I cant decide whether or not I like china, the roads are either great or awful, the people are either rude or super friendly, weather is hot or cold, accommodation is either spotless or dingy, hills are up or down, you get my point.
Today I had just about everything. After breakfast I went to a bakery to get some supplies, waiting to be served an old women came and the lady served her before me, I got a bit p*ssed with this but it happens especially in Asia. Now my turn she seemed to get all flustered over the language barrier and just buggered off and a Bruce served me instead with no dramas. Everything seemed to get to me, the traffic the heat the hills on the road that is until going up a hill I grabbed on to a truck for a tow. Coasting up the hill the passenger leaned out to see what I was doing, he gave me a big thumbs up then indicated it was a long climb. He wasn’t joking, I only had a two or three figure grip and I had to push the pain barrier to hold on. He leaned out again to take a picture then once more to tell me it was all downhill then passed me a carton of milk as I went by. My mood was now lifted.
Riding along I could see ahead that I was about to lose the sunshine and it was about to get foggy. It got really foggy, it wasn’t a total bad thing but it got really cold. Approaching a tunnel visibility was at maybe only 10m, but there was a toll both at this tunnel, I wasn’t about to be sent back so I went for it, the fog was so thick I must have gone by like a ghost. The other end of the tunnel the fog was even thicker and it felt a lot colder. I put my jumper on and headed on a never ending downhill. I normally wouldn’t complain about downhill’s but it was so cold, it was a cold I have never felt before, it felt like it was coming from the inside. Seeing a place to eat summoned the guts to move my frozen fingers and pull the brakes. I sat around a fire getting warm then ordered a big bowl of rice and made myself a hot cup of tea. I had dropped below the fog now and it wasn’t so cold but I felt like my core temperature had dropped, I was cold from the inside, I put on a second jumper and it was almost an hour before I felt warm again.
I then just cycled and was having fun again, I did plan on taking the 213 which seemingly went over the mountains but the other route that the motorway followed was through a magnificent gorge. All day so far the road signs have all been in Chinese lettering and not the standard ABC so I missed the turn, fate had sent me on the main road. There was a minor road that ran alongside that I should have been on but again I had missed the exit to get onto that, the pure cycle tourist would take the minor roads really explore the back and beyond but I was just happy cycling along a good road. I don’t care when other cycle tourist say ‘there’s no point in doing it if you just cycle.’ Everyone is different and wants something different from it, I have great experience in my view so what anyone else thinks I don’t care, if I want to go flat out to get somewhere I will.
The road had dropped down from 2000m to 500m so you’d expect me to have covered some ground but a combination of the cold then a killer head wind meant it was just an average day. I did come to an exit off the motorway and to be honest I was ready to finish for the day but the town didn’t look like there was much going on never mind having a hotel, double mistake. Getting through a tunnel the other end of the town came into view, it looked picture perfect and seemed a great place to stop, then problem to arise was the motorway and the minor road split here, I was keen on the minor road as the route looked more interesting and if I exit the motorway there’s a chance I may not get back on and the road that I would have to take is a wet muddy dirt road.
However you never know what you’ve missed or about to gain. It was around 5pm and I had just come flying through a 2500m tunnel (not for the faint hearted, I pedal my heart out in those tunnels, its itch black at times and wouldn’t be a pleasant place to become road kill) and I was 5km from the next town on my GPS, I noticed a little diner which had a big grassy area and I was waved down by a guy who either owns it or works there. I asked about hotel in the next town, they indicated non, everyone who worked had gathered to see the strange westerner, then I pointed to the grassy area and played charades for tent. They were only to happy and even better gave let me stay in a little shed type building that’s connected to the diner. Later we dragged a bed in and I was given a bucket of hot water to have a wash in. This was my marmite of a day and sums up China for me, I hate it but I also love it.
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