Leishan and the trip to Yongle

10/22/2009 and 10/23/2009
The bus option from Leishan didn't materialize because the through buses all come from the regional capital of Kaili, and are too filled by the time they get to Leishan to be able to take bikes. So, we've got to pedal it! We figure we can get to Yongle, which means "enduring happiness." 55 very steep kilometers.

In Leishan

XiJiang to Leishan- Day Six- 10/21
Wednesday the 21st. Evening. Great day, a little harder than we thought it was going to be. Two, count them, TWO mountain whatevers- “hills.” Four and a half hours. Got into Leishan at 6pm. Started in XiJiang, a Miao minority town, from our hotel that had the panoramic window in the bathroom. That was the highlight. Got a late start after wandering around town, trying to get something edible to eat. Left at 2pm, and then immediately started climbing and climbing and climbing. But it was pretty. And then, we went downhill for a little while (and we learned that John goes much faster downhill than Kelly). The Canadian couple said that the “middle portion” of today's ride (total ride 36 kilometers) was flat and easy. Where was that bit? There was just a little bit of level stuff. The easy portion was granny-gear worthy. The Miao people along the way were generally not very friendly; they just kind of stared at us. Although we also got a lot of laughs from the locals, too. We amused a bunch of people. And then checked into our beautiful hotel room. This one's got pretty good feng shui. It's got the hardwood floor, and it's got a little place behind the bed headboard to store things. The bathroom is a squat, but it's clean! We just had dinner. It was good! Everything was made out of rice. We had stir-fried rice noodles, wonton soup with pork, and green vegetables and beer. Oh, and talk about dessert. We had our 3 kuai beer and we had 5 kuai noodles, and 5 kuai wonton soup- and then our 8 kuai little bit of dessert! We got four tiny, tiny Dove chocolate bars, and then the candy corn... but not the “candy corn” you're thinking of, but rather it is shaped like an ear of corn and it tastes like buttered corn. And then the green colored peanut butter rice crispy cake, and the little jelly cakes.

And tomorrow... Rongjiang is far! It's not really far, but it is ninety kilometers farther than we went today, and hard.  

We're not going to Rongjiang tomorrow unless we take the bus! But if we go halfway, or even part-way. Even the Canadian couple said it was, “Wheewwww.” (difficult).

Leishan has a lot of neon, a lot of lights... seems to be a nice enough place. We can't quite figure it out.

Onward To Xi Jiang Village

To the traditional architecture village of Xi Jiang- Got the second installment of cash money from the bank machine at around 3:00pm and then we are finally on our way on the the bikes! Dusty confusing way out of town, lots of construction a bit of ugliness give way to some decent hill-climbing and eventually a nice segue into some pleasant pastoral scenery. Take a right at the top of the long hill, pass the traditional-architecture village on the right. Pigs and chickens and rice fields recently harvested. Then a turn into a somewhat commercialized minority village (freshly built for tourists, it appears). Pass through this, then a good long downhill. Fortunately, the brakes on my bike work well after all. Not power-brake touchy, but with firm pressure, they'll haul the bike to a stop well enough, for sure. A break in a small village gives Kelly her first chance to experience local chinese bathrooms: the ubiquitous pit toilet, accessed via squatting.  

As we remount, a local old codger walks bike, pipe in mouth, and stares at us unabashedly. We get lots of stares. Even in the larger cities like Kaili, where foreigners are a common-enough sight, we got stares when we were on the bikes. In the countryside, even more so.  

Turn-off to the new road to Xi Jiang, which follows a stream and climbs steadily. We arrive in town just before sunset. Xi Jiang charges a hefty entrance fee; busses of Chinese tourists precede us. The town is a hustle of hawkers, tourists and locals, incongruously lit up with lights strung on the eaves of the traditional wooden houses.

We circumnavigate the town a few times before settling on an inn. The innkeepers are eating dinner and have a pretty grey cat name Lulu. The room is fine and comfortable. Its outstanding feature is a very large picture-window connecting the bathroom with the main part of the room.  

An unusually indifferent local dinner in what had been a promising restaurant, then an early lunch the next day that has some sort of blood-red tofu... two of our worst meals of the whole trip. Tourist towns, I guess...

Leaving town, long steep climb continues up and up and up.... not much traffic... the day is all up or down... eventually, we reach the top of the pass and have lots of fast straightaway descents into a little valley. Eventually, we reach a little village at a crossroads. They stare. We ask how to get to Kaili. They stare some more, talk among themselves and answer in a local dialect. Eventually, at a little store, we buy some tasty green-apple-flavored bubble gum and the proprietress tells us that yes, it is back that way a little bit and to the left. Down that popular dirt road we say from way up in the mountain. We backtrack slightly, and head off on the dirt for another six or so kilometers into Lei Shan. The last couple of kilometers we encounter the main road again, under construction.  

In Lei Shan, we stay in a weird new part of the city- new construction, but with old-style Chinese architectural touches. Very comfortable and clean hotel. Bikes downstairs. Wander around for dinner, but settle on the ubiquitous rice noodles.

Days Three and Four

The train arrived in Kaili early in the morning, and we are deposited on the platform and surrounded by rain and mist. We hoof the boxes about for a while, and go in search of a taxi that can accommodate our bike boxes. No such luck- the taxis are all Shanghai-built Volkswagen Santana sedans. 

Eventually, a policement offers to help drive me somewhere I can flag down larger transport. We drive around for a bit, then eventually pull aside a flat-bed motorcycle truck. "Hey, buddy," the cop says, "You think you can carry a couple of foreigners and their bikes in that thing? Whatd'ya think?" It seems do-able, and the driver and I agree on a price. The cop drops me back at the train station, and the motorcycle-truck driver meets us there. 

There's room for the bike boxes, and just enough room for us, if we squat and hold on! I should have gotten a picture of this set-up; it was something to see.

Kaili has steep terrain. We eye the surrounding mountains with trepidation and anticipation. Finally, just as we're about to exit a large tunnel, our driver pulls to a stop and starts a conversation with a yam seller. I can't follow it too well, as the local accents are strong. Eventually, though, I surmise the problem. There is a sign hanging over the intersection of the next big street, with a pictograph forbidding passage of motorcycles and motorcycle trucks. Hmmm. He motions that we should get out, but I'm pretty sure we don't want to hoof the boxes all the way to our hotel. Eventually, the driver walks over to another cop. Is he asking what to do? Yes, he is! So, it all works out.  The cops deliver us to our hotel in the back of the squad car and  the driver takes the bikes in the boxes, forming a small parade behind us. 

Our hotel is clean, pleasant, and spacious, and we spend the rest of the day and the next assembling our bicycles, taking care of loose ends, and trying some of the local cuisine. People like the food spicy in Guizhou! Lots of skewers of meat and vegetables, cooked over an open fire. 

Days One and Two

Our trip over was mostly uneventful, only punctuated by the United baggage agents insisting on charging us for bicycles, even though United had assured us over the phone prior to this that they follow the baggage guidelines of the named operator (Asiana Airlines, in this case) on codeshare flights. Asiana doesn't charge, but good ol' Dale Slosky and his supervisor Lydia Martinez just couldn't bring themselves to NOT charge the $175 each that United usually levies on their own flights. Customer relations eventually gave us a flight credit in excess of this amount, since we were told there would be no charge by United previously to this, but the hassle factor was definitely there. Note to self: when talking to customer service about baggage policies (or anything else!), get a name and take down the date and exactly what was said, and request that the agent log it into your their system so it can be associated with your ticket. 

We stop in Los Angeles, giving us the opportunity to navigate the disarray that is the Tom Bradley terminal. Then, twelve hours Asiana to Seoul. A few Korean won on credit buys us some weird but tasty donuts with crunchy bits on top. Incheon airport is new, clean, and luxurious... very nice.

We arrive in Guangzhou in the morning local time. Aside from Shanghai (which was built on deltal land that wasn't even there three hundred years ago) Guangzhou is among the least ancient of China's major cities. We debate whether to stay a night, or catching an overnight train directly to Guizhou province. In the end, we decide that we're feeling pretty good and catch an early afternoon train. Soft sleeper is relatively luxurious, and we figure we might as well get over jet lag while en route than just cool our heels at a Guanzhou hotel. The nice thing is, of all the modes of transportation, the train is the only one that allows you the chance to arrive at your destination MORE rested and relaxed than when you left. Traveling by automobile, even if you're not the one driving, always means that by the end of a driving day, you're pretty well wiped out. And why? All you did was sit down all day. Airplane travel is similar- always a bit tiring. With sleeper-car train travel, however, travel time is relaxation time. You have sheets and a pillow, and you are are lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking motion of the train. Wonderful!

CENSORED!

Hi Folks- The Chinese authorities, in all their wisdom, have censored the entire blogger/blogspot website everywhere we went in China, so we weren't able to update during the trip. Facebook was censored, too. 

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip, and I'll be posting an after-the-fact travelogue during the next few days, once I get over the jet lag!

And We're Off!

The bags are packed, the bikes are boxed, and we're heading out this evening! It was a busy few weeks getting ready, but we're finally done. Our gateway destination will be Guangzhou (Canton). We'll spend a little bit of time there, but newer southern cities are bit polluted, and lack the charm and history of other places in China. After that we'll hop a sleeper train to Kaili, in Guizhou province. This is a stock photo, to give you an idea of some of the interesting things to see in Kaili This is a covered bridge. Works great for the rainy climate in Guizhou. The bridges also serve as places just to hang out. Just the thing for a province about which it is said, "No two miles without a hill, no two days without rain, and no two coins to rub together." In other words, it is hilly, rainy, and poor.