China Day 8 - Route G318 Zogang to Ranwu Where The Road Gets More and More Challenging

We thought the hardest part of Tibet journey was done after yesterday grueling ride up and down mountain pass for the whole day. Little did we know that it was only the beginning and that everyday would be a different type of challenge going through Tibet region

In reality it should have been a reasonable day journey. Todays journey was only 220km however what we did not anticipate was the amount of road blocks and traffic congestion along the mountain pass that set us back hours from our destination.

View of Snow Covered Mountains at Meiyu Grassland 

The day started early at 8am and immediately we encountered the first road blocks. Construction was ongoing everywhere along G318 and as the only trunk road going to Lhasa with no other alternative, the road was being upgraded forcefully by just closing of the road for a few hours at a time to do construction works making everyone wait in queue with frustration not knowing when the journey could resume.

Bikers were not exempt in this and while we could skip ahead of the queue, we could not continue pass the road block. The construction works were highly dangerous blasting the mountain rocks to make wider roads of G318 so while the blasting and clearing was underway there was no other choice but to close the road due to safety reasons.

The first detour stop was to Meiyu Grassland. Flatland in the high Tibetan plateau surrounded by glossy snow capped mountains. It was quick detour for a beautiful scenery and then we quickly pushed on to the second stop, Yela Mountain pass at 4666m elevation.

We were definitely riding the rooftop of the world now. From Zogang elevation of 3900m we were going up and down but always averaging around 4000m elevation. Everyone seams good with the elevation and fully acclimatize and I felt normal without much trouble.

Yela Mountain Pass @ 4666m Altitude 

Route G318 View at Yela Mountain Pass 

Moving on we went to the viewpoint of 72 turns of Nujiang River. The roads winding through the mountain from the view point looked like a movie set from Initial D and just looking at it felt like a race-car driver looking at a new track figuring out how to tackle the 72 turns downhill.

We reach the bottom of Nujiang River and ran stright into another road block. This one was a big one where all traffic was stopped from 2pm till 5pm. All bikers really piled up in front queuing and I even opened up a chair to wait for time.

Seventy - Two Turns of Nujiang River - Route G318

Road Block at G318 for hours 

Traffic Congestions at G318

5pm and we are off to the start of the race with all bikers revving away like a start of a rally. It became a rush for time now since we did not have much sunlight left and the journey was still a long way to go. 

Nujiang Bridge was a quick photo stop and then off again trying to beat the traffic built up. Trucks and lorries were all backed up blocking every path in the winding road and in some cases cause a gridlock where non can move.

I could not recall passing the fifth and six stop which was Duola Mountain Pass at 3275m and Anjiula Mountain Pass at 4325m for it was really a race with sunlight now. Everything was getting dark and riding through the snowline as the sunsets was really freezing.

Most of us had no choice but to ride at night just to reach Ranwu today. It was a really mind breaking journey for the roads were broken, no street lights and weather was so darn cold making the journey at night so taxing that once we reach the hotel everyone crashed into bed.

Route G318 to Ranwu

Unlimited Snow Covered Mountains - Route G318 to Ranwu

Last of Daylights before riding at night to Ranwu - G318

We saw a glimpse of Ranwu in the morning, beautiful place to really stop and stay for a few days but alas we had to push on having so little time to transverse China.

Traveled on: June 2024