Wuwei to Yongjing

Leaving the toll roads behind at last!

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We left Wuwei in the sunshine with the promise of more varied riding ahead as we would soon be leaving the toll roads, however it was on those we started and remained for 2/3 of the journey.

Still quite a lot of agriculture around this area.

As we headed towards the hills, it was evident the engineers had decided to play with the tunnel boring machines instead of winding the road aroud the passes.

There were a series of 4 long tunnels, the longest over 6km Its always interesting, when you come out of a tunnel into a new valley as often the vegitation, landscape & sometimes the weather will be quite different than when you entered.

The road snaked its way across the high plateau before punching its way through another peak that had dared to get in the way.

Eventually we left the toll road, this time sneaking past a line of lorries and onto the normal roads, which after a short really dusty, stony, potholed & dirty section through a town were a refreshing change and in surprisingly good condition.

The three of us who had formed the 'advance party' arrived in Yonjing mid afternoon. I decided to go for a walk by the river, looking first at the bridge we had just come over.

Upstream from the bridge was a large dam and hydroelectric plant.

Downstream a pleasant walk along the river bank.

Tomorrow we continue further south and climb to about 3000m, the forecast is rain so its time to unpack the thermals & wet weather gear.