From central Guizhou to the north west of Guizhou
Door: Vincent
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Vincent
14 Oktober 2011 | China, Chishui
Ride 10, Kaili – Taijiang, a rainy day
After staying at Kaili for a while it was time to get on my bicycle again, but my timing couldn’t have been worse as it was raining. First it wasn’t too bad, just a little drizzle, but it quickly changed to normal rain. Even when I arrived in Taijiang, it kept on raining till I went to bed. Such a boring day.
During the day I did meet a guy on a motorbike while I was having a short break under a bridge, where I could cover from the rain for a moment. We had a short chat and just before I took off he asked if he could take a photo of me… haha, of course!
Most of the day I cycled next to the highway, but I was glad I wasn’t on it. Although there I would have been able to skip the two big climbs as the highway goes right through the mountains. But cycling on the normal road is much more interesting as I cycle through small villages and meet more people and every time someone gives me a thumbs up or yells something, it makes me smile and it gives me new energy to continue cycling.
Ride 11, Taijiang – Zhenyuan, more rain and more climbing
When I woke up in the early morning it was still raining, it actually never stopped. They night before I had asked the manager of the hotel which way I had to go to Zhenyuan and he told me it was better to go a different direction than I had planned. But that would mean I had to go all around the mountains which would be about a 130km ride which I could never do in one day. Normally this would have been ok but not today, because I had planned to meet Funny (she’s Chinese and we taught together at New Start) and she could only stay in Zhenyuan for 1 night.
So I took the short route through the mountains, but I quickly found out why I was advised not to. The road was really really steep and I soon had to get off my bike and walk up the mountain. It went on for a long time, sometimes cycling and sometimes walking (in the rain).
After a couple of hours I was getting pretty hungry, so I planned to eat lunch in the first town that I would arrive at. When I finally arrived at a tiny town I saw two people eating inside a house and outside was a small cooker. So I asked them if I could eat something here and they looked a bit strange at each other. So I asked again and waited. Then the man said it was ok and told me to sit inside. The woman told me to wait for a moment and she walked away. 2 minutes later she came back with 3 eggs in her hands and fried them for me. I was given them with a bowl of rice and it tasted great. When I was finished I asked them how much it cost and they told me it was free…. uhm sorry… nothing, are you sure?!? And yes, I really didn’t have to pay. So I guess it wasn’t a restaurant after all, but just two local people that were really friendly!
Then somewhere in the afternoon it stopped raining, but it wasn’t for long. I was just able to take a few photo’s and it started again :(. Because of the internet I knew before I would reach Zhenyuan there was another big climb. Although it was a long climb, it wasn’t so hard as the one in the morning, but it was still very tough. Actually this was the slowest day so far, 75km in 7.5 hours.
But at 4 o’clock I finally arrived at Zhenyuan, so I phoned Funny where the hostel was she had booked and we met up. The hostel was a really nice place. It had just opened last April and it’s an old temple. Really beautiful and everything is in the old style. Some rooms are very nice and luxurious, but those are too expensive for me (especially now during the National Day, which is the second biggest holiday in China after Spring Festival, and prices double, triple or even quadruple). So Funny had booked a dorm room with shared bathroom which was reasonable priced during the holiday.
It was great to meet an old friend again and even nicer to finally have a normal conversation in English again. But as I was soaking wet I first went for a warm shower and to put on some dry clothes. In the evening we went out for dinner and had a wonderful hotpot with fish, meat and lots of veggies. After dinner we went back to the hotel and bought some beers along the way that we drank at the roof of the hotel.
Unfortunately Funny had to leave the next morning as she had only four days off work and she wanted to see more places than just Zenhyuan. So I explored the town by myself, but it was still raining a little bit. So I thought about buying an umbrella, but then some teenaged girls were giggling and pointing at me. So I said hello to them and one of them came up and asked if they could take a photo. Of course I’m ok, so they took some photo’s and they actually spoke a little English. They thanked me for the photo’s and one of the girl offered me her umbrella. I that I didn’t need it as it wasn’t raining so heavily, but she insisted, so I took it anyway :). Actually the umbrella came in really handy as it kept raining for another 2 full days.
Because every night the hostel was practically fully booked I had to change rooms a few times (as I never book ahead), and at the third day I ended up in a 6-person dorm. My roommates were 3 girls and 2 boys, all Chinese and only two of them spoke a little English. Most of them were students and had a week holiday, so were traveling around.
In the evening we all went for dinner together. The two girls had some other friends that stayed in a different hotel and they also joined for dinner, so in total we were with 10 people. After dinner we went back to the hostel and played a game together (killer game or some call it werewolf game).
Ride 12, Zhenyuan – Huangping, a thousand km!!
Today I reached the 1000km mark!!! It did cost me a lot of effort, because as usual there were some steep climbs again, but luckily the road was in very good condition, so that made it a little easier. Especially going down was a piece of cake. While before 30 km/h was scary fast on the really steep mountain paths, today I went down with 40 km/h and sometimes even reached 50 km/h although that was a little too fast on a bike.
After 70km I stopped in Huangping as the climbing wears me down a bit quicker than before. In the evening I went out for dinner and ate some fried noodles at a small shop. While I was eating the owner asked me if I wanted to join them with the hotpot they were having. Hotpot is always nice, so yes, great :). After this dinner I went back to the hotel and in the lobby were several people. The two women there were pushing their children to say something to me in English. So I talked a little bit with them (in English and Chinese) and then they asked me if I wanted to join them to play majiang. I’m not really good at it, so instead of playing I just watched. And before I returned to my room, of course they asked me if it was ok to take a few photo’s :).
Ride 13, Huangping – Langdong, a relaxing day in the sun
As so many days the day started with a big climb and this is the worst in my opinion. No climb is nice, but when it’s the first thing in the morning and you’re not yet in the rhythm of cycling and not thinking about anything else it is much worse. Unfortunately there’s not much to do about it, then just start cycling uphill.
At one point I saw a sign on a crossing that mentioned Wang’art, where I wanted to go, so I turned onto the road but after about 100 meters the road changed into a muddy dirt road. Well, no way I’m going through that, as it seemed to go on for a while. So I turned around a went the other road to do a little detour.
Along this way I met a Chinese boy (somewhere in he’s mid twenties) who was also cycling and several times I passed him and he passed me again. He had one of those old fashioned bicycles without gears, but he kept up with me for a long time. Even going up several mountains he kept on cycling, but he had huge legs, so I’m sure he has done this many times before. Only when the mountains got really steep he stepped off the bike and walked up the mountain. But as soon as I was going down the mountain he speeded past me again.
A little while later I passed through a tiny village, but it was really busy. There was a market along the main road and there were lots of little stands and people walking everywhere. As it was around 12 o’clock, I stopped to eat lunch and I got the most beautiful bowl of noodles I have ever had in China. Big flat rice noodles, with beef and little cherry tomatoes… wonderful!!
When I continued cycling I passed a small hotel and as this village had given me such a nice vibe I decided to stay here for a day, as after all this is a holiday and not a race. At the hotel I asked if they had some clothes hangers for me so I could do some laundry, but instead the girl offered to wash my clothes for me. Well, that’s great, but for how much? And she said it was free… oh wow, that’s amazing!
So after taking a shower I gave my clothes away and took a little walk through town. Actually besides this colorful market there wasn’t much else, but finally after about a week the sun showed itself again, so I decided to sit along the river and read a book. It was really relaxing and actually a bit hot again, so nice after the cold from the last days.
Ride 14, Langdong – Zhuzang, too much baijiu
When I left ... I felt really good. It also helped to first 10km were flat, but even the next 10-20km when I had to climb a never-ending mountain I still felt good. I guess the short ride from the day before and an afternoon of relaxing in the sun had done me good. I had almost no pains and my legs could keep going and going, like a Duracell battery :).
After about 80km though I was ready to look for a hotel, but the first 2 towns were too small and didn't have any. But then suddenly I arrived in a bit bigger place and I asked two boys and they showed me a nice hotel. The people there were very friendly and also asked me to join them for dinner.
During dinner one of the men brought a bottle of baijiu and of course I couldn't say no. And although the taste is still not great, at least I get used to it now. Only this time we drank really a lot. Then suddenly two policemen came in the room and asked me for my passport. I wasn't really surprised by this as often the local police checks my visa because China wants to track their tourists. But while one of the police officers was copying my visa, the other was having fun with us and started taking lots of photo's with his iPhone. I was even given a one-month old baby to pose with her and her dad. After dinner I was taken to K-tv, but as we continued drinking beer there, I can't remember much of it as I blacked-out.
Ride 15, Zhuzang – Zunyi, another night in the bar
The next morning I woke up out of my coma and as invincible as I had felt the day before, so bad did I feel this morning. I didn't have a bad headache luckily, but I was really tired and really really thirsty (I actually drank more than 4 liters this day, also because of the sunny weather though). When I got on my bike I even still felt a little bit drunk. Any other day I might have stayed for a extra day, but I really wanted to reach Zunyin and it was about 80km according to the map and from what I could remember from the internet there weren't any big mountains, so that would be doable.
But I was wrong... there was one huge mountain and it took me A LOT of effort to cross it. On the plus side there was an amazing view, but I've seen so many of those already by now, that this day I couldn't appreciate it as much.
Another it noticed when I was up on the mountain was that my front brake didn’t work properly anymore. I guess it’s from all those downhill rides where I have to brake all the time, but the timing now was pretty bad as I was on top of another mountain. Luckily I saw a little repair shop for cars, trucks and motorbikes, so I showed him that my brake didn’t work and asked if he had a the tools to fix it. But unfortunately none of his tools fitted.
So I continued, but then I remembered I had varies tools in the bottom of one of my bags. So I got of my bike and unpacked one of my bags. There I found the tools, but I didn’t know which bolt to tighten (as I know almost nothing about bicycles). I tried a few, but the brake still didn’t work, so I continued with just my back brake. I did take some more breaks going downhill as now my brake would heat up even faster and when spraying some water on it, it started to sizzle and steam would come off it.
Anyway after 7 horrible hours on my bike I finally arrived in Zunyin. I quickly checked into a hotel and went out for dinner. On the way back to my hotel I was looking for an internet bar as the internet didn't work properly in my hotel for some reason.
When I was asking around a man was really friendly and walked me to an internet bar. But inside they said I needed an ID and I didn't have my passport with me. So I left again, but then the man offered me to go with him and use his computer. He knew some people in a hotel on the same street, so I joined him. When I was finished I thanked him and wanted to go home as I had had a long day already, but he insisted to drink a beer with me. Well, I still remembered last night all too well, so I told him tomorrow would be better for me. But as so often a "no" is not accepted, so I agreed for just one bottle of beer….
We took a taxi and drove to a nearby bar. Inside he knew lots of people and we were given our own table and it was soon filled with bottles of beers :S. A little bit later his sister came by and he told me she was the owner of this bar, so that explained a lot. It was nice to be in a bar again with English dance music and I was even more surprised when I heard a Dutch song which I think was Lange Frans... how strange is that in China!!
Anyway, luckily the beers were going down well as I'm more experienced with this than baijiu. After the bar we went to a different place for a night snack and there a bottle of baijiu was brought to the table. BUT this evening I really refused and didn't drink any. Then finally at 3 o'clock in the morning I got back at my hotel and slept really well.
The day after I had agreed to meet the same man again and in the afternoon we drove on his scooter to the edge of town where his parents lived. There he played majiang with some friends and I watched, slowly I'm understanding more of it. After that we went back to the center and we drove to his sister’s house. She lives in a big flat and has a really nice apartment with a beautiful view over the city. That means the view is nice from the apartment, because it’s so high, but what you see is nothing but a dirty industrial city ;). The decoration of her home is really modern (in contrast with most Chinese homes) and I actually wouldn’t mind living in such an apartment. I guess the business from the bar is pretty good :).
While they played majiang, her husband prepared a big dinner and I could use their computer. In the evening we went to the bar again, but this time I joined their daughter and her friends in a K-tv room. Most of them spoke some English, so we had a lot of fun.
The next day I decided to take it easy and relax a bit and to get my brakes fixed of course! Luckily there were several bike shops in the center and they had it fixed in 5 seconds and now I know how to do it too. I also bought a pair of cycling trousers as I only have 2 pairs of shorts and I’m sure it will get colder soon as it was when I was cycling in the rain.
Ride 16, Zunyi – Renhuai, a nice hotel for cheap
Today I had another day with lots of energy. I think slowly I’m getting my cycling legs as even the mountains get a little less tough (although it’s difficult to compare as every ride is different). But in the morning I had cycled a lot and with the big climb in the afternoon I didn’t feel too bad. So after 7 hours of cycling I had done 100km and I had arrived in Renhuai which I was happy with to stay at.
I asked around for a hotel and some boys who were working said they knew a hotel. They asked me how much I wanted to pay and if 100 yuan was ok. I said it was a bit too expensive for me and they were surprised, but it worked because the next price was 50 yuan. Then they continued talking, but I didn’t understand much of what they were saying. Then suddenly I understood they wanted me to load my bicycle in their truck and we would drive to the hotel. Well, I prefer to cycle, but ok. When we arrived there, one of the boys said his father owned this hotel and it was quite nice. Actually the room was worth the 100 yuan, but instead I paid 50 for it and even the breakfast for the next morning was included, a great deal :).
Ride 17, Renhuai – Xishui, a muddy road
At 6.30 I woke up because of heavy rain with thunder and lightning. Of course I didn’t want to cycle with that weather, so I switched off my alarm and went back to sleep. At 8 o’clock I woke up again and now it was dry. I wondered if I should leave or not, so I checked the weather on the internet and it said a little rain for today and heavy rain the next day. I didn’t want to wait for two days in this city, so I decided to go cycling.
The first 15km I didn’t actually need to cycle as it was all downhill, such an easy morning :). When I arrived at an intersection I asked the way and two men advised me not to continue and to go back the same way to take a different road to Xishui. I only understood the road wasn’t good, but I didn’t understand why exactly. Anyway I didn’t want to go back up that mountain as going down only took me about 20 minutes, but going up would be more than an hour backtracking. So I took my chances and continued as planned.
Soon there was a lot of mud on the road that had come down from the mountain and it colored the whole road red. Luckily it wasn’t too bad as underneath the mud was a normal road. But it did make me and my bike really dirty.
I was happy I took this road, because it was really scenic as it went through a gorge with a river in the middle and two huge mountains along sides. There weren’t many climbs, but the road went just up and down a little, quite nice. Along the way I met varies friendly people with whom I had a nice chat with while taking a small break. One time a car actually drove along side while I was cycling and they started talking to me :).
Then mid afternoon I came closer to Xishui, and as this city is build on top of a huge mountain, I had to decide if I would do this climb today or the next morning. I actually felt quite ok after the 65km I had done so far, so I decided to get it over with, so it would be a whole lot easier the next day.
Well, 20km uphill with an increase of height of 800m was a tough climb! Luckily the road wasn’t too steep, so it was doable… it just took a long time. After about 2 hours I had finally reached Xishui, so I started looking for a hotel and this was more difficult than I thought it would be. It’s quite a big city, but I was only able to find one hotel and it was a bit expensive, but as I was really tired I took it anyway.
Once in my room I wanted to take a shower as the muddy road had made me really really dirty, but there was no water…. what the F*@#!!! I put on my dirty clothes again and went to the reception. “Oh yes”, they said. “The water will be on again at 21.00” (and now it was 6). WHAT, you must be joking!!! But no, I really had to wait, what I thought was unbelievable, but I had no choice. So I went out in my dirty clothes, ate dinner and returned to my room to wait for the water to be turned on again.
Then at a quarter past nine the water still didn’t work, so I went down to the reception. When I explained the water still didn’t work the girl started laughing, but she soon saw my expression and understood I wasn’t happy at all, so she called the manager. He checked some things in my room, but didn’t understand why it didn’t work. Then he checked another room and there it did work, so I moved all my stuff and could finally take a warm shower!
Ride 18, Xishui – Chishui, rain and fog
This was the first day that I had to decline more than climb and I could started the day with 25km downhill, sweet!!! The only downside was that it was raining again and because of the night before with the water issue, I didn’t want to stay for another day.
So I put on my rain cape and started cycling. After 5km I was on top of the mountain and besides the rain there was a dense fog. Sometimes I couldn’t see further than about 20 meters, but it did gave a nice and mysterious view. Luckily the road wasn’t too steep and there weren’t too many holes in the road, so I could go down with a decent speed.
When I had cycled about 2/3 of the way, it started to rain heavily, but I didn’t wanted to stop as Chishui was in reach. So I continued and luckily my bags are still waterproof, although I was in doubt along the way as it really rained heavily.
Around 14.30 I had arrived in Chishui after 100km of cycling and I started looking for a hotel. I didn’t want to search too long as it was still raining and my hands looked like I’d been sitting in a bath for 1-2 hours, all wrinkly and soft.
The first two hotels weren’t that great, a little expensive and no internet. And the third one wasn’t any better, but the girl there was really friendly. She talked a lot, but unfortunately I didn’t understand much of it. It seems that around here people talk with an accent which makes it even more difficult for me to understand Mandarin.
But then she called someone and gave me the phone and it was her friend who spoke perfect English. She said that this girl would help me to look for another hotel. Wow, I never had a person from one hotel helping me look for another, but I was happy! So she phoned varies places and finally found one with a decent price and internet.
But how to get there? I didn’t know the way and we couldn’t take a taxi as I’m by bicycle. So she offered to ride in front of me with her scooter, but when she went to get it, it didn’t work :S. By now I was really done with all the searching for a hotel, so I almost left and wanted to go for any other hotel, but then she said she would take a taxi and I could follow it.
Luckily because of the traffic the taxi couldn’t drive too fast, so it wasn’t too difficult to keep up. Once we arrived I saw that this hotel was next to a bakery, so now I’m going there every day to buy cookies, bread and other snacks. Of course I thanked this girl for all her help and after checking in she went back to her own hotel.
I have now cycled all the way through Guizhou from the south east to the north west and I have arrived at the border of Sichuan which will be my next destination. Sichuan is famed for its spicy food and beautiful girls, so I’m really looking forward to it!!! Although there are also huge mountains which makes it a bit less attractive…
@ Mam: er reden een hoop politiewagens langs op de snelweg, maar geen 1 maakte zelfs aanstalten om te stoppen. En de snelweg is niet zoals in Nederland. Hier is het gedurende de dag zo rustig als en zondagmorgen in Nederland. Het zijn inderdaad grote afstanden en inmiddels heb ik de 1500km al bereikt!
@ F&L: Van het fietsen word ik zeker ook erg moe. Ben dan ook blij dat ik nu weer een paar dagen rust heb. En ik geniet zeker van alle dorpjes, want ik weet zeker dat ik er niet nog een keer doorheen ga fietsen!
As usual, here are the links to the rides I did:
Kaili – Taijiang: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/52448280
Taijiang – Zhenyuan: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/52449096
Zhenyuan – Huangping: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/52919930
Huangping – Langdong: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/53809080
Langdong – Zhuzang: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/53809786
Zhuzang – Zunyi: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/53810736
Zunyi – Renhuai: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54304090
Renhuai – Xishui: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54304394
Xishui – Chishui: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54304808
After staying at Kaili for a while it was time to get on my bicycle again, but my timing couldn’t have been worse as it was raining. First it wasn’t too bad, just a little drizzle, but it quickly changed to normal rain. Even when I arrived in Taijiang, it kept on raining till I went to bed. Such a boring day.
During the day I did meet a guy on a motorbike while I was having a short break under a bridge, where I could cover from the rain for a moment. We had a short chat and just before I took off he asked if he could take a photo of me… haha, of course!
Most of the day I cycled next to the highway, but I was glad I wasn’t on it. Although there I would have been able to skip the two big climbs as the highway goes right through the mountains. But cycling on the normal road is much more interesting as I cycle through small villages and meet more people and every time someone gives me a thumbs up or yells something, it makes me smile and it gives me new energy to continue cycling.
Ride 11, Taijiang – Zhenyuan, more rain and more climbing
When I woke up in the early morning it was still raining, it actually never stopped. They night before I had asked the manager of the hotel which way I had to go to Zhenyuan and he told me it was better to go a different direction than I had planned. But that would mean I had to go all around the mountains which would be about a 130km ride which I could never do in one day. Normally this would have been ok but not today, because I had planned to meet Funny (she’s Chinese and we taught together at New Start) and she could only stay in Zhenyuan for 1 night.
So I took the short route through the mountains, but I quickly found out why I was advised not to. The road was really really steep and I soon had to get off my bike and walk up the mountain. It went on for a long time, sometimes cycling and sometimes walking (in the rain).
After a couple of hours I was getting pretty hungry, so I planned to eat lunch in the first town that I would arrive at. When I finally arrived at a tiny town I saw two people eating inside a house and outside was a small cooker. So I asked them if I could eat something here and they looked a bit strange at each other. So I asked again and waited. Then the man said it was ok and told me to sit inside. The woman told me to wait for a moment and she walked away. 2 minutes later she came back with 3 eggs in her hands and fried them for me. I was given them with a bowl of rice and it tasted great. When I was finished I asked them how much it cost and they told me it was free…. uhm sorry… nothing, are you sure?!? And yes, I really didn’t have to pay. So I guess it wasn’t a restaurant after all, but just two local people that were really friendly!
Then somewhere in the afternoon it stopped raining, but it wasn’t for long. I was just able to take a few photo’s and it started again :(. Because of the internet I knew before I would reach Zhenyuan there was another big climb. Although it was a long climb, it wasn’t so hard as the one in the morning, but it was still very tough. Actually this was the slowest day so far, 75km in 7.5 hours.
But at 4 o’clock I finally arrived at Zhenyuan, so I phoned Funny where the hostel was she had booked and we met up. The hostel was a really nice place. It had just opened last April and it’s an old temple. Really beautiful and everything is in the old style. Some rooms are very nice and luxurious, but those are too expensive for me (especially now during the National Day, which is the second biggest holiday in China after Spring Festival, and prices double, triple or even quadruple). So Funny had booked a dorm room with shared bathroom which was reasonable priced during the holiday.
It was great to meet an old friend again and even nicer to finally have a normal conversation in English again. But as I was soaking wet I first went for a warm shower and to put on some dry clothes. In the evening we went out for dinner and had a wonderful hotpot with fish, meat and lots of veggies. After dinner we went back to the hotel and bought some beers along the way that we drank at the roof of the hotel.
Unfortunately Funny had to leave the next morning as she had only four days off work and she wanted to see more places than just Zenhyuan. So I explored the town by myself, but it was still raining a little bit. So I thought about buying an umbrella, but then some teenaged girls were giggling and pointing at me. So I said hello to them and one of them came up and asked if they could take a photo. Of course I’m ok, so they took some photo’s and they actually spoke a little English. They thanked me for the photo’s and one of the girl offered me her umbrella. I that I didn’t need it as it wasn’t raining so heavily, but she insisted, so I took it anyway :). Actually the umbrella came in really handy as it kept raining for another 2 full days.
Because every night the hostel was practically fully booked I had to change rooms a few times (as I never book ahead), and at the third day I ended up in a 6-person dorm. My roommates were 3 girls and 2 boys, all Chinese and only two of them spoke a little English. Most of them were students and had a week holiday, so were traveling around.
In the evening we all went for dinner together. The two girls had some other friends that stayed in a different hotel and they also joined for dinner, so in total we were with 10 people. After dinner we went back to the hostel and played a game together (killer game or some call it werewolf game).
Ride 12, Zhenyuan – Huangping, a thousand km!!
Today I reached the 1000km mark!!! It did cost me a lot of effort, because as usual there were some steep climbs again, but luckily the road was in very good condition, so that made it a little easier. Especially going down was a piece of cake. While before 30 km/h was scary fast on the really steep mountain paths, today I went down with 40 km/h and sometimes even reached 50 km/h although that was a little too fast on a bike.
After 70km I stopped in Huangping as the climbing wears me down a bit quicker than before. In the evening I went out for dinner and ate some fried noodles at a small shop. While I was eating the owner asked me if I wanted to join them with the hotpot they were having. Hotpot is always nice, so yes, great :). After this dinner I went back to the hotel and in the lobby were several people. The two women there were pushing their children to say something to me in English. So I talked a little bit with them (in English and Chinese) and then they asked me if I wanted to join them to play majiang. I’m not really good at it, so instead of playing I just watched. And before I returned to my room, of course they asked me if it was ok to take a few photo’s :).
Ride 13, Huangping – Langdong, a relaxing day in the sun
As so many days the day started with a big climb and this is the worst in my opinion. No climb is nice, but when it’s the first thing in the morning and you’re not yet in the rhythm of cycling and not thinking about anything else it is much worse. Unfortunately there’s not much to do about it, then just start cycling uphill.
At one point I saw a sign on a crossing that mentioned Wang’art, where I wanted to go, so I turned onto the road but after about 100 meters the road changed into a muddy dirt road. Well, no way I’m going through that, as it seemed to go on for a while. So I turned around a went the other road to do a little detour.
Along this way I met a Chinese boy (somewhere in he’s mid twenties) who was also cycling and several times I passed him and he passed me again. He had one of those old fashioned bicycles without gears, but he kept up with me for a long time. Even going up several mountains he kept on cycling, but he had huge legs, so I’m sure he has done this many times before. Only when the mountains got really steep he stepped off the bike and walked up the mountain. But as soon as I was going down the mountain he speeded past me again.
A little while later I passed through a tiny village, but it was really busy. There was a market along the main road and there were lots of little stands and people walking everywhere. As it was around 12 o’clock, I stopped to eat lunch and I got the most beautiful bowl of noodles I have ever had in China. Big flat rice noodles, with beef and little cherry tomatoes… wonderful!!
When I continued cycling I passed a small hotel and as this village had given me such a nice vibe I decided to stay here for a day, as after all this is a holiday and not a race. At the hotel I asked if they had some clothes hangers for me so I could do some laundry, but instead the girl offered to wash my clothes for me. Well, that’s great, but for how much? And she said it was free… oh wow, that’s amazing!
So after taking a shower I gave my clothes away and took a little walk through town. Actually besides this colorful market there wasn’t much else, but finally after about a week the sun showed itself again, so I decided to sit along the river and read a book. It was really relaxing and actually a bit hot again, so nice after the cold from the last days.
Ride 14, Langdong – Zhuzang, too much baijiu
When I left ... I felt really good. It also helped to first 10km were flat, but even the next 10-20km when I had to climb a never-ending mountain I still felt good. I guess the short ride from the day before and an afternoon of relaxing in the sun had done me good. I had almost no pains and my legs could keep going and going, like a Duracell battery :).
After about 80km though I was ready to look for a hotel, but the first 2 towns were too small and didn't have any. But then suddenly I arrived in a bit bigger place and I asked two boys and they showed me a nice hotel. The people there were very friendly and also asked me to join them for dinner.
During dinner one of the men brought a bottle of baijiu and of course I couldn't say no. And although the taste is still not great, at least I get used to it now. Only this time we drank really a lot. Then suddenly two policemen came in the room and asked me for my passport. I wasn't really surprised by this as often the local police checks my visa because China wants to track their tourists. But while one of the police officers was copying my visa, the other was having fun with us and started taking lots of photo's with his iPhone. I was even given a one-month old baby to pose with her and her dad. After dinner I was taken to K-tv, but as we continued drinking beer there, I can't remember much of it as I blacked-out.
Ride 15, Zhuzang – Zunyi, another night in the bar
The next morning I woke up out of my coma and as invincible as I had felt the day before, so bad did I feel this morning. I didn't have a bad headache luckily, but I was really tired and really really thirsty (I actually drank more than 4 liters this day, also because of the sunny weather though). When I got on my bike I even still felt a little bit drunk. Any other day I might have stayed for a extra day, but I really wanted to reach Zunyin and it was about 80km according to the map and from what I could remember from the internet there weren't any big mountains, so that would be doable.
But I was wrong... there was one huge mountain and it took me A LOT of effort to cross it. On the plus side there was an amazing view, but I've seen so many of those already by now, that this day I couldn't appreciate it as much.
Another it noticed when I was up on the mountain was that my front brake didn’t work properly anymore. I guess it’s from all those downhill rides where I have to brake all the time, but the timing now was pretty bad as I was on top of another mountain. Luckily I saw a little repair shop for cars, trucks and motorbikes, so I showed him that my brake didn’t work and asked if he had a the tools to fix it. But unfortunately none of his tools fitted.
So I continued, but then I remembered I had varies tools in the bottom of one of my bags. So I got of my bike and unpacked one of my bags. There I found the tools, but I didn’t know which bolt to tighten (as I know almost nothing about bicycles). I tried a few, but the brake still didn’t work, so I continued with just my back brake. I did take some more breaks going downhill as now my brake would heat up even faster and when spraying some water on it, it started to sizzle and steam would come off it.
Anyway after 7 horrible hours on my bike I finally arrived in Zunyin. I quickly checked into a hotel and went out for dinner. On the way back to my hotel I was looking for an internet bar as the internet didn't work properly in my hotel for some reason.
When I was asking around a man was really friendly and walked me to an internet bar. But inside they said I needed an ID and I didn't have my passport with me. So I left again, but then the man offered me to go with him and use his computer. He knew some people in a hotel on the same street, so I joined him. When I was finished I thanked him and wanted to go home as I had had a long day already, but he insisted to drink a beer with me. Well, I still remembered last night all too well, so I told him tomorrow would be better for me. But as so often a "no" is not accepted, so I agreed for just one bottle of beer….
We took a taxi and drove to a nearby bar. Inside he knew lots of people and we were given our own table and it was soon filled with bottles of beers :S. A little bit later his sister came by and he told me she was the owner of this bar, so that explained a lot. It was nice to be in a bar again with English dance music and I was even more surprised when I heard a Dutch song which I think was Lange Frans... how strange is that in China!!
Anyway, luckily the beers were going down well as I'm more experienced with this than baijiu. After the bar we went to a different place for a night snack and there a bottle of baijiu was brought to the table. BUT this evening I really refused and didn't drink any. Then finally at 3 o'clock in the morning I got back at my hotel and slept really well.
The day after I had agreed to meet the same man again and in the afternoon we drove on his scooter to the edge of town where his parents lived. There he played majiang with some friends and I watched, slowly I'm understanding more of it. After that we went back to the center and we drove to his sister’s house. She lives in a big flat and has a really nice apartment with a beautiful view over the city. That means the view is nice from the apartment, because it’s so high, but what you see is nothing but a dirty industrial city ;). The decoration of her home is really modern (in contrast with most Chinese homes) and I actually wouldn’t mind living in such an apartment. I guess the business from the bar is pretty good :).
While they played majiang, her husband prepared a big dinner and I could use their computer. In the evening we went to the bar again, but this time I joined their daughter and her friends in a K-tv room. Most of them spoke some English, so we had a lot of fun.
The next day I decided to take it easy and relax a bit and to get my brakes fixed of course! Luckily there were several bike shops in the center and they had it fixed in 5 seconds and now I know how to do it too. I also bought a pair of cycling trousers as I only have 2 pairs of shorts and I’m sure it will get colder soon as it was when I was cycling in the rain.
Ride 16, Zunyi – Renhuai, a nice hotel for cheap
Today I had another day with lots of energy. I think slowly I’m getting my cycling legs as even the mountains get a little less tough (although it’s difficult to compare as every ride is different). But in the morning I had cycled a lot and with the big climb in the afternoon I didn’t feel too bad. So after 7 hours of cycling I had done 100km and I had arrived in Renhuai which I was happy with to stay at.
I asked around for a hotel and some boys who were working said they knew a hotel. They asked me how much I wanted to pay and if 100 yuan was ok. I said it was a bit too expensive for me and they were surprised, but it worked because the next price was 50 yuan. Then they continued talking, but I didn’t understand much of what they were saying. Then suddenly I understood they wanted me to load my bicycle in their truck and we would drive to the hotel. Well, I prefer to cycle, but ok. When we arrived there, one of the boys said his father owned this hotel and it was quite nice. Actually the room was worth the 100 yuan, but instead I paid 50 for it and even the breakfast for the next morning was included, a great deal :).
Ride 17, Renhuai – Xishui, a muddy road
At 6.30 I woke up because of heavy rain with thunder and lightning. Of course I didn’t want to cycle with that weather, so I switched off my alarm and went back to sleep. At 8 o’clock I woke up again and now it was dry. I wondered if I should leave or not, so I checked the weather on the internet and it said a little rain for today and heavy rain the next day. I didn’t want to wait for two days in this city, so I decided to go cycling.
The first 15km I didn’t actually need to cycle as it was all downhill, such an easy morning :). When I arrived at an intersection I asked the way and two men advised me not to continue and to go back the same way to take a different road to Xishui. I only understood the road wasn’t good, but I didn’t understand why exactly. Anyway I didn’t want to go back up that mountain as going down only took me about 20 minutes, but going up would be more than an hour backtracking. So I took my chances and continued as planned.
Soon there was a lot of mud on the road that had come down from the mountain and it colored the whole road red. Luckily it wasn’t too bad as underneath the mud was a normal road. But it did make me and my bike really dirty.
I was happy I took this road, because it was really scenic as it went through a gorge with a river in the middle and two huge mountains along sides. There weren’t many climbs, but the road went just up and down a little, quite nice. Along the way I met varies friendly people with whom I had a nice chat with while taking a small break. One time a car actually drove along side while I was cycling and they started talking to me :).
Then mid afternoon I came closer to Xishui, and as this city is build on top of a huge mountain, I had to decide if I would do this climb today or the next morning. I actually felt quite ok after the 65km I had done so far, so I decided to get it over with, so it would be a whole lot easier the next day.
Well, 20km uphill with an increase of height of 800m was a tough climb! Luckily the road wasn’t too steep, so it was doable… it just took a long time. After about 2 hours I had finally reached Xishui, so I started looking for a hotel and this was more difficult than I thought it would be. It’s quite a big city, but I was only able to find one hotel and it was a bit expensive, but as I was really tired I took it anyway.
Once in my room I wanted to take a shower as the muddy road had made me really really dirty, but there was no water…. what the F*@#!!! I put on my dirty clothes again and went to the reception. “Oh yes”, they said. “The water will be on again at 21.00” (and now it was 6). WHAT, you must be joking!!! But no, I really had to wait, what I thought was unbelievable, but I had no choice. So I went out in my dirty clothes, ate dinner and returned to my room to wait for the water to be turned on again.
Then at a quarter past nine the water still didn’t work, so I went down to the reception. When I explained the water still didn’t work the girl started laughing, but she soon saw my expression and understood I wasn’t happy at all, so she called the manager. He checked some things in my room, but didn’t understand why it didn’t work. Then he checked another room and there it did work, so I moved all my stuff and could finally take a warm shower!
Ride 18, Xishui – Chishui, rain and fog
This was the first day that I had to decline more than climb and I could started the day with 25km downhill, sweet!!! The only downside was that it was raining again and because of the night before with the water issue, I didn’t want to stay for another day.
So I put on my rain cape and started cycling. After 5km I was on top of the mountain and besides the rain there was a dense fog. Sometimes I couldn’t see further than about 20 meters, but it did gave a nice and mysterious view. Luckily the road wasn’t too steep and there weren’t too many holes in the road, so I could go down with a decent speed.
When I had cycled about 2/3 of the way, it started to rain heavily, but I didn’t wanted to stop as Chishui was in reach. So I continued and luckily my bags are still waterproof, although I was in doubt along the way as it really rained heavily.
Around 14.30 I had arrived in Chishui after 100km of cycling and I started looking for a hotel. I didn’t want to search too long as it was still raining and my hands looked like I’d been sitting in a bath for 1-2 hours, all wrinkly and soft.
The first two hotels weren’t that great, a little expensive and no internet. And the third one wasn’t any better, but the girl there was really friendly. She talked a lot, but unfortunately I didn’t understand much of it. It seems that around here people talk with an accent which makes it even more difficult for me to understand Mandarin.
But then she called someone and gave me the phone and it was her friend who spoke perfect English. She said that this girl would help me to look for another hotel. Wow, I never had a person from one hotel helping me look for another, but I was happy! So she phoned varies places and finally found one with a decent price and internet.
But how to get there? I didn’t know the way and we couldn’t take a taxi as I’m by bicycle. So she offered to ride in front of me with her scooter, but when she went to get it, it didn’t work :S. By now I was really done with all the searching for a hotel, so I almost left and wanted to go for any other hotel, but then she said she would take a taxi and I could follow it.
Luckily because of the traffic the taxi couldn’t drive too fast, so it wasn’t too difficult to keep up. Once we arrived I saw that this hotel was next to a bakery, so now I’m going there every day to buy cookies, bread and other snacks. Of course I thanked this girl for all her help and after checking in she went back to her own hotel.
I have now cycled all the way through Guizhou from the south east to the north west and I have arrived at the border of Sichuan which will be my next destination. Sichuan is famed for its spicy food and beautiful girls, so I’m really looking forward to it!!! Although there are also huge mountains which makes it a bit less attractive…
@ Mam: er reden een hoop politiewagens langs op de snelweg, maar geen 1 maakte zelfs aanstalten om te stoppen. En de snelweg is niet zoals in Nederland. Hier is het gedurende de dag zo rustig als en zondagmorgen in Nederland. Het zijn inderdaad grote afstanden en inmiddels heb ik de 1500km al bereikt!
@ F&L: Van het fietsen word ik zeker ook erg moe. Ben dan ook blij dat ik nu weer een paar dagen rust heb. En ik geniet zeker van alle dorpjes, want ik weet zeker dat ik er niet nog een keer doorheen ga fietsen!
As usual, here are the links to the rides I did:
Kaili – Taijiang: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/52448280
Taijiang – Zhenyuan: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/52449096
Zhenyuan – Huangping: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/52919930
Huangping – Langdong: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/53809080
Langdong – Zhuzang: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/53809786
Zhuzang – Zunyi: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/53810736
Zunyi – Renhuai: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54304090
Renhuai – Xishui: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54304394
Xishui – Chishui: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/54304808
-
14 Oktober 2011 - 11:19
Shemay:
Oh, oh, wat een belevenissen weer zeg. Inmiddels heb je al 1500 km gefietst. Geweldig!!! Je dijbeenspieren zullen wel zo hard als een plank zijn inmiddels. Wat zijn die Chinezen toch gastvrije mensen, zeker daar in het binnenland. Geweldig dat ze eieren voor je gingen bakken en dan hoef je ook nog niets te betalen. Volgens mij ben jij daar op je fiets zeker een "bezienswaardigheid" omdat men steeds foto's van je wil maken. Let wel op met het drinken van die Chinese brouwsels hoor. Peter heeft het tijdens onze vakantie ook geprobeerd, maar vond het verschrikkelijk sterk en vies. Het drinken van dit bocht kan toch niet gezond zijn voor een mens, zeker niet in de hoeveelheden die ze er daar van drinken. Ga je ook nog naar Chengdu nu je in de provincie Sichuan aangekomen bent? Een bezoek in Chengdu aan het Panda Breedingcenter is een echte aanrader! Het eten in Sichuan is echt veel scherper dan in de overige provincies hoor, maar als je niet te spicy bestelt dan is het overheerlijk! Ga het maar ervaren. Goeie reis verder en een dikke kus. -
01 Januari 2012 - 20:23
Lie Ming:
Gelukkig nieuwjaar Vincent ,hoewel het Chinese Nieuwjaar nog even opzich laat wachten. Hoe jij 31 dec hebt doorgebracht weten wij natuurlijk niet,misschien met gemengde gevoelens.Jonge,jonge,jonge wat een verslag,je mag er ooit wel een mooi boek van maken,en weet je ook precies hoeveel km je hebt gereden of heb ik daar over heen gelezen.Verder hebben we net contact gehad met Debbie uit Nieuw Zeeland en die was erg benieuwd hoe het met je is.Gene en Rene doen het erg goed en zijn inmiddels volwassen,maar studeren wel.Wat gaaf dat je chinees gaat studeren,en wat zijn we trots op je.Het gaat je goed
daar zijn wij inmiddels van op de hoogte.Super Groeten van Frans en Lie Ming
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
