Today was the birthday of my great aunt Renee who died while i was away, it wasn’t unexpected. I never really got on with her as well as my sister but the realisation that she was no longer with us hit me back in Sydney over a year after her passing. When i received the news i was working in Auckland on pedicabs and after work everybody toasted a beer to her, i will always remember that. Happy birthday and Rest in Peace.
I took my time this morning, i decided against rushing, goodbyes are never easy and i would also be alone with just my Tasmanian tiger for company for the first time since i met Loon on the 20th of February. We had one last game of pool, took the final pictures walked down to the turnoff i would take, had a goodbye hug then our paths went separate ways.
In china i had heavily relied on Loon, he would ask for directions if we were unsure and plan how far we should cycle etc. I had really just been along for the ride but now i was alone. We made some flip cards which asked for the basics like ‘Hotel’ and food etc. I have to say they work a treat, might not be as perfect as speaking fluent Chinese but looking for a hotel i showed the card and was instantly pointed to a hotel, what more could you want.
The riding today was great, the bike felt good and i felt strong. I was worried i wouldn’t be able to make it to Songming which was 90kms away and i only had the afternoon to do it. I covered the distance easily as the only thing that would make me get use to being alone is to just do the miles. The bike gods were sympathetic today by giving me a beautiful day and an epic tail wind.
Arriving at Songming was when i really began to miss some company, just somebody to talk to, i felt so alone. I have pretty much always travelled alone and been happy but now the loneliness was horrible, but i know to see the other people the time had to come. I thought a lot about the other people i would see again and tried to take a positive that saying goodbye is just moving on to saying hello to the other people i miss, some of which seeing again is what keeps me going.
I also conjured up a new plan of leaving China a week earlier, if i can get to Chengdu on the 7th, that would give me time to sort things out, catch a train to Shanghai and get a ferry to Japan a week earlier therefore giving me more time to sort visa’s out for Mongolia. What’s the rush you might ask? Well there isn’t one but it gives me a challenge, im not going to miss out anything and i rather like pushing myself like this.
I hope to get an early start tomorrow and put the miles in, time is the best cure for anything and for me cycling helps. Happy birthday Renee!
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