I knew that I would have a tough day today and so I was up at 7 and got my things together. I had breakfast of porridge and coffee using hot water provided by the family and then got on the road for about 8.15. It was up hill all the way for several hours, in fact by 11:00 I had gained 1200m an only biked 35km. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the ride was fantastic. The road had very little traffic and was good condition and hugged the cliffs on one side and the river on the other with mountains towering on either side. The scenery was amazing. The further I traveled north the more the houses of the villages became old and wooden. Many of the villages are traditional Tibetan villages and have existed there for hundreds of years. They are making the most of the tour buses passing through and there are several places to stop off and buy Tibetan handy crafts and stop for lunch. 
I was hungry at 12 ish and I stopped in one such place. I think that they are used to coach loads of people and they were rather surprise when I turned up. I was low on blood sugar as it had been quite a climb and I was glad of the feast that they provided for £3. A huge bowl of rice, cabbage and veg and nuts with boneless chicken. It was one of the best meals that I have had in China so far. 
There are loads of hydro-power stations along the river. 
As I carried on climbing after lunch the weather turned and it became gray and very windy but it was a tail wind and so I did not mind. About 2 I saw a coach with loads of tourists stopped off at some stalls of Tibetan handy crafts and decided to stop and ask about buses. I had found out that the pas goes up to 3400m and I was currently at 2300 having already climbed about 1300m. I knew that I could do the pass but I would not be able to make Jiuzhaigou town today if I were to continue on my bike. 
Fortunately some of the tourist buying goods could speak English and helped with the translation so that I could find out about buses. Apparently all of the public buses had stopped hours ago (normal in China for the buses to only go in the mornings) and it was only tour buses at this time of day. They would not take me. A local guy offer to take me in his van up to the top of the pass for £10. I could see from google maps that this pass was very steep and I decided that it was worth it for me to get to Jiuzhaigou today. It only took about 30 mins to do the 15km get to the top in a van. It was the right decision though as it would have taken me hours and hours. 
The top! 
The view from the top was great but not as good as it could have been if the weather had been better. However, the ride down was the BEST downer ever! I think that only a cyclist can really appreciate the greatness of the ride from 3400m down to about 1500m over 50km. It was not to steep and so for most of the way I did not have to brake nor pedal - perfect! The views were just awesome and there was very little traffic. I was on a high for the whole time it took to get to the bottom. I am glad that I had at least done some of the climb today as the downer is all the more rewarding if you have actually done the climb to get there in the first place. 
Towards the bottom of the downer there was a little Tibetan village which was very much on the tourist trail and several coaches had stopped there. The Tibetan houses are painted in bright colours and look great but I doubt that they are very traditional. 
The lovely, good quality road had huge holes in the middle at regular intervals. I actually saw some local people tearing up the road. It did not appear to be for any usual purpose. Maybe they were just trying to stop the traffic going so fast on the road and so damaging it? 
There was a climb to get to Jiuzhaigou town of about 15km and my legs were tired and so it took a while but I arrived into town about 6. I popped into the bus station as I entered town to try and find out about buses to Jiuzhaigou Park tomorrow morning. The taxi drivers waiting there were very helpful and one of them phoned his friend who speaks English so that he could help with the translation (Chinese people have often helped in this way). I found out where to catch the bus tomorrow and a taxi driver for no cost took me into town (for free) to a place that I could stay for £5 per night (as most of the places wanted £10).I was extremely happy to find that the place he had taken me to had a bath and a western toilet! What luxury. It was the first Western style toilet in weeks. It was 8 ish by the time that I had faffed about and got the room etc. I had a chilled evening eating instant noodles in my room and soaking in the bath and watching a movie on my laptop.
I was a really good day and a perfect way to finish the day. The countryside here is amazing and the downer was the best I have ever done in my life. :-) Great bike touring day.
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