Treacherous Mountain Roads - Is Your Life Worth 100 RMB?

Maoxian (茂县) - Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟) - Dagu Glacier (达谷冰川) 
Sichuan (四川), China (中国)
March-April 2013

Merlion Wayfarer noticed a tour member on the bus giving 100 RMB to the bus driver on the last day of the tour. 100 RMB is equal to about S$20 (5 RMB = S$1). 

(Source : DrPinna.com)

Considering that the tips for a typical China trip are 25 RMB per day for both the local guide and the driver, with an additional S$2 per day for the accompanying Singapore tour leader, multiplied by a bus load of about 20 pax over a typical period 6-10 days... The amount the bus driver gets from tips alone can be quite significant.

Is it worth giving the extra amount?

A typical trip made by the tour bus consists of long hours of driving from 0800-2200 hours daily over a period of at least one week through these road conditions...
  • Snaking through traffic jams with vehicles and pedestrians that may or may not obey traffic rules and lights...
    (Traffic warden volunteers are required to better manage such traffic conditions on major roads)
  • Parking a bus next to another few without scratching any bus or knocking down any person...

  • Tunnels with no or very poor lighting...
  • Fog/Mist/Rain with low visibility and rock surfaces just inches from the bus...
  • Tunnels or roads that are under construction or repair or closed to traffic without sufficient preemptive-warning...
  • Fast-speeding heavy vehicles that overtake with little warning...
  • Mountain roads with wire meshes holding the loose stones on the cliffs together to protect vehicles travelling on the roads and a lot of evidence of landslides...
  • Signs showing the dangers on the roads - some knocked down by other drivers, some still upright to scare other drivers...
  • Not one S-curve but three! Mountain roads that Jay Chou will have difficulty speeding on in Initial D...
(See how slanting the buses are just by going around the bends?)
  • The road that the tour bus travelled on with just a hand span's width to the ravine below...
  • What lies below...
  • A section of the collapsed road directly behind the bus...


Merlion Wayfarer's conclusion:
Is your life worth just the extra S$20?

- An affirmative YES! -

With this note, Merlion Wayfarer wishes to express her thanks to the excellent driving of her bus driver which has kept her group safe throughout the duration of the tour. She also appreciates the risks that her tour guide takes to maintain a good presence by standing in front of the bus to speak to the group. May the driver's superb skills continue to ensure the safe passage of all upcoming future tours in which he participates in.


More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer Goes World's Picasa at :
Sichuan - Roads