at an airport we had to walk through a scanner then everyone had to travel by bus to the dam, no private cars allowed. The dam itself is very impressive, it is huge and a great engineering achievement. Unfortunately visitors do not get to see the turbines working so we had to be content to see the dam from the front, then on another bus ride to see if from the back, no water flowing. The next stage of the trip was to walk through a large park, a memorial to the people who worked on the dam, seventeen years in the making, where a video and machinery used were on display.

We were cutting it fine time wise to get to Xi’an in time to renew our visas so we decided to ask the local police in Yichang if there was a PSB, the place where visas were renewed, at another large town a couple of days closer than Xi’an. When we told them we had ridden into Yichan they were alarmed and told us riding a bike was not allowed within a twelve and a half kilometers radius of the dam site, but we had passed three police check points on the way in and no one tried to stop us. We had come in the back way over the mountains. Yes, they said there is a PSB closer than Xi’an, they even printed out a list of all the towns we would be passing through to help us when asking directions, but we could not ride our bikes within the dam site or walk them.  Now we know what the police check points were for and why the lovely new roads were deserted, people have to have a permit to drive on this side of the river and no bikes or motor bikes were permitted at all. A nice man, a manager from the large hotel nearby came and interpreted for us and then organized for Mr. Woo, who has a truck with a permit, to pick us up the next day and take us past the dame site restricted zone.

After Mr  Woo dropped us off we headed off through the mountains again to Letian Xi Zhen where we had planned to take a ride up the Yangtze River to Badong through the Xiling Gorge. We could not go on the 11.30 trip as hoped as they would not take our bikes so we had to catch the 6 pm one. We found a restaurant and had a meal to fill in the time.

The day was very misty and we were hoping it would lift but it didn’t so we were not able to see a lot of the gorge which was very disappointing.  When we got off at Badong the cable car was not working so everyone had to climb the 288 steep steps from the wharf to street level, but no one else had two bikes laden with luggage. Mike carried the bikes and luggage up in four trips, 1142 steps at 11pm. With the help of staff at the port we found a great hotel a couple of doors away, the staff were very helpful and welcoming which was nice at the end of a hard day.

It rained all the next day so we had an unplanned day off. We were at a restaurant for dinner and were invited to join a party of Chinese in a private room, they were in Badong buying rice.  Only one person spoke  English so conversation was not exactly flowing.  The men were drinking the local rice wine and Mike was drinking beer when the men started sculling their drinks, this is the way the Chinese drink, and Heather was a bit worried about having to carry Mike back to the hotel.  However, we were saved the embarrassment as very soon the party finished their meal and left, paying for our meal as well as their own.  Chinese people do not linger over a meal they eat and go, whereas for us it is a social occasion as well as a meal.