April 2, 2013

Distance: 32 miles            Climbing: 3592.5 ft

Now that April has arrived, we are starting to feel this portion of our trip coming to an end. Soon we will be boxing up the bicycles and boarding a plane for India. We are excited for the food, especially since the Chinese doesn’t understand the word vegetarian, and having new experiences. However, we don’t have much further to go before we reach Dali City and see no reason to rush. The heat is no longer a problem and our legs are pretty strong so once we get into a rhythm even big climbs are just a normal part of our day now.

We spent the first part of the day riding on the old highway on the other side of the river from the main highway. Eventually the two highways merged and we were forced to ride on the shoulder of the busy road, which is never much fun. After a while of grinding away, we noticed that a lot of the villages were way down below us in the valley and we could see the thread of the old highway connecting them. We took the first turn we could find and plunged down into the valley finding ourselves in a very dirty, but eerily quiet village. As we’ve seen quite a bit on the old highways, the roadhouses and truck stop guesthouses all lay abandoned, their usefulness gutted by the relocation of the highway. We hung a left in the center of town and headed back uphill on the old highway, which was still well paved, but littered with piles of bricks and logs that we had to meander through.

Grinding

Things went fine for a few kilometers as we quickly regained our elevation quietly and without seeing another single vehicle. We kept getting closer and closer to the new road, and eventually construction debris from the highway project littered our road, nearly making it impossible to ride. We held out for a while, willing to trade less smooth tarmac for more peaceful riding, but eventually the fill from the new highway obliterated the old and we were forced back into traffic.

Rough Riding

The geology in this region included lots of steep stone outcroppings, and we saw some really weird depressions that were planted with buckwheat and tea. Our guess was that they were old sinkholes or entrances to karst formations in the limestone of the area.

Strange landscape

There was lots more grinding away but eventually we crested the pass and saw a family out picking tea in their fields. Chan stopped and talked with them a little bit while they worked. They were quite amused that we took an interest in what they were doing, and that we wanted to take their picture. As we were getting back on our bikes to head down the pass, a teenage girl who was working in the field crossed the road and we noticed that she was wearing 4 inch high-heels. In China, heels are apparently appropriate for any occasion.

Tea picking time

We buzzed down through the valley and saw tons of really stunning rice terraces, some vibrant green. The sun was at the perfect angle to be in your eyes but not be blazing hot. That’s when I saw it. The sign. Something in Chinese and 17km. I knew that this meant the hill we were about to climb would be 17 km of torture. We climbed about a kilometer before I caught up to Chandler’s bike, parked next to a bridge but he was nowhere in sight. A dirt road leading down a hill and presumably under the bridge veered off the road and I assumed this is where Chandler had disappeared to.

Lets hope they calculated that right…

Handbuilt terraces

Tiers of green

A few minutes later, Chandler appeared at the bottom of the hill and I knew he had found us a campsite. We checked out the other side of the bridge to see if there was a better option, but we didn’t see any. When there was a break in traffic, we pushed our bikes down the path to a small clearing near a stream and some rice paddles. We reasoned that we were on a segment of the old highway where it switched back to cross the stream with a short span, but the bridge was gone and there were huge boulders blocking the road from cars and trucks. We picked out our campsite on the flattest area where we could only be seen from the midpoint of the span of the new bridge.

Sweet campsite

Our new stools made relaxing and cooking dinner much more comfortable. The sun was just starting to set and we were hearing fewer and fewer cars. We had a meal of ramen and mashed potatoes before setting up the tent, which we did last in case someone came by. We had no such problems and found ourselves snuggled in our sleeping bags and asleep before we knew it.

March 31 – April 1, 2013

Distance: 29.1 miles        Climbing: 2506.6 ft

We had a pretty tough day battling the headwind, the heat and the traffic. The first part of the ride was in a dry dusty canyon like area which the road followed for a while before starting a big climb. The landscape was wide open with some pretty huge rice terraces, but everything was brown brown brown. We were having trouble getting into a rhythm to grind up the hill so I ended up playing Rhianna’s greatest hits out loud on the speakers on our tablet. It helped me get me up the hill and I’m sure Chandler enjoyed it too. The best part was the looks we got from the farmers selling vegetables by the side of the road. We had a nice long super fast descent on nice pavement which just about made us forget about the climb.

Brown terraces

Creative rock slope stabilization

As we were getting close to Lancang we started up yet another hill and the battery on the tablet was dead, so when we passed a gazebo, we stopped for a break. This structure was one of the more interesting aspects of the ride. It turned out to be part of a tiny rest area which was dominated by a nicely kept garden with paths running through it. We took time for a snack and a snooze in the shade of the gazebo before hitting the road again.

Perfect spot for a nap

We rode into Lancang and stopped at the first hotel we saw. It was another typical Chinese low-end business hotel (business being a broad term), but it was pretty cheap, had clean sheets and wifi.

After dumping our panniers, we peddled off to find a supermarket. This actually turned out to be quite easy. We went through a crowded market and up a short hill and there was a supermarket. This store was similar to almost every other one we have seen in China. There were aisles of unidentifiable packaged goods, a bulk section and a hot lunch bar, which mostly offered chicken feet salad, quail eggs and soups. This supermarket did contain one of the more impressive jello-like substance displays I’ve ever seen. Having never been a fan of the stuff I can’t understand the draw, but there must have been at least 40 different flavors.

Just a fraction of the jello display

When we woke up early enough for the start of the ballgame, it was raining hard and that was enough for us to decide not to ride. We had a nice time lounging around, listening to the Red Sox over the internet. I spent time writing up a few blog posts to email to Tayler to post online for us.

After the rain let up, we went to the supermarket for a little grocery shopping. Chandler found a military surplus store the night before, so we decided to swing back around to look at some chairs. We parked our bikes and a woman in a tight mini dress and pink, sparkly high heels came out to help us. Not what you would expect at a military surplus store. We ended up purchasing two lightweight camp stools, a hat and a police t-shirt.

The day was wonderfully uneventful. While I don’t mind taking a day to do absolutely nothing, it is all we could really do in Lancang. There are hundreds of thousands of people living in the city but there isn’t any clear tourist infrastructure (foreign or domestic), museums or even a cinema that we saw. There really wasn’t much to do. We looked around the internet, but there wasn’t any info there in English. Maybe there was more than just clothing shops and random goods stores, but nothing we could find. Either way, it was really strange.

Making dinner in the room

March 30, 2013

Distance: 42.1 miles        Climbing: 2401.6 ft

We must have started biking during rush hour, because the road was busy. After yesterday’s excitement, neither of us was interested of having a repeat or dealing with the traffic.

As usual, we encounter a 400m pass, which we were expecting. The pavement was smooth and trees lined both sides of the road. If only every pass had such a nice road. The sky was filling up with clouds, so we were having a nice time climbing when we heard a boom in the distance. Suddenly, it was raining on us heavily. We stopped and rushed to pull out our raincoats which were buried deep in our panniers.  It was a good thing we stopped because a semi carrying a segment of a wind tower came charging up the hill. This thing was an extra large load and probably would have swept us off the winding road.

Raincoat finally making its debut

Wind turbine section

The rain ended as quickly as it began, so onwards and upwards we went, shedding our raincoats as the sun came back out and cooked us. The scenery was incredible on the way down the other side. All the hillsides were terraced with tea bushes or rice fields. The change in air temperature was obvious as we descended, becoming thicker and warmer. After a few switchbacks, we were at the bottom of a valley with only a few miles to the day’s destination, Mengman.

Terraces

When we hit Mengman, it was dirty and smelled like gasoline. The main drag was a dusty cobble stoned track that we we’re much interesting in rambling around on. Before we knew it we were at the base of the hill, out of town – back in the midst of banana plantations almost immediately. Once we realized that we had cleared the town, neither of us felt like turning around. We figured we could find a place to camp or find another town with a hotel. After a quick snack, we continued on.

We biked along a shady road which eventually became steeper and steeper. My legs were tired so I soon fell behind Chandler while cursing the terrain. We passed a number of brand new buildings and hotels, but nothing was open. As we crested a pretty large hill we came to a newish looking development of four story buildings built with pseudo-rustic wooden gables and slate roofs. Most of the shops were closed, vacant or were converted into housing, but after a little bit of looking we found a hotel that was open.

Chinese sunset

As usual, Chandler went in and all the arrangements for us and the bikes. After looking at the room, he said it was 80¥ and we might be able to squeeze the bikes in with us. I expected the place to be a dive, but the room ended up being large enough for us to have a game of catch. The room could only be described as palatial.

We settled in, taking up less than half of the room and tried the TV. On occasion, we have been able to find a movie of the news in English. Tonight, all we found were Kung Fu films and melodramas. Chandler decided to go out and find some food while I just read. He came back a few minutes later with stir fried noodles. He quickly devoured his meal and wanted another. After convincing me to join him, we went down to the street. I was in luck. These noodles could be made vegetarian, so for the first time in China, I enjoyed the street food with Chandler.

March 29, 2013

Distance: 31.2 miles       Climbing: 2979 ft

We woke up early to get on the road before it got too hot. We cooked up a breakfast of oatmeal with the hot water heater in the hotel. Getting out of a big city is never my favorite thing since it takes awhile to actually get through all the urban sprawl at the edges before it thins into the countryside. The industrial areas that surround these big Chinese cities always clouded with noxious fumes from partially combusted gasoline and welded metal. On top of this the air is usually full of dust and plumes of diesel exhaust from loads of big trucks.

The western suburbs of Jinghong were no exception and on top of that, our GPS map was not as detailed as it could have been so we took the wrong road and ended up stuck on the busy new highway and not the quiet older road.  When we finally hit the countryside, the traffic did not let up. We had a small shoulder covered in deep drifts of sand and gravel that had blown off the convoys of uncovered haul trucks carrying fill to yet another construction site. Huge concrete light poles were staged periodically, laid askew along the shoulder which forced us to swerve out into traffic as we passed each one. As we hit a really sandy patch, my front pannier hit one of the poles and before I knew it I was laid out on the road with my bicycle on top of me. As a motorbike swerved around me, my first thought was to get the hell out of the road before a truck runs me over.

Chandler was immediately at my side, giving me a hug, picking up my bike and collecting my panniers that had flown off in the crash. Luckily, no trucks came during my crash or after as we cleaned the road of my belongs and I wasn’t badly hurt. It was obvious I was going to have some major bruises and a few scrapes, but nothing to worry about. My bike took a bit of a beating too with a few scratched, the bar tape ripped off and my front break had exploded as my front handlebars spun 180 degrees, but Chandler fixed everything in a matter of minutes.

We started back up, a little slower and a little shaken, and soon found ourselves climbing a hill. After a few miles we passed the pit where the sand and gravel was coming from so there were fewer big trucks on the road and the shoulder was passable again. We hadn’t done any research about the road we were on, so we had no idea how big of a hill we were climbing. In a way, not knowing made it easier because we couldn’t agonize over how much further there was to go. At 1200m ASL we began to see tea terraces, which distracted us from our climb.

Tea plantation

When we finally crested the pass, we hit a major headwind which slowed us down to half our normal downhill speed. It is so frustrating to climb a big hill and not be able to full relax and rest on the downhill because you must peddle to keep moving. As we started back uphill, our moods sank and were soon very grumpy. A few miles from town, we stopped at a gas station for a soda break.

Chan taking a break

Menghai was another Chinese city in the midst of a transformation. A large highway bisected the development with the old town on the left and a set of massive apartment complexes encroaching on the rice and vegetable fields on the right. We rode into the bus station area, found a few hotels and inquired to the prices, settling on the cheapest one as they all looked about the same. The floor and walls were dirty and the room smelled of stale cigarette smoke, but the beds were perfectly clean. The bathroom also came with some interesting “art” on the tiles.

Bathroom tile

There weren’t any restaurants near us, so we headed to the market. There we bought garlic, potatoes, onions, green onions, ginger and tofu for about $4 USD. We couldn’t believe how cheap the veggies were and headed back to make ourselves a feast on our campstove. After dinner, I watched a movie while Chandler went out to find us a couple beers. He came back with not just the drinks, but a Chinese knockoff Lego set (“It was only $4!!!”). He is no longer allowed to go out shopping alone.

Dinner prep

Chandler’s purchase