China Day 11 – Guoliang Village to Longmen Grottoes

I woke up really early today for it was going to be another long day. I figured while every biker would take the national road, I would just hit the highway to get to the main attraction for today which was Longmen Grottoes.

Longmen Grottoes 

The days now is blended into pure grit and grind. We can rest once we leave China, but while we are in China, it was grit and grind time going long distance riding during the day and visiting sites after sites non-stop with overwhelming experience and senses.

My plans to take the highway crashed and burned almost immediately. Turns out, since we had just crossed the Henan Province boundary yesterday, motorcycle was not allowed onto the highway in this province. Riding into the province via highway was ok but trying to get onto the highway from within Henan Province was not allowed.

Some Flats Scenic Ride from Guoliang Village to Longmen Grottoes 

This caught me off guard and after the second try which also got rejected, there was nothing much I could do other than go via the national road. It was a long ride and by the time I reached Longmen Grottoes it was nearly 4pm. I am definitely now the slowest of the group or at least within the bikers.

Longmen Grottoes was famous for the Buddha statue carvings and there were thousands of them just carved into the cliff edge. It’s hard to describe in my own words really and copying a description from the internet feels wrong. 

Its one of the places where even a mountain of tourist visiting the area would not be a deterrent to visit it. That’s how breathtaking it was. A historic man-made beauty.

Longmen Grottoes 

Longmen Grottoes 

Longmen Grottoes 

Including Longmen Grottoes, I had seen a total of three Grottoes in China. The Magao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Kizil Grottoes in Xinjiang and this one. While they have the word Grottoes in common, other than being set in a cave by the cliffside, everything else had nothing in common. The Buddha, style and even atmosphere is totally different.

Again, I left the attraction at sunset. This is becoming a trend now. I still had to ride 50km from Longmen Grottoes to Dengfeng today which was where the hotel was. Riding a motorbike at night is horrendous in China. 

While I have done many nights riding in China due to stretching time to see more things, it is still unnerving and I think something cracked in me that day and the following day I decided some changes need to be done.

Travelled on: Oct 2024