Home » China » Yunnan Province; China

MURRAY'S DIARY for the complete story.

Yunnan Province; China

Mar
2004-09-14 15:37:29

Displayed times (last time: ) Rating 4/5

Rating: 4.00 out of 5.00. 1 members have rated this article

same amount of money and that would have saved a lot of pilgrims from making their smelling reputation true. Grandma has just started her tenth round as we leave the temple.

From Deqin, along the Mekong river.

It’s seven o'clock in the morning and we are ready to descent to the Mekong river (1800m). Off we go again, going south from now on, to Cambodia. 'Have you seen this?!', I point to my front tire. It has decided to let me down just the night before we want to leave. I replace the inner tube and start pumping. 'Bang!'. The valve is too thin for the valve hole in the wheel and so our spare inner tube has exploded. We have no more spare tires left with the so-called 'French' valve. I repair the older one and Raymond sends an e-mail home asking to send us spare tires via Poste Restante, these tubes are not available in Asia. Next time, bring wheels that require tubes with car tire valves! In the meanwhile it started raining again, and so we make ourselves waterproof. Raymond’s panniers are 10 years old and no longer waterproof. Only plastic garbage bags can keep the rain out. Because of the rain the dirt track has changed into a mud pool. We feel dirty as pigs already so why not take a dive in the several mud pools on the way. Raymond's front panniers answer our prayers. Again one of them falls off and gives a swing to his front wheel. I hear his brakes make a horrible noise, but of course this doesn't help to get the bike back in control. Eating mud is a welcome refreshment after the dust and exhaust fumes. I am too late for a video shoot.

Taking a break from concentrating on the road constantly (rocks and mud), we enjoy the mountain views. The road is rather narrow and it fits exactly one minibus. On the left hand side the mountain goes steep up to 4000m, on the right the mountain goes steep down to several rivers at 1800m. I am focused on the road ...