7th June - Butouzhen to Tongan

I had stayed up late last night faffing on the internet and so did not get up until 8.30. Packed, coffee, porridge, checked out and on the road for 10.15. It was a cloudy day and much colder than it has been recently.

The scenery again was very lovely. The road passed around the mountains but was not very hilly. I regretting not pushing further on to the next town 15km up the road last night while there was still day light as there were actually loads of hotels there and it had not been a hilly ride. A local last night had indicated to me that there were no other hotels until much further on but maybe I had just misunderstood.



Google maps directions took me a fab route along mainly little country back roads. Very little traffic.



I stopped off for lunch at midday and was again given a feast for £2. I could not eat it all and so saved half for later in the day. People are very friendly but the language barrier can be a problem. 3 old men came up to me while I was eating and enjoyed checking out my bike and laughing with me.

It is quite easy to find little restaurants on the side of the road which will cook up rice, veg and meat. Each time I have just asked for rice and veg it has also come with a bit of meat as well mixed in. It would be very difficult to be a vegetarian here.


I had got used to Ricksaws in India and I kinda miss them. They try to have the same here but a box that fits on the back of a motorcycle is just not the same! These are only allowed in the less modern towns. They are quite cool really. The back wheel of a normal motor bike has been removed and this cage with a seat and 2 wheels attached to the back.....


As I get closer to Guilin area there are more of these limestone hills covered in trees. By the end of the day they were everywhere. Very Chinese and very beautiful. I am looking forward to taking the boat ride on the Li river to Guilin and taking in more of this scenery. It is on the list of top 10 things to do in China :-)


I had hoped that I might get further today but the torrential rain really slowed me down. It was dry until about 2 and then it rained heavily. At about 5 I stopped under some shelter to eat the second half of my lunch and to wait for the rain to ease off.


This lovely little old lady tried so hard to spark up a conversation with me in Chinese while I ate my dinner under cover from the rain. She was very sweet. Everyone keeps on coming up to me and pointing at how tall I am. I towered about 2 feet above this lady - much to her's and everyone else's amusement.


These 2 photos were taken just as the rains where clearing.


It really was a great day of bike touring today. China is really good for bike touring with regular, cheap and clean hotels along the way, cheap quick food, great scenery and friendly people. The only thing is as no one speaks English and I am currently cycling on my own it can be a rather solitary existence. I am making up for this by having loads of time to myself to catch up on my blog, organise my GPS tracks and music collection and during the day to listen to loads of documentary podcasts from the BBC and listen to audio books. I am very glad to have found a site to download classics on audio for free (and legally). I am currently listening to War and Peace. I have been wanting to read it for ages and so listening to it while biking along is a great way to multitask....

I stopped of at a hotel in Tongan about 7 having done 130km today (about the right distance). The hotel receptionists found it funny as I was absolutely soaked and covered in mud having been riding in the rain for the last 4 hours. The room was huge and cost £6. I did not bother with dinner as I had eaten the second half of lunch at 5.


This photo does not quiet illustrate quite how muddy I was when I got to the room. It took me 1 hour to get me and my bike and bags clean in the shower. I just got in with all of my clothes on and my bike. Kinky hey!


I have a problem with my gear tuning on my bike and all the dirt and water today did not help so I decided to try and fix it..... I gave up with fiddling about 10. I will try again tomorrow when more in the mood!