2 days ago we rode from Menglun to Xishuangbanna (the "x" is pronounced as "sh"; just try saying this a few times, best after a couple of beers: just say "Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China"). It's a place that has sparked my imagination since the 90's; when we were backpacking in South East Asia, we met a number of other travelers who had been to China, and who were all wild about this place with the beautiful name, Xishuangbanna. My dad has also been here years ago, and he also strongly recommended visiting. I can only imagine what it looked like more than 20 years ago, I'm sure it's almost like another planet now compared to the early 90's... Anyway, we came to Jinghong - the proper Chinese name of the city - with the intention to take a rest day. It became 2 rest days and it could easily have been more than that too!
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When we left Menglun it was foggy and pretty cool
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| The first part of the ride: nice road, no traffic, interesting villages |
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| Coffee break in a small patch of rubber plantation, looking at a dragonfruit plantation that was being pruned |
The ride to Jinghong was nice, and can be split in 3 parts. Part 1 was very similar to the previous days, still on the old G213, very little traffic, hilly, a lot of nature, and hugging the expressway from time to time. After that first third of the way, it was time for (you guessed it): a coffee break. The second part was first a nice downhill, then mostly flat (which means: small hills one after the other). On the downhill however, the road suddenly worsened, and became bumpy and dusty. Most of that second part was like that, the old road was being upgraded and we were riding on and off the construction site... After that part, we had lunch. We just stopped in a restaurant that looked nice, no idea what they served. The people were absolutely fun, so happy to have us as their guests, the restaurant looked quite new, they had a nice outdoor dining area overlooking a lake at the back, and they served hotpot! (a bit like the Malaysian steamboat). After that really tasty and fun lunch, we were completely ready for the third stage of the ride, into Xishuangbanna. This part was mostly on the road that had already been upgraded; easy cycling, little gradients thanks to the massive works, nicely along the Mekong river.
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| The second part, on the downhill: dusty and bumpy |
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| Still the second part, between the construction sites |
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| Yes, dust! |
While yesterday was a planned rest day, today wasn't. We just did not get up early today, and once we got up, we both decided it seemed nice to stay an extra day. Pure laziness if you like... We did walk around both days, usually trying to find things: a spare pack of coffee, a new pot of Nutella, ... or just a leisurely walk along the Mekong (it's called Lancang river here). And a lot of writing (hey, 2 blog posts in 1 day!...) and reading: where to go, what to do, how to get there, how much time will we need to get to Chengdu, how can we get form there to Incheon in South Korea, which apps work well for China, and so on. When arriving in a new country there are a lot of things that are different (especially China!!!), and you need to find new ways to go about things. We have a very nice room in a place called Beans Homestay, and it's a nice city, a perfect location to do this kind of "work", and we could easily spend more time here even.
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| Our delicious hotpot lunch with the happy people in the back; before lunch, they made lots of pictures with us, good fun |
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| And the new road into Jinghong, you can see how much effort has been done to make it a smooth road |
But tomorrow, we'll be on the road again!