Long time no see! More than a month has passed since my last post, and a lot has happened. By now China is a finished chapter. The year of 2015 is as well. Writing this it seems like such a long time ago since I was making my way down the Tibetan mountains. Though for the sake of chronology, I’ll give you a short recap of what the whole thing looked like.
Less words, more photos. Here we go.
Somewhere in the 2nd half of November, trees made their first reappearance in my life. After weeks completely without vegetation the first ones popping up on the hillsides felt like a huge sign of progress. But just as much of a warning for that my dreamy mountain life would soon come to its inevitable end.
Quickly a few trees here and there turned into thick mountainous forests.
Though the landscape was changing rapidly and I had now crossed into my third province Sichuan, I was still totally in Tibetan area.
Obviously going downhill opens up for quicker changes than going when going up. But one of those ‘descent-days’ I definitely consider to be one of the crazier ones I’ve experienced. From waking up with frozen water bottles, I just hours later found myself standing next to cultivated fields in nothing but a t-shirt wondering what had happened.
I realize that this might not sound too exciting. But trust me, then and there it was. And if you had been there with me, I’m pretty sure you would think the same.
So. A few days of downhill, getting rid of a bunch of layers of clothing and that was it? Fortunately not. Though the plateau was officially over, the mountain life wasn’t. Between me and my final province Yunnan, were still some serious passes which would turn out to be some of my favorite ones ever.
These numbers are starting to feel a bit absurd…
Bad roads make for slow speeds. But more importantly a sky rocketed feeling of adventure. And after the silk smooth tarmac roads I’d been riding all through China, getting a bit dusty was just what I was looking for.
Views of this kind…
…are simply best enjoyed after having had to work for them
I kept peddling, and the big passes kept outshining each other. Until I was standing on the top of the very last one. Yet again thinking that this might be the most gorgeous view I’d ever laid eyes on. Maybe it wasn’t, but for sure it was the most beautiful sight I’d earn in a very, very long time.
This was it – I was going down. Not necessarily for good, and I surely had a lot of climbing ahead. The thing though was that I’d be climbing hills in comparison. After this, my next true mountain experiences would be continents away.
When you’re headed for the next one, it’s easy to get going and head down from a pass like this. But when you’re not. When you’re just going down.
How in the world can you stay up there long enough?
Forever tailwinds,
Fredrika