Hi guys,
Its been about 2 weeks since you last heard anything from me and during that time many things had happened both pleasant and unpleasant. First the unpleasant. I am now in Varanasi(2nd day) after leaving on the train from Kolkata "on the sleeper" with my son Aedewan who flew in from K.L with his bicycle. At the railway station in Howrah(Kolkata) I lost my wallet(pick pocketed) just before we boarded the train at 11.50pm (after a delay of 3hrs and 15 minutes) to cut the story short what I lost is just some Thai Bhat and some Chinese Yuan, amounting to about RM50/- what is worse, I also lost 2 ATM cards my I.C my driving licence, insurance card and other cards of lesser importance. Adding to that misfortune, on arrival at Varanasi our 2 bicycles were not unloaded and went on to Lucknow or elsewhere of which the Railway Authorities have no clue. Till today (30th) we still have no news of the bicycles' whereabouts and we'll be at the station again tomorrow to check.
I have informed the 2 banks in Malaysia of the loss of the ATM cards, and luckily I have been told that the cards have not been used, meaning all the money is intact. Aede (my son) has his card but the amount in it is barely enough to take us to Iran. I am now making arrangements to have more money banked into Aede's account for us to use as we proceed along. All is not totally lost.We shall continue as we are not beaten yet.
Below are the updates from Luang Prabang to China.
Leaving Luang Prabang
I left Luang Prabang with a heavy heart because there I met so many nice people and the place is really captivating that cater for so many different needs for the adventurous, for those with religious interest or just relaxing by the Mekong or its tributary at the numerous cafes.
Cycling from Luang Prabang to the border with China is an adventure by itself and the whole journey is one torturous pedalling through forested hilly country that seem endless going up and down. Most of the road surfaces are unpaved and potholed all the way. After 3 days of hard riding my bicycle decided that it had had enough. The rear wheel was slightly warped and that impeded further riding. Luckily it was only 600 meters from Oudomxay. I pushed the bicycle all the way to town but no bicycle shop could mend or replace the wheel. As it was late afternoon the only choice I had was to take the coach from Oudomxay to the border at Botan and on to Kunming, China, arriving in the morning. The irony is, after Oudomxay, the road all the way to the Chinese border is well paved, apparently with aid from the Chinese Government. The coach was a sleeping coach and the bicycle was loaded into the luggage compartment with both the wheels detached.
Leaving Laos was a simple process at immigration post, but on at arriving at the Chinese immigration post all passengers were thoroughly checked. For some unexplained reasons a young Chinese officer(probably trying to impress his seniors) gave me a 100% check. I had a tough time explaining what was in a packet containing washing powder. He probably thought it was some explosive materials. I was the last to board the coach and it was getting dark before we proceeded on. After dark we stopped at the town of Mengla for an hour for dinner. I had the good fortune of having chicken noodles at a Muslim shop with the fresh noodle being made in front of me, the dough being thrown, twisted and pulled through the fingers before the noodles are ready for serving. Much of the journey was through hilly country and from what I recall, we went trough countless number of tunnels both very short and very long and a lot of roadworks are still underway.
The bus(coach) reached the southern bus station in Kunming early in the morning and on leaving the station with my bicycle(limping) ready to ride I was swarmed by hotel and guesthouse operators looking for clients with placards in Chinese characters all trying to persuade visitors who had just arrived. After much persuasion by sign language I agreed to follow one operator while he rode his bicycle to the guesthouse/hotel about 800 meters away. What I didn't know was that the place was just 10km away from where I should be, the city center in Kunming. The place looked like the city itself with skyscrapers and huge crowded shopping malls. I then spent the whole day feeling miserable with no one to talk to as no one spoke any English.
The next day before leaving that part of Kunming I sought out an ATM machine to draw some Chinese Yuan but on trying one machine it failed to dispense any money. I was quite alarmed, thinking that my cards would not work in China. I then managed to go to the Bank of China branch and an officer(a lady) who spoke perfect English explained that not all ATM machines dispense money to foreign card holders. After helping me to draw what I needed she also drew a sketch map to show me the way to my destination in Jinbi Road. She also wrote something in Chinese for me to show people I meet along the way should I need to ask for directions. She proudly told me that most Bank of China staff speak English. How's that.
5km from my destination I stopped to ask for direction and to my pleasant surprise 2 young cyclists who speak English stopped and offered to ride with me to Jinbi Road. The 2 young men are University students who were free for 2 days. They kindly agreed to be my guide in Kunming. The 3 of us stayed in the same room at the Hump Hostel in Kunming and from then on my stay there was a pleasant experience. We visited several places(cycling) around Kunming including the University of Science and Technology where I had the opportunity to interact with some senior gentlemen flying kites in the varsity square I was also taken to Muslim eating places which are numerous in Kunming. We also went to a bicycle emporium where thousands of bicycles of different makes, including imported ones, are for sale. Then we went to a bicycle servicing outlet to try and repair or replace the rear wheel of my bicycle. However I could not find replacement for the wheel because most bicycles in China use the 26" wheels while mine is a 700c wheel. I could still use my bicycle after some adjustments to the spokes had been made and the bicycle is now working with 70% efficiency.
That's all for today and I will post some interesting pictures when it's possible.
Its been about 2 weeks since you last heard anything from me and during that time many things had happened both pleasant and unpleasant. First the unpleasant. I am now in Varanasi(2nd day) after leaving on the train from Kolkata "on the sleeper" with my son Aedewan who flew in from K.L with his bicycle. At the railway station in Howrah(Kolkata) I lost my wallet(pick pocketed) just before we boarded the train at 11.50pm (after a delay of 3hrs and 15 minutes) to cut the story short what I lost is just some Thai Bhat and some Chinese Yuan, amounting to about RM50/- what is worse, I also lost 2 ATM cards my I.C my driving licence, insurance card and other cards of lesser importance. Adding to that misfortune, on arrival at Varanasi our 2 bicycles were not unloaded and went on to Lucknow or elsewhere of which the Railway Authorities have no clue. Till today (30th) we still have no news of the bicycles' whereabouts and we'll be at the station again tomorrow to check.
I have informed the 2 banks in Malaysia of the loss of the ATM cards, and luckily I have been told that the cards have not been used, meaning all the money is intact. Aede (my son) has his card but the amount in it is barely enough to take us to Iran. I am now making arrangements to have more money banked into Aede's account for us to use as we proceed along. All is not totally lost.We shall continue as we are not beaten yet.
Below are the updates from Luang Prabang to China.
Leaving Luang Prabang
I left Luang Prabang with a heavy heart because there I met so many nice people and the place is really captivating that cater for so many different needs for the adventurous, for those with religious interest or just relaxing by the Mekong or its tributary at the numerous cafes.
Cycling from Luang Prabang to the border with China is an adventure by itself and the whole journey is one torturous pedalling through forested hilly country that seem endless going up and down. Most of the road surfaces are unpaved and potholed all the way. After 3 days of hard riding my bicycle decided that it had had enough. The rear wheel was slightly warped and that impeded further riding. Luckily it was only 600 meters from Oudomxay. I pushed the bicycle all the way to town but no bicycle shop could mend or replace the wheel. As it was late afternoon the only choice I had was to take the coach from Oudomxay to the border at Botan and on to Kunming, China, arriving in the morning. The irony is, after Oudomxay, the road all the way to the Chinese border is well paved, apparently with aid from the Chinese Government. The coach was a sleeping coach and the bicycle was loaded into the luggage compartment with both the wheels detached.
Leaving Laos was a simple process at immigration post, but on at arriving at the Chinese immigration post all passengers were thoroughly checked. For some unexplained reasons a young Chinese officer(probably trying to impress his seniors) gave me a 100% check. I had a tough time explaining what was in a packet containing washing powder. He probably thought it was some explosive materials. I was the last to board the coach and it was getting dark before we proceeded on. After dark we stopped at the town of Mengla for an hour for dinner. I had the good fortune of having chicken noodles at a Muslim shop with the fresh noodle being made in front of me, the dough being thrown, twisted and pulled through the fingers before the noodles are ready for serving. Much of the journey was through hilly country and from what I recall, we went trough countless number of tunnels both very short and very long and a lot of roadworks are still underway.
The bus(coach) reached the southern bus station in Kunming early in the morning and on leaving the station with my bicycle(limping) ready to ride I was swarmed by hotel and guesthouse operators looking for clients with placards in Chinese characters all trying to persuade visitors who had just arrived. After much persuasion by sign language I agreed to follow one operator while he rode his bicycle to the guesthouse/hotel about 800 meters away. What I didn't know was that the place was just 10km away from where I should be, the city center in Kunming. The place looked like the city itself with skyscrapers and huge crowded shopping malls. I then spent the whole day feeling miserable with no one to talk to as no one spoke any English.
The next day before leaving that part of Kunming I sought out an ATM machine to draw some Chinese Yuan but on trying one machine it failed to dispense any money. I was quite alarmed, thinking that my cards would not work in China. I then managed to go to the Bank of China branch and an officer(a lady) who spoke perfect English explained that not all ATM machines dispense money to foreign card holders. After helping me to draw what I needed she also drew a sketch map to show me the way to my destination in Jinbi Road. She also wrote something in Chinese for me to show people I meet along the way should I need to ask for directions. She proudly told me that most Bank of China staff speak English. How's that.
5km from my destination I stopped to ask for direction and to my pleasant surprise 2 young cyclists who speak English stopped and offered to ride with me to Jinbi Road. The 2 young men are University students who were free for 2 days. They kindly agreed to be my guide in Kunming. The 3 of us stayed in the same room at the Hump Hostel in Kunming and from then on my stay there was a pleasant experience. We visited several places(cycling) around Kunming including the University of Science and Technology where I had the opportunity to interact with some senior gentlemen flying kites in the varsity square I was also taken to Muslim eating places which are numerous in Kunming. We also went to a bicycle emporium where thousands of bicycles of different makes, including imported ones, are for sale. Then we went to a bicycle servicing outlet to try and repair or replace the rear wheel of my bicycle. However I could not find replacement for the wheel because most bicycles in China use the 26" wheels while mine is a 700c wheel. I could still use my bicycle after some adjustments to the spokes had been made and the bicycle is now working with 70% efficiency.
That's all for today and I will post some interesting pictures when it's possible.
4 comments:
hai adnan,varanasi, probably its india. nice to hear from u again.so many things happened ha,ita good that ur son is with u.the journey must go on. keep pedalling. wish u a long long journey. bye. deen from j.b.
Sorry to hear about your misfortunes. I guess that's what makes your whole trip memorable - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hope you get your bikes soon. Glad to see that you have connected with Aede. Enjoy your trip. Joe
abang nan,is it kolkata and culcuta a same city.i have been wondering for a long time.i will be happy if someone can clear this for me.i wonder if Joe can clear my doubt. hai Joe, sorry for troubling u. Oh ya adnan,relay my greetings and salam to ur son Aede.how nice if the world is without trouble,we all can travel and travel.may god bless us all.bye.Deen from J.B.Malaysia.
I salute you for the courage to cycle in such crowded cities. I am a cyclist too but avoid crowded places. You are a role model to much younger cyclists. I am in my early 60's too but a newbie compared to your experience. Keep up the adventure, and write more to inspire others to follow your cycle-steps :)
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