24/05/2019

I returned to Kunming via the fast train again. It was a direct non-stop run, so it took even less time... maybe only three hours. I was seated in the middle of a Chinese tour group. It was chaotic noisy fun being in the middle of the mayhem they created. 

I had a fun taxi ride return to the guesthouse. The taxi driver asked if I was travelling alone, then how old I was, replying with a show of fingers. I told him I was riding a bike around Yunnan. He laughed out loud and thought I was something special. I assured him that wasn't the case... Then he asked me to open my mouth so he could look at my teeth, which met with his approval. So I thought what the heck and asked him how old he was, conveyed with more fingers (51 yrs old). So I asked him to show me his teeth, too; which I carefully inspected. I had to agree with him that mine were in far better shape. More laughter ensued.

26/05/2019

The taxi rides and flights back to Bangkok were uneventful. However, scanning the Kunming airport departure boards, I did discover there is a quick 50 minute flight from Chiang Rai, Thailand. And I now know that I can probably pick up a 10 year tourist visa for China in Chiang Mai using my US passport. 

I based myself at Grannybike hostel again, my Bangkok home. Parn and Nee treat me like family. I reassembled and fixed up the bike, replacing the bottom bracket and cleaning/oiling the neglected chain. The chain was new when I started, so it survived the neglect, but the bottom bracket bearings were well overdue for replacement and the grinding paste like mud of the Nujiang valley finally did them in. I only expect about 5,000 km from a set of external bb bearings, no matter who makes them, and these were well past their replacement date. I left it to Parn to hang the bike up on the Grannybike rafters awaiting my return.  

More by luck than good management, I got to meet up with a couple of cycling friends. Jet Agelink is a well known Dutch solo cyclist who just happened to be on a quick non-biking tour of SE Asia.  

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Andrea BrownYou met Jet?! She is a legend.
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4 years ago

Victa CalvoHi Andrea,

Yes, we met several years ago when she was working/touring in OZ. She stayed with us, we fed her and provisioned her and her bike (Elsa) on her outback adventures. She's back in Europe now and hopefully pedalling her bike as I write this. She is one very nice person and seriously capable cyclist.
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4 years ago

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I also managed to catch up with David Walker. He lives in Chiang Rai with his wife Echo and they run fantastic cycle tours throughout Asia. 

Painted Roads Cycle Tours

He told me that Yunnan is their favourite cycling destination and had I told him I was coming he would have organised a tour. I'll remember that for next time. We met in the Kao San Road area and had a great time catching up over the traditional cyclist dinner: pizza and beer. 

The beer went down well, but the pizza gave me a dose of giardia that it took over a week to rid from my gut. Another reason to steer clear of that area...