southern china, chongqing province crossing into guiyang province.

they done built a new 4-lane highway, freshly-paved and almost
no traffic (which runs on a parallel expressway!) highway runs under
a mountain range through a series of tunnels, well-lit with regularly
spaced breakdown turnouts.

first tunnel is 4,845 meters (slightly over 3 freakin' miles!.....15,895'),
followed by a couple hundred meter open gap to catch your breath, and
then you get another shorter tunnel, this one only 2521 meters (about
1.5 miles or 8271'). after that you have another half dozen or so closely-
spaced tunnels, mostly around 1000 meters so not really worth mentioning.

best part, if you're heading south, it's all downhill!!!! takes 15 minutes to
zoom through the first tunnel.


bigger is not always bester, though. i think the absolutely coolest tunnel
was the one into milford sound, new zealand south island. before it was
refurbished, it was unlit, unpaved, with water leaking from the ceiling and
chucks of rock littering the floor.