PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH

For the second time on this leg of my Chinese experience, I cycled out of Chengdu city. This time I was heading South in a hurry, and I had decided to take what looked like the shortest most direct route in the direction of Yunan province and the Laos border.

I was still in Sichuan province, and it was painfully obvious to me that there was no way I could ride Old Saartjie (my bike) all the way to the border in just more than one week. I would have to take some alternative transport, but once again I was running rather thin on finances. I tried hitch hiking trucks, but, hitch-hiking is not part of the local culture here as there are various cheap transport options for locals.

Daily distances cycled:- Meishan Cun 89 km; Leshan Cun 93 km; E-Mei district 66 km; Ebian district 102 km; Wancun Cun 77 km; Leshan 80 km; Wuton 96 km; Mountain village 74 km; Yibin district 83 km. Hydro station 65 km; Xiloua (+20 km taxi) 67 km; Yi Village 75 km; Meigu junction 66 km; Xichang (+3hr local bus) 59 km; Kunming by train; Jinghong by bus; (to and from train and bus 42 km; Menglun 53 km; Mengla district 60 km; Dai Temple village 56 km; Natuy (Laos)71 km, and Luang Nam Tha 57 km. The total distance which I've cycled so far is 125 351 km.

THE DUSTY SILK ROUTE

At the only listed hostel in Lanshou (hard to find in that big city)I again bumped into Canadian Marc, who took the plateau route and beat me by 2 days.

Leaving Lanshou I was still determined to head up the silk route and then through Western China. Even although I had been informed that I would not be able to extend my visa for another month, I thought I'd still give it a go. Daily distances were:- Road works camp 62 km; Yellow River valley 81 km; Railway village 79 km; Weiwu district 67 km; Canyon campsite 159 km; and Lanshou (X2) 128 km. Total distance is 123 910 km.