Jinggu – Jinghong
I’m getting further south now, crossing the Tropic of Cancer. It’s starting to heat up, and I’m riding through a lot of jungle!
When I left you last I’d ridden a long day over a road that was pretty rough dirt in places. I’d thought this was going to be my toughest day, possibly of the trip (although looking at what’s to come in Laos that was naiive). Little did I know what the next day had in store for me!
I was trying to push south to get somewhere nice for my birthday on the 23rd. There’s a wildlife sanctuary near Jinghong that I was hoping to get to. Because I spent too long in Lijiang waiting for my headtorch (which never turned up by the way), and then a day off in both Shaxi and Dali I was pushing it to make it there on time. After Dali I’d done a series of decent days- averaging over 100km a day, with a fair bit of climbing. It wasn’t what my body was used to after a month off the bike! On my 6th day out of Dali my body decided it had had enough. I managed the first 600m climb fine- it was still early and not too hot. The second one hit me for 6 (a cricket reference for those non-Commonwealth countries). It was getting pretty warm- mid 20’s probably. I had lots of liquids and a decent breakfast and lunch, but the body had had enough. As I rode on it got harder and harder. I’d try and climb 30 vertical metres then take a break, but I don’t think that helped as I pushed it too hard. At one stage I did my 30m stretch, and stopped the bike. I almost vomitted on the side of the road then, and when I climbed off the bike almost fell over. After that I sat down for a while, trying to get my breath back and stop the world from spinning! I learnt my lesson that day- take it easy and try and get your climbing done early on in the day! Looking at the stats it wasn’t a particularly challenging day- 96km and two 600m climbs, but I guess after 5 days on the road I was due a break.
Needless to say I didn’t take many photos that day!
I made it to the city of Ning’er that night, and for the first time had a bit of trouble finding a cheap hotel. Everyone kept telling me I had to stay at a specific place because I was a foreigner, this hadn’t happened before. Gotta love China’s local bureaucracy (I hadn’t had this before at all)!
This whole area of Yunnan province isn’t mentioned in Lonely Planet, and you definitely get the feeling that other than a few cycle tourists, there aren’t a lot of Westerners wandering the streets of these towns and cities. And yet, pretty much everyone seems to know at least “Hello!” – so my days are filled with cycling along and getting random greetings of Hello, followed by a giggle. :-)
The next day was a relatively easy 50km ride to Simao (which used to be called Pu’er). It was nice riding as there was a motorway to take most of the traffic. I found a really nice hotel, and decided to set up camp there for a few days!
I came across a tourist attraction where I became the attraction- everyone wanted a photo of the strange guy on a bike!
So I spent a few days there, including my birthday. It was nice, and I always like spending a bit of time in a place to get a feel for it. I also decided my beard was too long, and that it was time to do something about it.. Afterwards my bathroom looked like someone had taken to a baby monkey with a razor!
The next day saw my ride 116km through jungle, banana and tea plantations to the Wild Elephant Vale in the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve.
I was hoping to stay in some accommodation on-site, but it seems that’s all closed down. I found a nice enough hotel a kilometre back along the road. They made me a tasty dinner, and I was settling in to do some reading at night when the power cut out for a few hours. First time it’s really happened on the trip, but something that will maybe be more common in Laos and Cambodia! Reminded me how much I miss my good Petzl headtorch though- reading is terrible on your eyes by candlelight! haha.
The next morning (foggy as they all tend to be here), I rode down to the sanctuary, left my bags behind the reception counter, and bought my ticket for the park. I must say, overall it was a bit of a let-down. I didn’t see any elephants (except a couple in cages), I saw two monkeys from the gondola, and some chained up birds! Oh, and a random lizard thing. The gondola/cablecar was nice because you got a different perspective on the jungle, but not sure I’d recommend it to someone as a reason to come it. Worth visiting if you’re passing by though. Just be aware that there will be busloads and busloads of Chinese tourists! Ah, the serenity.
You used to be able to stay in these tree-huts, but they seemed really run-down – broken doors and screens.
It shows how tame/chained the birds are when they don’t bother lowering the chain curtain to the enclosure!
I rode on from the park, towards Jinghong. It was a relatively short 50km ride, again through a lot of jungle. Here’s what the motorway looks like from my quiet road!
So now I’m in Jinghong, the main city in southern Yunnan. Spending a few days here to sort out things for Laos, and to rest up a bit before tackling the hills! I’m also trying to time it so that my Lao 30 day visa doesn’t run out before New Years eve- I at least want the option of being somewhere interesting in Laos for new years! It’s about a 3 day ride from here to the border, so it’s pretty close! :-)