The Gorge Outdoors
3 days cycling to Chongqing, where you embark on your 3 day boat trip to the Three Gorges. A shame, but can't be held captive for 3 days on a cruise boat, no siree & by hydrofoil it's 11 hours each way. The easier option is just go to the 3 gorges museum here in Chongqing, or as I did upon arrival gorged at 1.KFC, 2.PizzaHut & 3.McDonalds, please forgive a cyclist his western indulgences, back to local food tonight.
A good rest in Chengdu, we navigated out of the big city on sparkly clean bikes, however, rain fixed that, which means an end-of-ride mud cleaning session in preparation for hotel reception, wanting bikes in room and all. Thousands of city commuters on cycles, felt at home in the throng. Heading for the express-way, police turned us around, and after some time found the old road, no sign posts of course, but with help from the locals.
From Chengdu to Chongqing, it's been rolling rural hills, cycling the great outdoors, the main attraction, so doesn't matter about missing out on the Three Gorges boat ride, maybe when I come back as a 'tourist'.
Rain, rain, rain, Keith shot ahead as I mended a split tyre, then I stopped for the best lunch stop(photo above). Western gentleman crunches across the gravel on laden bike, phrase book out points to fried rice, staff and clientèle all curious. Being stared at again, so I smile and kinda made a few jokes, and hey presto, they're all friendly, laughing and smiling. Then I played my joker by showing the laminated Chinese newspaper clipping about myself cycling from England, as I don't talk Chinese, this explains everything. Didn't ask for it, then came the salad, soup & tea and no sooner than I finished a bowl, it's contents were replenished, all on the house. Marvellous, served by lots of lovely ladies, had to remember this so a quick photo and exchange email addresses, a wave goodbye and positive vibes.
No rain arriving a Chongqing, biggest city yet. The guidebook's recommended budget hotel was not qualified for foreigners, that Lonley Planet can be useless. Someone overhears at reception, says he can help, phones another hotel, books me in for a great price and walks me there. So, a special thanks to Steven (his English name), runs a travel company called sky058.com. Incidentally my Chinese name is Li An, chosen by my Chinese hosts back in the desert.
Meanwhile: congratulations to Lindsay on his record breaking bike ride to the Great Wall.
Chongqing Rest Days
With a population of 30 million, Chongqing is centred on a hilly peninsula encircled by the Yangtzee and Jialingjiang rivers. Blue sky as I walked around the tip, an impressive river view. A modern city with nicetouch of the old, as porters heaved huge loads from the river uphill into the city. Very modern here and changing fast, good feel to this place. Next stop, the cheesy sounding "Chongqing Planning Exhibition Gallery", but even those who find urban planning a bore, will be won over by the models, lasers, lights and interactive consoles.
For those travellers searching the globe for the ultimate peeing experience, look no further than Chongqing, home to the
world's biggest bathroom. These crazy kids have developed the ultimate tourist experience;the world's largest public bathroom, which features 1,000 "innovatively designed" urinals. That's right. 1,000 different urinals. Many of which look like open mouths of various famous humans and animals. That you go pee in. Just for fun. He he he.
The Three Gorges Museum was OK, however, no taxis available, so a long walk back when I saw the overhead railway, no way of getting to it, unless I scrambled up a cliff face. Earlier, I'd walked into an underground, but abandoned the idea as there was no sign of trains amongst the endless shopping malls. In need of a right turn up the cliff, I took a skyscraper's elevator to the 11th floor, nearly becoming locked-in to an empty barren floor, eventually got out when a maid stopped by. Chongqing is a great city, and I'm enjoying my stay in the centre, marble walking streets, 5 star shopping & hotels abound. PS, the dam is only about 10cm high, what's all the fuss is about?
Cycling south to Guiyang tomorrow, major city again, not too far this time...
Paddy Harvest
25km from the city centre, and we were finally out of the endless city sprawl, and into a different world. We took the minor road, very quiet due to the express way, which we glimpsed occasionally, huge bridges spanning valleys, long tunnels, the express way traffic wasn't going up and down the hills like our road, just cut through the terrain, amazing engineering, and not too overbearing.
Heading South from Chongqing to Guiyang through rural communities harvesting crops, valleys swept with golden coloured terraces of rice & sweetcorn, it was awesome, the best farming scenery I've ever seen, idyllic. A sunny 4 days, yippeee, and the biggest hill rides since the Himalayas. Good place for your 2nd home, if you're brave enough, a world beyond 'A Year in Province'.
Intermingled with all this agricultural loveliness are coal-dust ridden towns, but still some of the places are OK, and the highlight is the day out on the bike, the cycling version of the 3 gorges river trip.
The last night's 'hotel', and the police came knocking on the door as we slept, had met the guy and his entourage earlier, kind enough, he was enjoying the novelty of dealing with a foreigner, all grins and no common language I showed him my joker, ie laminated Chinese press clipping. However, this 2nd visit knocking at the door as Keith and I were asleep proved too much for Keith. He lept out of bed, past me, starked naked and man handled the police and all his friends out of the room. You'd had to have been there. Overall, it's fortunate to be here during the sunshine harvest, makes great viewing from the road side, thrashing the rice, crops lying on the road to dry, trolleying produce around.
Had a rough road section too, both the local & expressway roads were being renovated, bump bump bump, fortunately managed to sneak onto the unfinished lane of the express-way, no cars, and an easy 40km to here, many hills. Don't feel guilty about that, it's been hills the last 3 days so we deserved a break.
Noticeably, the communities on route have been from different ethnic origins to the majority Han (ie pure Chinese), all pleasant hard working rural people, peasants you could say, folks of the land, the 'Waltons' Chinese style. Sometimes as I cycled past, they even seem not to notice me, a pleasant change.
The insect clatter is getting louder too, the further south we head. I imagine with all the rain we had, that'll explain why there noodles hanging out to dry.
Guiyang Rest Days
Capital of Guizhou Province, population 1.5 million (too many), the pace of Guiyang people is rather laid back, having a habit of going to bed late and getting up late. So it is common to see local people strolling, chatting, and playing the chess in the street. You will find that life here is altogether quite easy going! My kinda place. Guiyang is home to more than 30 minority ethnic groups including Miao, Buyi, Dong and Hui, etc. Consequently the city abounds with unique folk culture and traditions that give rise to many colourful ethnic minority activities.
Would liked to have spent another day here, alas must rush for the next 600/700km before the visa expires, don't want to be an illegal alien. The map looks scary, bigger mountains, hopefully long shallow climbs following rivers. It's the same route (in reverse) as this one by bikechina.com. Aiming for a 6:15am dawn start tomorrow, to allow for some smell the roses time out on the road, Keith will start later.
Meanwhile: enjoyed Lindsays account of his trip into Langzhou (see China IV), nice to compare experiences.
Going Solo
From Guiyang to Guiling in 4 days, 1 less than planned, too much time in the saddle and too little to smell the roses. Keith prefers to sit in the saddle all day, 9 hours without stopping, even for lunch. Whilst I, on the other hand want to relax and enjoy stuff on route. We've cycled the hard parts together and enjoyed it all, now would be good for us to go solo. All a cyclist really wants to do is go at his own pace.
A memorable day 3, up at 5:15am for a long distance day, but also to earn stopping time during the ride - rain & rough road, mud/pot holes, rocks, grit, so was happy with distance done - didn't mean to go so far, passed a good town at 4pm, but ... there was no accommodation for the next 50kms on a bad road - some wonderful ethinc minority villages, different clothes & culture - would be an experience, alas no accommodation - so cycled on through the mountains - getting dark - head torch out - going slow, then a coach overtakes, it's suspension too soft to with the bumps - tucked behind for half an hour - then it sped off - oh s**t, it's dark - then another village - and this really fabulous helpful dude, jumps on his moped and guides me, lighting the road all the way to Sanjiang, grateful for such a kind selfless act to a stranger, ie me - he didn't want anything, just waved his hand and dismissed the idea, took me through town to a good hotel too - as I said before, it's these things that restore one's faith in humanity - enjoy having pushed things a bit - more adventurous - situations have a habit of turning out fine & memorable - would have made it by torchlight, confident about that, would have taken longer though.
Enjoyed this area immensely, beautiful scenery, the usual rice terraces, and several ethnic minority villages, the various tribes dressed colourfully in their distinctive clothes. It's more rural and isolated, loads of horses, tea plantations, fur trees and I will remember this section as "Norwegian fjords" intermingled "Chinese rice terraces". Big mountain scenery, the road followed river valleys, sometimes deep. A few biggish climbs, the toughest park though, being the 100km of very bad road surface. Was concerned about getting to Guilin in time to extend visas, but there was never anything to worry about.
Guilin Rest Days
Guilin, capital of Guangxi Province, population 700,000. Made visa application on arrival, will get on Sunday, then continue south to Yangshuo world famous famous scenery and a backpackers paradise. A popular activity is to rent a bike, cycled upstream and take a boat trip back, especially the Chinese tourists. Interestingly, the climate has changed abruptly, it's now more tropical in a SE-Asia style, humid and palm tree flora-bunda.
Next Monday to Friday is the Chinese National holiday week, and it gets chaotic from what I hear. The whole nation books ahead, and the pressure's on to book/reserve hotels, flights and stuff. Prices double or even triple. My first 2 choices of accommodation in Yangshuo are fully booked. Interestingly one guest house publishes its GPS co-ordinates on its web-site, I read that it was difficult to find but... times are a changing. Think I'll try the The Giggling Tree, situated out of town on a dirt road.
Moved move out of the YHA hostel after 2 nights because they were fully booked, and found a superb place in the backstreets of Guilin, a Chinese hotel. Shortest fully laden bike ride I've done, maybe 700 metres. I'd done the deal and went to fetch my gear, the receptionist was surprised to see me come on a bike kitted out with 4 bags, he he he. Making an enquiry and the receptionist kindly phones the English speaking manager who says "hello, you're the Englishman who came by taxi from the airport", to which I replied, "No, I'm the Englishman who came by bike from England": enjoyed slipping that one in.
The usual chores today and a walk across the Lee River to the "Seven Stars Park" & "Seven Stars Cave". On the way back I walked with a large outing of giggly students, all saying 'hello' and going giggly, I wasn't too shy to take a photo. Cleaned bike in bathroom, you should see the mess I create, afterwards I'm on my hands and knees, pushing the mud along the floor to the drains. Added a separate China Supplementary.
Yangshuo Rest Days
Late night then up early to collect the visas no worries, then a half day ride here, main road-ish, but with superb limestone pointy hills, called karsks, they're pretty unique. Arriving at Yangshuo explored the town, loads of people, busy, touristy, glad to have seen it, then a 5km side trip to the The Giggling Tree, a farm house type retreat in the country-side. Relaxed, views, no hussle/bussle, however held captive to the one restaurant, though food is good, will stock up at supermarket tomorrow. Lots of Westerners/Chinese, not just backpackers, the place is expanding, small town goes nuts for tourism, a bit too bustly but nice anyhow. Internet here is free, that's good. All fine, you would absolutely love it here, scenery en all, a stop-over away from big cities for a change. Lots of Shanghai ex-pats fellow guests, attracted by the fresh air and blue sky, as the pollution in those big cities is something else.
Everyone's out on hired bikes, and it's a rest day, so what the heck, joined them. Sunny, red dust tracks winding around karst mountains, following the river, usual stuff. Decided on a longer trail through remote villages, then came across the "roof tile welcoming committee" who showed me pictures of the delights ahead, ie roofs constructed with tiles, and asked for a 20Yuan entrance fee. I could have paid this, bargained etc, but why should I pay what is blatantly a bribe to go through a village, wish I'd taken a picture of the committee toll gate. Turned back and did another route, no worries. A captive you could say to their restaurant prices, the village shop is only 2km down the mud-track, however, the rooms are a good rate, especially now that it's national holiday week when prices double/triple, and the staff are super friendly. Glorious weather, hot warm, sunny, upside-down pudding bowl mountains viewed from the breakfast table which is where I'm going now. A nice expat crowd here, westerners taking a fresh-air break from the pollution in Shanghai, where I'm told, you rarely see a blue sky.
Thoughts of Chairman Yan
Last day at the farmhouse, legs beginning to twitch, and looking forward to hitting the road. The next leg is to Hong Kong, and the route through mainland China will be crowded and polluted with industrial zones and smog, yum, yum. The guidebook mentions cycling on Hong Kong Island as suicidal, however, we cycle tourists get away with these things. All I need is enter and leave HK (this sounds tempting) and I automatically get another 2 months on my double entry Chinese visa. The Laos visa is issued at the border, a 2 month Thai visa can be done in either Hong Kong, Kunming (China) or in Vientianne (Laos), haven't decided. I may exit Hong Kong via Macau, the old Portuguese colony, more pleasant cycle territory.
Looking to buy a new chainset (chain & cogs), as the current one is wearing out after 14000km, the chain making more noise. Enjoy these mini-hunting expeditions, the better equipped bike shops have enthusiasts who take an interest, however the bike parts are never quite right and I'm a little fussy when it comes to reliability and finding gear I've tested. A little scary to be honest, using new stuff with no prospect of replacements ahead.
By amazing co-incidence, 2 friends are coming here on a CTC cycling holiday, flying into Guilin in about 10 days, would be great to see them, so thinking about back-tracking back to here after Hong Kong, maybe a little pressed for time, but am sure it would work out. The goal is Singapore, from HK the route heads West, above South China sea, over the top of Vietnam, towards Kunming and south to Laos, a country I'm familiar with from previous cycle tours, but not the extreme North.
To Hong Kong
The section from Yangshuo was good, flat sections followed by 100km of hills up to Wuzhou from where the route hugged a huge river, ships, an occasional wide spanned bridge, reminded me of the Danube river last year. Slowly the dual carriage way gave way to multi-lane city traffic, he he he.
What started out as a country ride, ended up as a 200km slog through never ending city, and that's before reaching the Hong Kong border. The 'ying' of the rural gave way to the 'yang' of one gyratory systems, 14 lane super highways, road works; cities & towns have merged into one, high density living, the smog hazes out the views of skyscrapers 2km ahead, the internal combustion engine rules.
Hard to keep a rhythm going with all these obstacles, grim and also fun. Parts not meant for cyclists, especially bridges, I constantly monitoring traffic behind, drivers here seem OK. A few more free gifts on-route and friendly hotel staff, once I'd explained about the lycra shorts and a bike with 5 ruck sacks attached. I'm blasse about riding here from England, sometimes people feel obliged to give me the star treatment, not expected but appreciated..
So now it's Hong Kong and I'm in the frenetic Kowloon, everyone's in their own zone, pre-occupied with the concerns of fast paced city life, a bit impersonal for me, still may grow on me soon, usually does. Where do I get my porsche and window shopping poodle? Now in Hong Kong, staying at Chungking Mansions, a wonderfully unpretentious abode, you'd have to see it to believe, that's the next blog...