After cycling hard for 10 days with only one rest day in between, our legs were feeling tired and heavy. We deserved some serious relaxing. We were heading for the tropical, Hawaiian-style island of Hainan, a well-known vacation destination in China. Two days of no riding were on the program – what bliss! But first we had to get there…
Taking a huge ferry along side many fully loaded trucks, we crossed over to the island. Here rain awaited us. When the drizzle turned into a thunderstorm we followed the example of the scooters whizzing around us and took shelter under a highway bridge. Sometimes the only thing you can do is wait until the storm passes.
About half an hour later the worst seemed over and we headed off into the light rain. Then our bikes started getting problematic. We had both noticed that switching gears had become more difficult, always being accompanied by grating noises. This was becoming worse. Adding to this came a new loud . With the rain in our faces, this squeaking did not really improve our moods.
Once at the hostel we addressed the issue. It took us two hours just to remove all the goey glue! With the racks back in their original position, we felt a lot better.
Up to now our Pyga bikes have been performing superbly, even when the roads were giving us the full off-road experience. The tyre linings are a great bonus and we´ve not had one puncture! Hope we can keep that up.
Next morning, we said good-bye to our bikes for two days and went in search for that beautiful tropical beach – not knowing that we would need half a day to reach it. Taxi, 2h train ride, bus, taxi again…in between lots of gesticulations…what a journey! Finally we made it to the little, traditional village Houhai with narrow streets and – whoe behold! – a beach! Time to put our legs up.
There was even a surfer´s hostel with an open-air bar, infinity pool, a hammock and palms. Sounds romantic? Well… Chinese-style marine vessels and old, rusting ships lay in the small bay. On the other side there was an active stone quarry – the occasional explosion shattering our relaxed dozing. In addition to that half the beach was inaccessible as the Chinese Navy was doing some kind of swimming exercises.
Needless to say we still had a wonderful time, our muscles and bums recovering. In the evening we treated ourselves to a Gin & Tonic – the first alcohol in a long time! Ness is missing the occasional glass of red wine; I´m missing coffee.
The people we meet on the way have been really supportive and friendly, at times surprising us with snacks for the road. Once a restaurant manager even invited us to a delicious Sunday breakfast. If they can speak English, they often approach us and ask about our travels. Ok, I must admit – not many do speak English.
Oh, and of course the Chinese are always keen to get a snapshot of us! I don´t wanna know how many pics there are of us all sweaty and dust-covered… We then hand out our “Buy No Rhino” bumper stickers and try to spread our message.
Ferries are always an adventure. On the big ones we are squeezed tightly in between some 50 humongous trucks – a slight feeling of claustrophobia included. For the small ferries we sometimes can´t even find the jetty. Yesterday we searched high and low. When we finally found something like a boathouse, the wind was howling and the water so choppy no one dared to go out. Two hours later this mini ferry took us over to the other side. There wasn´t even a ramp and it felt like the boat was just above water level. Wow, was I happy to arrive on the other side and have land under my feet again! We had planned a short day of 60 km. With searching for the ferry and a hotel in the evening, we ended up doing an unexpected 100 km. Take it as it comes.
Here in China we definitely have to be flexible – with food, communication and especially with traffic. Scooters, trucks and buses come from all sides. Going in the wrong direction is common practice. Rule No. 1: Stay in the flow. Don´t stop. Just trust that the others will move around you. We’ve happily survived so far!
Click here to read all the blogs from the Buy No Rhino Expedition
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