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Asia » China » Guangxi » Nanning
May 1st 2008
Published: May 4th 2008
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So much for the early start...

I got out of bed at 11, feeling tired, but refreshed and ready to go. By the time I packed up my shit, had breakfast and got on the road it was 12.30.

The map that the nanning cycle team had given me turned out to be a crock of shit. It had the road I wanted to join that would take me all the way to Vietnam, but no connecting road from the city map. By the time I found the rad, I had wasted 20km just in Nanning.

Just before I left Nanning, I stopped for an ice coffee at a hole in the wall coffee shop. I couldn't be bothered having the same inane conversation over again with the owner in Chinese that I had been having all morning with every man and their dog, so I ordered in English and pretended I couldn't speak a word of Chinese. I saw the ice coffee on the menu for 3.5 Y written in chinese, so when he asked me for 10Y I challenged him in perfect Mandarin. He made some shitty excuse about how he said he wanted me to give him 10Y so he could give me change. Yeah Right Sparky!!!! This really gets my goat, I'm not a rich foriegner, I earn RMB, not pounds, and I hate how people try to over charge. Especially as this guy can see I'm living out of a bag, I'm pretty dirty so I'm obviously not a rich man. But it was worth it to see him lose his face. He was gutted!

Once I got on the 322, the road that will take me all the way to 'Nam, the road got really pretty. I was riding through fields of flowers, possible Orchids, or Lotus, I have no idea, and started to notice a familiar smell. It took a while but then it dawned on me- Kafffir lime leaves, they are used in thai cooking. I stopped and grabbed to a few to use in my campfire cooking tonight.

After getting to camp and setting up my tent, I felt really good. I still had a high energy level, if there was more daylight left, I could have notched up a few more Kms. I only done 70km today, but Im sure I can do my 100km target after a few days, as long as I get up in the morning. Home for the night was in a farmers field inside my camoflagued Vietnam army tent beside the highway, although I was fairly well hidden. I cooked a great dinner of pork and veggies cooked in Garlic and Kaffir Lime Rice. I washed it down with 2 bottles of icy beer and settled in to bed at 8.22pm. I lay in bed looking at the stars and again Fireflies. They really amaze me those things! Really cool watching them with the stars as a backdrop.

Todays distance :- 70.09km
time on bike :- 4hrs 29min
Avg speed 15.6km/h
Max Spd 42.9 Km/h



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5th May 2008

it's amazing
It really surprised me.What perfect Mandarin can you speak just right after you ask me so many questions about how to learn chinese?hehehehe.......anyway, it is also a good way for me to practise my english by reading your stories here. Thanks a lot! good luck!

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