Hi Kids!
"It's all over now, Baby Blue." Or almost. Our final night has been spent here in Guilin and we fly out from here 7pm tomorrow evening. We've had a really good end to the trip. Quite apart from the fact that I've just bought a pair of "Gucci" shoes for 23 quid.
We left here on Wednesday morning to ride 90kms to the village of Pingan at Longji, a famous heritage sight at 2000ft consisting of mountain sides terraced with rice paddy fields and home to two different minority ethnic groups (each vying with each other to sell stuff to tourists and to have their picture taken for money- but all in very good humour and taste.) The ride out of this big town was full of eccentric road behaviour; you just have to accept that there are no rules and ride defensively. The road was mainly flat and well surfaced and we stopped about half way for lunch. After lunch the climbing started but I rode better than the day before. The surface was better, the temperature cooler, the gradients less severe and we had left one pannier behind in the hotel in Guilin. It all helps. We climbed for about 23kms in three bites with descents in between until we reached the turn off into the valley at the end of which was our destination. It was like the Wye around Symonds Yat. Finally we arrived at a Checkpoint Charlie beyond which you are not allowed to ride or drive. Here we dumped the bikesand took our bags onto a local bus that sped up from the river to the mountain top. The climb was very impressive,it would make a good stage finish in one of the major tours. When we disgorged from the bus two porter ladies loaded our bags into two baskets, swung them effortlessly onto their backs and carried them up to our hotel an extra 300 feet up stone flagged steps. The hotel was wooden like a tryrolean chalet and the views from our windows were spectacular. We ate in the hotel with more European people than we have seen all trip. It was a bit noisy due to the construction of the building and the bloody foreigners.
This morning we had breakfast and then made a 2 hour walk around the terraces above the village. It was beautiful and very interesting and we were accosted by elderly damsels in traditional dress selling their wares and telling us that they had "Nomoney, nomoney" and were "Hungerly,hungerly" whilst rubbing their tummies with a grin. After lunch we descended to our bikes, packed them in a van and were driven back here to pack them for the flight home.
Must end now as Internet time is running out and I'll be seeing you soon anyway. I forgot to tell you about the fabulous butterflies they have out here, some black ones are as big as crows - well almost.
I wish you well,
Michael John
We left here on Wednesday morning to ride 90kms to the village of Pingan at Longji, a famous heritage sight at 2000ft consisting of mountain sides terraced with rice paddy fields and home to two different minority ethnic groups (each vying with each other to sell stuff to tourists and to have their picture taken for money- but all in very good humour and taste.) The ride out of this big town was full of eccentric road behaviour; you just have to accept that there are no rules and ride defensively. The road was mainly flat and well surfaced and we stopped about half way for lunch. After lunch the climbing started but I rode better than the day before. The surface was better, the temperature cooler, the gradients less severe and we had left one pannier behind in the hotel in Guilin. It all helps. We climbed for about 23kms in three bites with descents in between until we reached the turn off into the valley at the end of which was our destination. It was like the Wye around Symonds Yat. Finally we arrived at a Checkpoint Charlie beyond which you are not allowed to ride or drive. Here we dumped the bikesand took our bags onto a local bus that sped up from the river to the mountain top. The climb was very impressive,it would make a good stage finish in one of the major tours. When we disgorged from the bus two porter ladies loaded our bags into two baskets, swung them effortlessly onto their backs and carried them up to our hotel an extra 300 feet up stone flagged steps. The hotel was wooden like a tryrolean chalet and the views from our windows were spectacular. We ate in the hotel with more European people than we have seen all trip. It was a bit noisy due to the construction of the building and the bloody foreigners.
This morning we had breakfast and then made a 2 hour walk around the terraces above the village. It was beautiful and very interesting and we were accosted by elderly damsels in traditional dress selling their wares and telling us that they had "Nomoney, nomoney" and were "Hungerly,hungerly" whilst rubbing their tummies with a grin. After lunch we descended to our bikes, packed them in a van and were driven back here to pack them for the flight home.
Must end now as Internet time is running out and I'll be seeing you soon anyway. I forgot to tell you about the fabulous butterflies they have out here, some black ones are as big as crows - well almost.
I wish you well,
Michael John
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