Today marks a "big day": we've been 100 days on the road, and I've been on my sabbatical since 4 months; halfway... "On the road" excludes our weeks in Koh Lipe with the kids. We had a number of days (17 to be precise) of island time, just enjoying some great holidaying with Sander and Vere. We did not count these in our "days on the road". But it does include all our rest days - like today. 100 days, it's surprising and it all went so fast! Or even more, I've been 4 months on leave already, it's incredible - and I'm happy there are 4 more months to come, and many more days of cycling too.
There will be around another 100 days cycling or so, this time excluding our trip to Australia in a few weeks.
 |
| Lots of blossoms in this region, cherry, apple, pear, I think also peach etc. We've been cycling for the past few days between 1600 and 2000m altitude, so the temperature is mild, ideal for these fruits |
It's been a great time already, but I'm not going to look back yet. That's reserved for the end, right. There is maybe a slight motivation dip at the moment though, probably because we have been cycling so much in the mountains over the past 5-6 weeks and it's becoming heavy I guess. The mountains are really beautiful and rewarding, yet it's challenging cycling, day in day out. We've both lost a lot of weight, not that that is a problem (at all) but it just indicates how heavy such a trip is. Time to recharge the batteries a bit!!!
 |
| An impressive train line going towards Heijing and onwards, through a very mountainous region |
Yesterday was another such demanding day. We had expected a walk in the park and looked forward to that. It wasn't - not really. Or maybe it was just us, could be. The beginning of the day was: getting out of Chuxiong. We all don't know this town, but it's a sizeable city, which means it takes a while to get out of it. The first 7km was still cycling in the city itself, which was actually not too bad, as there are cycling lanes everywhere. Once we got out on the road to really get us out of the city, it was much less fun. Dirty road and surroundings, lots of traffic with many trucks, no hard shoulder to ride on, ... Luckily this was only another 7km until we got to the S322, a much smaller road with a bit less traffic. We had some climbs (well, one climb was almost 300m up), and then came to another junction for again a smaller road, leading to Heijing.
 |
| The small local road, going towards Heijing |
We were hoping that this road would be very quiet, and good, and beautiful - because it was really a smaller local road. It was quieter, still with some traffic (of which quite a few trucks and buses too) but not too bad. The road was in a (very) bad condition however, some short good parts, some broken up parts, some stones, some bumps; a good gravel road is much more enjoyable than a broken up asphalt road. It was for sure not as flat or even slight downhill as we had expected, it was constantly going up and down, with some pretty steep sections. The cars seemed to be honking more than ever yesterday. It's normal in China, you know it, you accept it and to some degree, even appreciate it - because it tells you to be careful for the traffic coming up from behind. But you do hear those trucks anyway (and the buses, even worse!), you definitely hear the first honk, the other 6 are not needed (especially not that last one, just right next to your ear). I think the first 10 driving lessons are devoted to "how to honk a lot"... Not sure if it was just an impression or not, in any case it seemed like it was much more than usual, and it was the first time it really annoyed me.
 |
| Other road users, on a bumpy stretch; should probably call it Goat Road |
 |
| Yes, it was also beautiful for sure |
There was wind, and often headwind. We had some downhills on which we still had to push, because the wind was pushing us back... And finally, it was not even that beautiful. Having said that, there were some fantastic parts, but often it was not as fascinating as it has been the past weeks in China (yes I know, we've been spoilt). Last but not least, when we arrived in Heijing it was not really what we had expected - I'll get back to that. So, it was a bit of an off-day, and I guess that needs to happen too! I wanted to write that down too, to remember that it's not always just fun fun fun. There are days that things don't work out the way you'd like, and it's about pushing ahead - because you know it will get fine again!
 |
| Heijing pictures |
 |
| An old house |
 |
| The Wu mansion, the Wu family made big fortune during the salt mining era in Heijing |
 |
| From inside the Wu mansion |
Heijing then. It's a real old town - not like the one in Chuxiong - super authentic. After Chuxiong we were concerned we would find another "tourist trap", but that's not the case at all. In fact, we were hoping that Heijing was indeed authentic but a little bit touristy, so we'd find nice places to eat or sip a coffee, and enjoy the place for a couple of days. Well, we even had to look around to find a hotel; a pretty basic one (but nice). There are only some local restaurants, no English as usual, definitely no good coffee bars or pizzerias! But in a way, it's even nicer the way it is, as it's very authentic and not too busy. There are some (Chinese) tourists around, especially today because it's a Saturday, and quite a few stalls selling souvenirs. The main souvenir is salt! Heijing used to be a salt mining town, and it made some good fortune with that in the past. Salt comes in different shapes, colours, sizes, ... not sure if it's ever used for cooking.
 |
| View over Heijing town |
 |
| Heijing |
 |
| Heijing |
We spent a nice lazy day sleeping in, strolling around, visiting a few of the historical sites, just... resting I guess! Getting ready for more mountains to come...