Kunming -> Chengdu -> Kunming [2010]

[slabo]

Day 1

Just got the bike a month before that, and was looking forward to a serious trip. Dragon boat festival coming up, so I thought I'd go up to Chendgu, take part in this. Right, the day has come. A quick look at gmaps said the trip would be ~1000 km if I stick to the back roads. Map? I tried, just couldn't find anything big enough in pinyin. Ok, so I can use my phone. After alot of searching, I found this one application that lets me create my own maps for offline use in the wild, OruxMaps. On June 8th I plot my route, downloaded the maps, and copied them onto the phone. I've never been on any such trip before, so not sure what I should prepare. After much fumbling and confusion, I thought I will never be ready, so I might as well get moving. Started the bike at 2.30, fingers crossed.

First stop, passed by computer street in Kunming, made a charger for my phone.


Best to start with a tasty dinner.


Can you see the small girl hiding behind her mom?


A brand new sleeping bag that I just bought from Kunming the day before. And a brand new sleeping bag a friend of mine had her parents carry all the way from their hometown in Czech. As I said before, this is the first time I do this, so my ingenious packing strategy was to use bungee cords. And this is the last place I saw of my sleeping bag!


This guy looks like my dog milo. I stopped to say hello but he was too busy meditating, didn't budge.


Here I notice that somewhere on the cobble stone I was bouncing on for the last 20 km, lies my brand new Czech sleeping bag. So much for trusty bungees.. went back to look for it, but instead only found my sandals!




Was trying to find a place to sleep, but you can only go up this binguan by stairs.. I don't want to leave the bike out, so I decide to give it a shot sleeping without a sleeping bag. I'm tired, and it doesn't look like it will rain.


Found this place after getting lost for 20 minutes ~8.30. After fumbling in the dark by the headlights for 30 minutes, I somehow managed to pitch the tent. Last time I camped I was 12, in boy scouts, and my part of pitching the huge shared tent then was digging one pike in. This photo is from next morning. Don't be fooled, I didn't get up early, I just didn't sleep at all.