Our day started with breakfast at small place across the street from hotel. Wood fired hot water heater next to eating area, and wood fired cooking wok also. Very basic and old primitive relative to our modern conveniences. But those eggs cooked over wood in safflower oil mixed in with a bowl of noodles is sublime!

As we were eating outside, three older women with large baskets on their back arrive to sell the days vegetables. How fantastic to see the bunches of varied greens, broccoli, and potatoes presumably picked this morning, delivered and sold. A true farmers market!

I don’t know if it is usual for me on the fifth day to think the day was relatively uneventful. We rode 60k today, to the highest point of the trip, about 11,000f, and maybe that is why I felt a bit sluggish.

We ride today away from Naxi territory to Tibetan territory, and you could see the transition in the people’s faces, color, clothing, and the style of housing which is much more colorful and impressive than the Naxi structures.

We arrived finally in Shangrila, an ancient town surrounded by huge quantities of new construction in the last ten years on a scale that is hard to describe without seeing it. It was renamed in 2001 from Zhongdian as the government has decided to develop the area as a world class tourist destination.

Andy made a great observation that this is an interesting time to be in China. As in Shangrila, 10 years ago there were no new buildings here, just old stuff and old trucks, carts, and 3wheeled taxis. Today alongside those old things, you see massive new buildings, brand new cars, fancy new taxis. Ten years from now, the new stuff will be all there is.

Showered up now, most of us are heading out to explore this ancient town, maybe pick up a few unique gifts or trinkets that I’m certain exist only here! Maybe…

Day 6 – Bai Shui Tai – Shangri_la There are many options today, as it is 100 km of some very tough riding to reach Shangri_la. We recommend transferring the first few passes to start with a down-hill. The scenery is quite breathtaking as we pass through alpine and rhododen-dron forests to the snow line – we also notice a change in culture as we move more into an area mostly populated by Tibetan people. After the descent we have a climb gaining 600 m in height and the highest point on the tour at 3735 m. We then have another exhilarating descent before a final short climb takes us into the flat grassland plain of a Tibetan valley. The final stretch to Shangri-La is a great ride as we see a marked changed in scenery and culture. Our hotel is right in the old town near the square and is a great place to explore Shangri_la. Le Fu Hotel. Ride 60 km. B L D