I thought today would be similar to yesterday, just pleasingly shorter, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I left the hotel having gorged on muesli and bananas. I also had what I thought was milk. When you buy a white liquid in a bottle labeled first milk, you expect milk. This may have been milk at first, but it had been sweetened within an inch of it’s life. It was disgusting, but I’d already poured it in. It’s all fuel when you’re bike packing, so I chomped my way through the bowl of disgusting tasting, but still nutritious cereal.
Yesterday was pleasant in quite natural surroundings and today was spectacular in part due to the man-made structures that surrounded me. As well, the valley narrowed significantly and I cycled beside the red River between towering mountains.
What didn’t change was the food situation. There weren’t many options along the way until about the 50km mark.
At that point, I came to a junction and had a two dollar bowl of pork noodle soup. It wasn’t bad but it was difficult to find the pork. I was also being stared at by most of the people there. I felt like they were scrutinizing my chopstick technique which could definitely do with improvement. Around here, you don’t drink the broth with a spoon, you have it directly from the bowl. Less washing up.
Back on the bike, the drizzle started. At one point a lady on a motorbike was riding slowly past with her son on the back. He looked about 9 years old. He turned and looked at me curiously. So I smiled back and he did the same with a big wide grin. So I waved and he did the same. The smile and the look of achievement on his face spoke volumes. It also shows how much more reserved than the Vietnamese, the Chinese people seem to be. I like it !
By the time I neared Yuanyang, the drizzle was steady. It’s the old adage – it only rains in the last 10kms to cause maximum disruption.
I arrived wet at the hotel and needed help with a few things. I couldn’t find a towel, but here they provided a disposable towel in a packet. Next, I failed the IQ test for the shower – which was cheap and not working well anyway. I didn’t want to bother the guy at thee desk again about the wifi, which wasn’t working.
I wandered around the town and found a coffee shop. The first since Vietnam. There was an issue with payment, so the lovely girl serving, offered to pay with “don’t worry, I just want you to enjoy your trip in China”. I eventually sorted it out, but her gesture was wonderful.
There’s a long, interestingly lit street full of food vendors here, so I wandered around and chose a fried rice with beef and sat down on one of the tiny stools for dinner. They’re great for stretching but not good for my posture.
Back at the hotel, I planned my day at the rice terraces and hoped for good weather. Neither happened as expected.