FRIDAY!  Okay, hungover, in a Chinese bus bouncing through the Himalayas is no way to spend a Friday – but we did it anyway!  The Riding4Beer 2011 China Tour is on the move and we’ve made it to Lijiang – barely!  Folks, if you are ever given the choice between riding a local Chinese bus at 16,000 feet elevation for 5 hours on a dirt road, or having someone stick flaming chili pods in your you know what – go for the chili! 

So here’s the deal.  We ended up with the very front seats on the bus – good for a view, right?  Trust us; you don’t wanna see what’s coming.  You also don’t wanna see the bus driver eating a fish head on stick while wheeling a 20 ton bus at 60 MPH around mountain passes on a gravel road with no guardrails.  We finally couldn’t take it anymore and switched for two seats in the back of the bus with the smokers, the giant bundles of smelly sh-t and the cage of live chickens.

But you know what?  We made it to Lijiang, we’ve changed our underwear and we’re now chewing Valium like gummy bears and downing beers like water in a desert.  The good news is we don’t have to be anywhere until tomorrow morning when we start our 28 hour train journey north through the flood zone to Chengdu.  Folks, it’s always a GREAT time or a GREAT story, right?

         ONLY 3 PICS TODAY - SORRY!  THE INTERNET TOOK OVER TWO HOURS TO UPLOAD THESE!

       
   Shear 3,000 foot drop - no gaurdrails - dirt road!                    A little roadwork being done clearing debris!

                                                     
                                                   Traffic jam on Burma Road at 14,000 feet - raining!