This section from Yiwu 易武 to Jinghong 景洪 is the forty-seventh and last instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Pretty good 米线 mixian for brekky. Love the condiments and the early morning light on the wall texture.
After yesteday’s absolute system failure, I cannot believe to be awake by 7 am already. Yes I hit the sheets pretty early, but I didn’t think I’d be able to stand until much, much later. Yet here I am, packing up my stuff and getting ready to ride all the way to Jinghong, a ride of no less than 130km. I remember the road pretty well, and I believe it’ll be a walk in the park, but then, well, on wheels.
This section from Mengla 勐腊 to Yiwu 易武 is the forty-sixth instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Only if you have forest, there will be water; only if you have water, there will be fields; only if you have fields, there will be food; only if you have food, there can be people. Ironically, the forest on either side of this sign have been cleared to plant rubber trees and a banana plantation.
Oh, I know, I should’ve planned better. But planning takes time, too, and today is the first time I’ve been blessed with proper internet access since – well, since Bangkok. I have a blog backlog of more than seven entries so I spend the better half of my morning uploading pictures, writing captions and completing ride accounts.
This section from Luang Namtha to Mengla 勐腊 is the forty-fifth instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Good morning Luang Namtha! Now where does this come from.
I feel grungy. Yesterday’s outing with the Belgians took us past a pizza establishment where beer flowed abundantly and where I had an extra spicy “hot head” pizza with Lao sausage and random chunks of chilli pepper scattered over the surface. It was quite good but now I’m bearing the consequences. I roll over, put ear plugs in, take my clothes off (yes – it’s one of those nights) and sleep another three hours.
This section about Mae Salong is the thirty-eighth instalment of my bicycle loop through South-East Asia from Yunnan – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
What! Explosions! War! Fire!
Oh it’s only Chinese New Year preparing to happen. Kids, of course, lighting firecrackers and shooting explosives at the sky. I’d have tumbled out of my bed if it wasn’t one of those beds where the mattress is practically on floor level. I love this liveliness but I also love my bed. I’m one of those people who can’t go back to sleep after waking up so I spend most of my morning reading while the sun rises over the hills.
Chinese restaurant, with a picture of a deceased general (perhaps a relative) and the usual maxims and wishes on the wall. These people are from Tengchong 腾冲 in Yunnan.
This section from Hekou to Sa Pa is the tenth instalment of my bicycle ride from Yunnan to Cambodia – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Day 11: Transferring to Vietnam
I’d submitted my passport to the Hekou visa office at 9 am, hoping that it’d be ready in a few hours. Unfortunately, I learn that I can pick up my visa by 6.30 pm. It seems the best thing to do is get into the visa office before 4 pm on any weekday. That way you can be across the border by 7 pm the same day. Price is 450 RMB if you’re handsome, and 500 RMB otherwise – according to the giggling girls running the business. Bah. Another day at Hekou, it’s starting to get on my nerves.
I spend the day slowly – Yunnan style – walking around town, ignoring attempts by pompous Chinese trying to make conversation in abominable English. The hours tick away slowly. A visit to the Hekou uprising museum and trying to decode the text kills a few of them. The museum is actually quite interesting if you can read what it says (no English, although the titles are in Pinyin, as if that helps anyone). There are quite a few interesting pictures and maps from middle nineteenth to the early twentieth century, including the building of the railroad by the French and portraits with biographies of the revolutionaries.
This section about Hekou is the ninth instalment of my bicycle ride from Yunnan to Cambodia – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
As I arrived just thirty minutes late to get my Vietnam visa done on Friday, I had to wait the entire weekend for official services to resume on the Vietnam side. In a town like Hekou, that’s a bit of a punishment. The town is not really boring, but isn’t interesting enough either to spend three full days in.
Fortunately, two French cyclists (Anaïs and Romain from Toulouse on their trip from France to Thailand) made the boredom bearable. It’s fun to listen to their descriptions of the cultures they’ve encountered and they kindle in me the desire to ride around Turkey and Iran some time. At the same time they remind me of how difficult it is to enjoy China without speaking any Chinese and on how much great food you miss out if you don’t know where to find it.
The riverside juice shop I used to go to has a new owner now and there’s no more Vietnamese ice coffee, which is a bummer, but the Vietnamese coffee on Vietnam street is still great – even though they get the coffee out of a bottle rather than making it fresh. There are also Banh mi stands (like French baguettes with pâté and veggies and eggs), a refreshing novelty in this town.
Hekou railway station, once a major stop on the metre gauge line Hai Phong – Kunming
This section from Manhao to Hekou is the eighth instalment of my bicycle ride from Yunnan to Cambodia – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Lao He and his cool motorcycle
It’s only 9pm and the Chinese are already on my nerves. I’m sitting at a communal tofu grill, shovelling down a quick bowl of mixian. Around me, it’s raining prejudice. I’ve never heard a Chinese person say anything bad about me or other foreigners, mind, even if they’re unaware of the fact that I can understand them. But the prejudice is just outrageous. “Oooh don’t put peppers, they don’t eat peppers,” a woman next to me says to the cook. “Woah, this one can use chopsticks,” says another. A passer-by urges her kids to say “hello” to the foreigner. And then there’s always know-all who feels the need to explain to the whole group that we only eat bread and steak.
I finish my bowl, pay the bill and tell them in my best Yunnan dialect that we eat rice every day – and meat only on holidays. A blatant lie, but that’ll teach him to be a wise guy. It has no effect: “ooooh this one speaks Chinese. Exchange student, right?” I grunt a goodbye and make for the town gate. (more…)
This section from Jinping to Manhao is the seventh instalment of my bicycle ride from Yunnan to Cambodia – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
People watching over the mountains
I’m having some motivational issues this morning. I woke up at 5 but didn’t feel like getting out of bed at all. It’s partially the delightful bed, the air-con exactly at 20 degrees and the absence of any noise outside. But who am I kidding, the real issue is obviously the hangover. On the other hand, however, it’s thanks to last night’s early drinking that I’m able to wake up early and write the last two posts.
When I finally leave, it’s 11:30. The owner personally bids me farewell and so I deduce that I haven’t been terribly misbehaving myself yesterday night. We discuss quantities of fruit and then routes to get to today’s target, Manhao (three spellings, used seemingly randomly: 蛮耗, 曼耗 and 蔓耗). Without prompt, he informs me that the old road is good enough to ride on, that there are less cars and more views and that it’s therefore preferable to the new road. This man understands me! I wonder if he’s a rider too. (more…)
This section from Mengla to Jinping is the sixth instalment of my bicycle ride from Yunnan to Cambodia – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
Mengla 猛拉 on the Jinshuihe River 金水河
Good morning! Could’ve done with better sleep, but such are banana towns: it’s never really quiet anywhere. Even the air-con talked to me all night. Thanks to that same air-con, though, my clothes are almost entirely dry. I washed them yesterday because they were stained with salt and sweat. A quick peek through the broken hotel window reveals that tonight I’ll be doing the same thing.
Beautiful weather! And the forecast said rain! I pack up and get on the bike, stop for a morning rice noodle and then set all sails for the Vietnamese border. There’s an official border crossing there, but it’s not open to third-country underlings. My reason for going is that there’s a tiny tiny road that runs all along the border, looping around a few mountains before reaching today’s destination of Jinping 金平 (“golden peace”). While planning, I’d peeked at the satellite image and the road gleamed like it’s a concrete road, a cyclist’s dream. Even if it’s dirt, it surely beats riding on the new road. Or does it? (more…)
This section from Lüchun to Mengla is the fifth instalment of my bicycle ride from Yunnan to Cambodia – if all goes according to plan. Titled “Slap the Belgian!”, it is simultaneously published on Crazyguyonabike.com, where you’ll find a map with the itinerary and many other bicycle diaries by me and others. I hope you’ll enjoy.
