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Andy

Andy

Visit Andy's website here for more photos and additional information: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Bikepacker/

Mystical Valleys, Misty Mountains, we found it

"The road is long, we've been on the road nearly 200 days with nearly 10,000 miles cycling under our belts. England is just a memory. What we've seen the last months, most people won't see in a lifetime. We've laughed, We've cried. We've been attacked, we've been welcomed. We've roasted in +44 celsius, we've frozen at -20 celsius in the un-forgiving Gobi. Next goal - Hong Kong for Christmas. Then, through SE Asia, the dry lands, the jungles, to our destination Singapore. We are still all together, no-one has caved in yet. But there's still around 4,000 miles to go. I hope the group stays together, and we reach our goal as a team".

Day 196, 13th December
Dayao - Liling

Misty Mountains
This is such a best kept secret that the people here have NEVER seen non-Chinese here ever before! So, I'm keeping it secret - sorry!

Our alarm woke us at eight and we were reeling from the night before. Scott and Stephane had difficulty believing what had happened. However, despite our drunken state, we were in the western-style breakfast bar at nine eating toast with New Zealand butter, omelette, corn, potatoes, drinking real coffee, milk, and orange juice. We were in bikepacker’s paradise! We couldn’t thank Liu enough for his hospitality and left by car at ten to pick our bikes up from the firework factory.

Admiring the view
Rory, and the rest of us, taking a pause to just take in that magnificent scenery.

Our bikes were fine. We said our farewells to the folks at the factory and set off south, it wasn’t even raining today, everything was perfect… then…. My real gear cable snapped. Bloody Shimano - it took ages to fit the new one into the tricky grip-shift gear change I’d got. After that was done, we stopped for lunch in a nearby café where the owner insisted we didn’t pay for our food, and even gave us a bottle of Chinese wine as a gift. All this is to do with the media, I’m really not sure I like the situation that much, it makes me a little concerned at times because I feel these people really can’t afford to give us things like they do. We slipped some money under the plates before we left to give us clear consciences.

The road continued flattish with motorists pulling alongside us giving us the thumbs-up sign. Later in the day we had the chance to return some of the good karma. We happened upon an accident where a young girl had been knocked off her bike and was lying in agony on the floor as people just stood around looking, apparently not knowing what to do. We decided to take control of the situation and got a guy to phone for an ambulance, something they’d not done! While we waited for it, Rory covered her in his Russian sleeping bag and Stephane, with his super first aid skills, put her into the correct position and checked her over to find her arm had been broken. He held her hand and calmed her down as a father would. She stopped crying and we though what a surreal situation it must be for her - in an area where nobody ever sees westerners, she now had 6 big-noses caring for her. The ambulance arrived, and we were thanked by the ambulance team and the police, and she was whisked off to hospital.

Roadside Cafe
Some of the best cafes were to be found in the mountains - with no people staring included in the price!

Our goal was Liling city today. We passed through the city and camped on the other side of it outside of a house amongst some bamboo trees, we had asked the family and they didn’t mind. It’s Rory’s birthday tomorrow, but we gave him his present just after dark - a ‘Cake’. Not just a cake, but a firework cake. A big block of fireworks, maybe about 50 mortar shots or more, it was technically for displays, not for public use! We asked the Chinese families to come and watch as Rory lit it, which caused great delight for all present. Afterwards, I cooked my favourite food on my Trangia - greasy toasted buns with a chilli a tofu filling, yum!

Bamboo Raft
At our camping spot in the gorge. We played for ages on someones bamboo raft. Those on the raft were bombarded by fireworks, of course!

Total Miles: 9353.42 Todays Miles: 33.03 Average speed: 10.6 Time on bike: 3:07

Day 197, 14th December
Liling - Xinshi - You Xian - Chaling

We had agreed that if we wanted to be in Hong Kong by Christmas, that we had to knuckle down and start setting out early to make up for mileage and would have to do at least 60 miles a day for the next 10 days. So, we were on the road for 8-ish and did 20 miles before our breakfast break. The morning we saw the sun rise for the first time in ages, but during the rest of the day it was a bit cloudy and noticeably warmer as we neared the Tropic of Cancer.

In the town of You Xian, Scott had to get a new chain. This city was the worse yet for folks messing and meddling with your bikes. The problem chiefly lay with the taxi drivers. Just lately, we’ve noticed that the taxis are not cars, but motorbikes which you sit on the back of, and the operators who seemed to think there was an empathic sort of connection with us, just thought they had the right to jump on our bikes and play with all the stuff!

Hillside Farms
Old mud-walled farmhouses dotted the hillside everywhere.

The roads continued flat southwards, but later on we entered huge mountains with pine covered valleys, it was really beautiful. After continuing for a while we found that the route was barred because blasting was taking place for a new route south - we couldn’t go on! We had done 70 miles today and didn’t want to backtrack. So we crossed a little bridge over the river and found a place to camp in a lovely valley with paddy fields, and at night, bats circling the tents….

Total Miles: 9424.26 Todays Miles: 70.80 Average speed: 12.5 Time on bike: 5:39

Day 198, 15th December
Chaling - Yanling - Shuikou

Last night was one of the warmest so far, I had just my T-shirt and undies on. It was very dry too, no damp tent this morning for a change. We set out early before the road workers got there and started blasting, and managed to get through, past all the machinery and construction vehicles. It’s times like this that you appreciate being on a bike.

Me looking haggered!
Without my bottle of Oil of Ulay, this is how I really look!

Our route took us through the town of Chaling a few miles from our camp spot, the first town in China where we saw a drunken beggar. Come to think of it, on this trip this is only the thrird beggar we’ve encountered. The first was in the Romanian city of Oradea, and the second was in a Siberian village! The other side of Chaling were more wonderful valleys. The sun was trying to break through and I had my coat off for the first time for months, and even my shirt-sleeves rolled up! Temperatures rose to 14 Celsius, and so did our spirits. Belated breakfast was in a small village café with no staring people for once.

The rest of the day was spent cycling through majestic forested gorges with rivers of deep blue at the bottom. Despite 3 breakdowns today, we made 50 miles before camping at an idyllic spot by the riverbank in a gorge. There just happened to be a bamboo raft there which we all played on like kids. The hillsides looked so natural, covered in mixed forest and bamboo. The air was warm. It was a great day to be alive - one of the best so far…

Total Miles: 9477.99 Todays Miles: 53.72 Average speed: 11.0 Time on bike: 4:5

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Visit Andy's website here for more photos and additional information:http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Bikepacker/

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