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Thread: Do foreigners in China drive for sightseeing?

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[quote=JABAROOTOO,285909]Our circumstances enabled us to leave just after lunch on Wednesday, before the rush which also allowed to arrive at our furthest destination before night fall having taken express way for the majority of the distance.  Once we got off the motorway onto secondary roads the conditions were surprisingly good, albeit windy, there was so little traffic and despite seldom getting out of third gear, I haven't had so much fun behind the wheel in a long time.

We ventured into a supposedly wild area of northwestern Guizhou and southern Chongqing, and apart from the times we spent in larger towns or tourist spots driving was very relaxing.  One of the most hilarious incidents was the morning we spent almost two hours struggling  to leave one of the premier tourist attractions after incoming cars and buses clogged the road.  We had spent the night in a small guesthouse just outside the gate, anticipating a reasonably early departure in the morning but as things would happen we dawdled, as well as writing some information in English for the proprietors.  We were further delayed after the arrival of some relatives, sporting a damaged front end after an altercation with a taxi in the city of He Jiang the day before.  They could not open the drivers door for the rest of their trip.

My friend spent the time encouraging other travellers to be patient, to stay on their side of the road,  even asking some to move back to their side of the road.  We had made a serious oversight, forgetting how narrow one section of this road was was sometimes only one lane wide with overhanging rocks making the dual lanes difficult to negotiate.

Unfortunately traffic control for this, the busiest day was overlooked until it became a problem.  The police when they arrived where very good and eventually got things cleared.  We had a police escort out of the car park across two bridges but shortly after that we spent another hour and a half shuffling cars and helping four large tourist buses squeeze by, wing mirrors tucked in with just mms to spare.  This was followed up watching a local bus, now emptied of passengers doing a 200 point turn pushing bamboo stems with it's rear and avoiding a rock wall in front.

What at first looked like an irritating delay to our days somewhat leisurely and unplanned adventures became an entertaining and sometimes very amusing morning.  At the end of the day we achieved what we had planned and arrived in He Jiang to learn just how easy it would be for us to also have a serious altercation with a local taxi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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