Jinging to Pingliang
October 26th
103km (1,567m vertical)
What a great day! It started with a nice ride: sunny and crisp, dramatic scenery, a 2.4km tunnel at lunch and a long downhill that lasted almost the entire afternoon. At one point, we took a short detour off the main road and onto a tiny dirt track that lead through a 5 house village with a 170 year old Taoist monastery. So cool. There was still incense burning, but we didn't see a soul as we looking into the various shrines. Very authentic experience.
After we reached the hotel, a group of us took a taxi to Kongtong mountain, home of some magnificent Buddhist monasteries. Unlike the Taoist monastery, these were grand, spectacular, and popular tourist destinations...although we were lucky enough to be the only ones there. We wandered freely around the various temples and shrines, and Clive, Frank and I climbed all the way to the top of the “Stairway to Heaven”...the park's main attraction. This was truly an epic climb and I was huffing and puffing badly by the time I reached the top...and I thought I was in shape after 6 months of cycling.
By the time we were ready to leave it was already dark and the park was closed. We had originally taken a gondola up to the base of the monastery, but hired a bus to drive us back down. It was a hair-raising ride up dozens of tight switchbacks in the dark...and the driver had the gas down the entire way. He must have had the hairpins memorized...or a death wish.
I had to slam on the breaks mid-decent to get this photo of our road curving around the hills:
The tiny Taoist monastery...with Dr. Joan:
View from Kongtong mountain:
Colorful Buddhist monastery:
More Buddhist Monastery:
At the top of the "Stairway to Heaven" was this chanting monk:
A tiny shrine high on a cliff:
October 26th
103km (1,567m vertical)
What a great day! It started with a nice ride: sunny and crisp, dramatic scenery, a 2.4km tunnel at lunch and a long downhill that lasted almost the entire afternoon. At one point, we took a short detour off the main road and onto a tiny dirt track that lead through a 5 house village with a 170 year old Taoist monastery. So cool. There was still incense burning, but we didn't see a soul as we looking into the various shrines. Very authentic experience.
After we reached the hotel, a group of us took a taxi to Kongtong mountain, home of some magnificent Buddhist monasteries. Unlike the Taoist monastery, these were grand, spectacular, and popular tourist destinations...although we were lucky enough to be the only ones there. We wandered freely around the various temples and shrines, and Clive, Frank and I climbed all the way to the top of the “Stairway to Heaven”...the park's main attraction. This was truly an epic climb and I was huffing and puffing badly by the time I reached the top...and I thought I was in shape after 6 months of cycling.
By the time we were ready to leave it was already dark and the park was closed. We had originally taken a gondola up to the base of the monastery, but hired a bus to drive us back down. It was a hair-raising ride up dozens of tight switchbacks in the dark...and the driver had the gas down the entire way. He must have had the hairpins memorized...or a death wish.
Amazing terraced landscape:
I had to slam on the breaks mid-decent to get this photo of our road curving around the hills:
The tiny Taoist monastery...with Dr. Joan:
View from Kongtong mountain:
Colorful Buddhist monastery:
More Buddhist Monastery:
At the top of the "Stairway to Heaven" was this chanting monk:
A tiny shrine high on a cliff:
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