Yangshuo

Yangshuo is more touristy than Guilin by far...

This guy here reminds me of my old friend rob.

But the scenery is awesome.

Guilin to Yangshou

Riding to Yangshou along the river, or trying to was an incredible ride.
UP until the road disappeared into the narrow mountains the stood over the river.
The map showed a path, locals told me "just go that way", "this way", "its there...".
Yep, traveling in China is driving me insane...
So after dragging the bike and myself through rocks and dirt and bushes I attempted to get a boat to get me down the river a bit, until the path picked up.
All in all, the very short river ride was fun. And the landscape of this region is great. Makes it fun riding.


These are Buzzard dogs. They followed me for a time while I was romping through the brush here. This is where I tried to find the path that wasnt.
But I eventually found someone to take me to the yellow brick trail.



This dog OWNS the Road...so funny! After honking for a while, the car lost. I have seen this so many times before...dogs, ducks, cows, oxen. Animals are bold out in these parts...

Guilin by night.

Guilin, big town, cool town, one of those tourist laden places. Crazy. A million buses. It's also Chinese New Year...makes matters worse. U either love or hate these kind of places. Funny thing, I come into these towns hating them, after traveling around small towns, no tourists, no foreigners, no traffic, no getting ripped off for everything. But, the funny thing is I kinda like these places after a couple of days. Also, great place to satisfy ur western fixes.


This sign says it all about traveling here in China (at least for me).

Check out the cool umbrella hat.

I think outdoor toilets should be the norm...feeling the cool evening breeze in ur face as u take care of business...nothing better!

Some South China

Again, I have decided to change my intinerary. It's great being ur own boss, eh?
So after deciding to not bore myself (I get bored much too easily) with the same hills of Yunnan, I decided to hit Vietnam. But upon arrival, the embassy is closed, due to the Chinese New Year. Just Great! By the way, i love trains. And, in case ur wondering, squatting on the normal squat hole in the ground toilet wasnt too hard (wiping was hard! Hahahaehehehe--sorry, too descriptive, i know!). Anyways, i have taken the opportunity to go the some really cool lookin areas that i originally planned on which is Guilin and Yangshou. But it's freakin cold, and a bit wet. Just what i wanted to get away from. Oh yeah, and of course I got rid of my rain gear and cold weather clothing so i had to buy thermals again. And today, i searched for a rain parka and many stores are closed due to the holidays, but I asked this lady where she got her parka, and she eventually sold me hers. Dont u love China?? I DO!!! love/hate. yep.
Oh...my bike didnt arrive with the train. Why? I dunno!! did they tell me...I dunno! and then they tried to charge me another 2 quai today for it. I didnt pay! Man, do I play Hard Ball! And yah, i got my bike. And in Kunming I put my bike inside the ticket station, and the cops told me not to. But i did. And then a big group of cops came to talk to me. Hah. I already had my ticket and just walked away. hey, i am a foreign expert!I gots a card dat says so! they cant arrest me...can they?? hehe, not yet anyway.

Traditional wear of the minority ethnic groups of china.

This is the gear of the groups of youths that market any given product. haha, so dang funny. And sometimes they hold big signs and yell out slogans or something. This girl was real cute so i had to take a pic. We almost got married.
This is another fascinating aspect of china not much seen in our home country. Many people were around the park this day with a variety of these signs and pictures. One guy had a guitar and was singing, and had a bunch of pictures of guys in it (dunno what he was doing). These two girls had a picture of a guy laying in a pool of blood. There was also some document from a hospital. He was either dead or they were trying to get him some medical care? It was interesting to watch. Me, being the skeptical mo fo that i am, watched them for a while trying to determine if they were scammers. Quite a few of my chinese friends including the cute girl above, said that ALL CHINESE KNOW they are scammers. I always ask how do they Know?? u know, that epistemology crap. Anyways, they kept their heads bowed and one girl looked very teary eyed. I admit it was a very sad scene. There are alot of these scenes, and old men with bent or crooked feet and legs, old ladies begging for money, mentally ill people walking around, and homeless. Not nearly as many as i have seen at home though. In Laos this was the scene as well, without the signage.
Ah...the train ride, with my bunk mates! I guess i smelled, they all left except for one lady...I think she wanted american boyfriend!

Nice, huh? I rather enjoyed it.
THE bike Man, and er...Bike shop.
This is how we cross the Mekong.
Some just take their car-boat.
Oh yeah, and dont forget to take ur ROOSTER on the Freakin BUS so it can cockadoodle dooo the whole RIDE. Why, I ask, why do roosters not know how to distinguish from morning and afternoon and evening???

Traveling is Great!

NOT really. And No, Chinese people arent great, neither are Laotians, and yes...neither are americans, especially me, BUT....
(yes, i am going to take this opportunity to vent!)

I crossed the border back into China from Laos. Start riding the Toll Road to Jinghong, my main destination for a while, and the "no bicycle" sign is posted. I am fearful that the police will send me back, so I ride back into town, go to the bus station and ask for a ticket.
The bus office attendent (they are ALL indifferent, as many Chinese are) says Mei You, meaning she doesnt have one. I am in disbelief. They always have available tickets for short rides. She says something, i dont understand, she doesnt look at me, answer me, nothing...which is the NORM. This thing happens alot, and when u are a foreigner, there is no attempt on the other side to try to explain ANYTHING at all. NONE. This has happened so many times in different circumstances. And its just not ME. EVERY traveler I have spoken to, espeically those that have lived here in China for a while, cant stop AGreeing with me and affirming this.
SO, for the first time i finally got teed off. The lady starts helping the guy next to me, who by the way, generally always steps in front of you when u are in line for ANYTHING ( I now step in front of everyone else----aggressiveness is the Chinese way of life). So the guy puts his money on the counter and I GRAB IT! I tell them I want an answer why I cant get a ticket.
YES, YES, I realize this is futile, but it makes me feel GOOD. And thats all that matters in these situations.
So after I mad dog everyone and give them a few unflattering words re: their business practices' i leave. And yes, it is reassuring to me that NO ONE understands my A-whole ness. Thats probably why i feel so comfortable doing it.

Okay, so now i am pissed, i started riding back on the rode and ask the coppers at the station if i can ride my bike on the road. They say yes...Comforting right? NO!
I quickly remember that during most of my traveling, i have run into everyone with what i call "chronic wrong answer disease" and they exhibit the symptoms bountifully. What is this? This is a disease that everyone who has it will give u a wrong answer for whatever question u ask...i.e. where is X street? Is the road flat? Is there a hotel here? etc.

So i turn back to the bus depot, but this time, i go in the back way where the buses are, under two security bars, with the guard following me telling me to go to the front. I go to the buses and the people standing there and ask which bus is going to jinghong, with hands pointing to several different buses (OF COURSE----it seems this town has had an outbreak)...by this time the security guard is behind me and I yell out "ting boo dong", which gets a laugh out of everyone, and the guard then points me to the correct bus. I am somewhat relieved, but, remembering how i treated the station staff, i am afraid they will not sell me a ticket, and it is CLEAR there are many open seats on the bus. I hand money to the driver, he goes inside, gets me a ticket, and waa laa!!! DONE. BUT now i am wondering why the hell they wouldnt sell me a ticket in the first place, and and almost more pissed that they sold me a ticket than if they hadnt. OH well, who cares, i'm on the bus.
At least they dont discriminate against bikes like they do in Laos....oh yeah, dont get me started!!!

Did i tell you about how the mini-buses kept passing me up, even though I already had a ticket. in fact, i was the FIRST one at the bus station. Anyways, maybe another time.
I am happy to be in china, though. My panniers, chinese made, have been falling apart every other day. I have been using fishing line and zip ties to hold it together. Today, got it all sewed up and new zippers for about 60 cents!!! Love china. See, its a love/hate thingy.

And Laos was much more expensive than I thought. ITs poorer than china, but u wouldnt know it by the prices. I think because of the excess of tourists...not sure, but double pricing is the norm. That kinda crap really burns me up. But only because when one is a long traveler and not independently wealthy, budget is important. IF i only was traveling for a week or two, then u dont care about blowing extra money, because it is cheap compared to vacationing in europe, or america. alot of the people were cool, roads were rarely used by vehicles, nice to ride through, at least in the North. Nice kinda relaxing laid back type of mood there. Less chaotic than hustle and bustle of china, although Jinghong doesnt feel this way so far.

Well i feel good venting...thank you.

Lao again

For the last 5 days I have ridden about 400 km or so, from the tourist magnet of Luang Prabang, to the backpacker haven of Vang Vieng, and now the Capital, Vientiane. Quite interesting cities, with all the western amenites one needs after traveling through the ill-equipped villages for the bicycler. If u make it to Laos, these cites are probably a must.
Market at night. Packed with barbecue, fruit shakes, and other misc. foods.

a typical breakfast if ur tired of noodle soup...and trust ME, you will be!

Taxi, or tuk-tuk, as the driver pronouced it.
Lots of Temples...

My view from my guest house in Vang Vieng. Great city to relax and have awesome fruit shakes and chocolate coconut pancakes!

Sometimes these huts present themselves at the opportune moment, and provide a place to eat and rest and soak up the scene.

More Lao (as the locals say)

I always seem to find the guys drinking the homemade booze. I usually try to stay away (i dont want a repeat of my africa experience), but i sometimes give in if they taunt me enough. I finished the day early and the road ended at the mekong river. I didnt want to cross over to Thailand, so i ended up taking a bus back the way i came so i could go south. They passed the glass around many times. The funny thing is the guy to my right ended up being the driver! But it does help to drink with the staff. Two guys from my left sold the tickets, and he didnt charge me for taking the bike on the bus, which is the norm here in Lao.

Sometimes the road looks like this in the morning when i start riding.



This was my soccer team. I must admit, i dominated! Must have scored at least 3-4 goals. And yea, some kids got knocked around and bloodied...but hey, u play with the big boys and thats what happens.


This kid came running out of the bushes as i was riding. I guess he was a bird catcher. Awesome looking birds.

Sticky Rice. The big mainstay around here...notice how it "sticks together", hence the name. The sauces were great...ended up getting sick later that day riding...on my longest day so far, 120km. Not too fun, but after hacking a bit i was fine.