11/6/25
The time difference was our friend. We could leave later and still have cooler weather. For now anyway. China time was an interesting phenomenon. What should be about eight time zones was just one. We left back out onto the main road that we’ve been cycling before. A dual carriageway, the G326. We were continuing up the Red River. Known as the Hong River in China.
The border road turned into a single carriageway. There continued to be a large number of trucks. It was interesting because you can’t cross the border with a vehicle. We didn’t know where all the goods were going. Surely not carried over on foot. Perhaps they go on the train.
We came to an immigration police checkpoint at the junction with the expressway. They took our passports. Then they took a picture of us. Immediately their phones brought up our records from the day before. There was a lot of thumbing through the pages of our passports. It seemed well rehearsed. After they’d finished their official business they started pointing to the drawings of people on the pages. Curious who they were. We didn’t even know ourselves. One was definitely a young queen.
Halfway up a hill we stopped for some water. We also bought an incredibly spicy wheat based snack and a pepsi. The road was set to be flat for 5km which was a nice change. We were next to a concrete expressway. The old road now looked like it was weaving through the supports. We left the expressway for a short while while it mashed straight through. We followed the river edge on a road that was carved out of the rock. Tall jagged rock on one side and gorgeous lush valleys, across the river, on our other.
We then went inland to cross the river valley. What followed was a steep climb. Around 90m over a mile. 6% or thereabouts. We were gushing with sweat by the top. We stopped for a small snack. A pastry with some nuts and raisins. In the middle of our descent was another checkpoint. We’d have the keep the passports out all the time it seemed. This time it was a little speedier but they wanted our Chinese phone number. We passed the first town that we could stop at, but decided to push a further 28km to Manhao. We joined the G219 a quieter road with no markings. It was still leafy and green.
The road went through small village. It was almost always quiet and peaceful. We saw huge jackfruit for sale in one small town. We couldn’t help but wonder what the roads in the sky were for. The trucks just used the small roads like an expressway. They were destroyed in places. Deep potholes and rutted tarmac. Trucks barrelled past bearing familiar looking shipping containers on the back.
We stopped next to a man using a pressure washer and asked him if we could borrow it. He happily obliged. We gave the drivetrains a good blast, but not too good. We didn’t want to damage the bearings. Down the long hill led us into Manhao. Yunfeng hotel could be booked on Trip.com very easily. But checking in was more difficult. He pulled up chairs for us and we were interviewed. What do you do for a living? Are you a couple? What are you doing here? Then he let us put our bikes in the garage next door. Secure bike parking hopefully.
Our room was downstairs but it had a window. It was clean and smart. With a kettle. Nicer than the boxes we had utilised in Vietnam. We took a walk back up to the main road. There was a fruit market and some restaurants up there. The road was steep and cobbled. We’d have to get back up here in the morning. The sellers were all very friendly. Mounds of mangos. All different species and levels of ripeness. We ended up with a big bag of them for 70p. Jonathan had to stop buying fruit after that. He wanted to indulge in the rest of it too.
There was supposed to be a supermarket but it was closed. Instead we thought we’d try a restaurant again. As we peered into one, a woman beckoned us. We always like to be invited. When we translated to her that we “only eat plants”, she still seemed happy. Then pointed to some dishes in front her. It was a buffet. There were plenty of vegetables here. A big dish of soft tofu. An enormous bucket of rice. We could return as much as we liked. There were some tasty chilli edamame beans and delicious mushrooms. Chewy but soft. We went back a few times.
Satisfied we went back to our hotel. We detoured to look for a shop and ended up in a small park. There were children playing, they eagerly said hello to us. We looped back and found some peanuts. Somehow they had been adulterated with flavouring despite still being in their shells. We finished Survivors and Jonathan feasted on the mangoes.
Surly They Won't Make It 