I have now been on the road for almost three weeks and it seems the time is flying by especailly since I often lose track of the date and the days of the week. I have now been in China for almost 11 days and after the intial adjustment period things are coming together as I am feeling more and more comfortable here. My Chinese language skills are pretty much non existent but I have been trying and can now sucessfully order some food, find a room, and understand the numbers pretty well. However, it gets a bit difficult when I am staying in remote areas where they all speak different Chinese dialects. My favorite ethnic group so far were the Dai in the Xishuangbanna region, because they speak a language similar to Nothern Thai so I was able to half communicate with them! As for the hospitality of the Chinese as a whole I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, I do get lots of wierd looks and stared at especailly in the small towns, but when I have stopped to ask to for help or needed something they have only been kind to me. When I do enter the small towns I get the feeling I arrived at a party that I was not invited too as everything seems to stop, including the intense card games, and all eyes are on me :) Good thing I like attention! The old ladies with the gold teeth probably have been favorite so far, because when they discover I am solo then begin lecturing me. My translation of what they are saying is "Honey you have way to pretty of a face to be go'in out there on your own!" But thats just me.
As for cycling, it has been great so far and seems to just keep getting better. There are lots of mountains thats for sure but I no longer wonder if I will climb it, I just ask myself when I will take it on. At this point my body is fit and the big climbs do not intimidate me I just take them nice and slow and remind myself there is a top somewhere. When I do reach the top there is no better feeling then coming down excpet when the temperture drops, the rain starts, and I am in Chacos haha. That was the last day I wore my Chacos as my feet were numb by the time I reached the bottom. I learned quickly that cycling in the mountains can bring about abrupt changes in the weather and scenary. I have have cycled through rainforests, along river valleys, down into canyons, and high above in pine tree and tea country. I always know I am getting close to the top when I start eyeing the tea plantations and pine trees.
Up until now I have not had any major problems. Most of problems come from trying to navigate my way out of the big cities onto the correct road. Coming out of Puer, I could not find the utility road for bicyles just the highway. I was bored of trying to find it so I figured I would try my luck on the highway hoping they would let me pass because well I am a foreigner and we are not very smart sometimes. Of course as I went through the toll both alarms stared sounding and a man chased me down. I cooly pulled out my map played dumb and asked for directions to the utility road, which he gave me all in Chinese andd I half understood them and made my way to the correct road haha! Or as I did a couple days back I get on the complete wrong road and do not figure this out until after cycling 80km, but at least it was in the semi right direction now I am just not going to Kunming anymore because I do not feel like back tracking. This turned out to be a good mistake as the road I have been on has been spectatular especailly my 30 km decent along the rim on the canyon with birds racing along with me. Of course I made the accent of the same degree today, but that only means that tomorrow I get to go down again I hope :)
Up to this point of my little escapade, I feel this is one of my best ideas in my young life. Being on a bicyle lets you see everything up close and interact with the people on the daily basis whether you want to or not, its not watching life go by from a bus or train window. I am able to stop and go as I please, basically I make all the decisions. I am truly the boss lady!
Special thanks to Ms. Castellani my official blog updater!
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