Menglun - Jinghong – 75 km
A short, scenic, and relaxing ride led to Jinghong, along the Mekong (Lancang)
River. After a few kilometres, I had enough highway cycling and turned off onto a
minor route, past typical Chinese settlements untouched by commercial tourism.
Two other cyclists were encountered on their way south - they hailed from
Austria, had been riding for nine months, and planned to end their journey in
Malaysia.
Jinghong was a large, modern and bustling city. Even if European-looking from a
distance, the main difference was that everything was written in Chinese, making
locating accommodation challenging. Moreover, only a few people spoke English,
which added to the confusion. Enquiring about a hotel (indicating sleep by
putting our hands together and placing them under our tilted heads), a man
pointed to a sign above our heads. A situation that could make anyone feel
stupid. Still unwell, I had a peaceful and quiet evening, wandering around the
night market and nibbling on street food.
Jinghong
The day in Jinghong was spent searching for a guidebook and road map. All in
vain, though, as the only maps were (obviously) in Chinese. Jinghong was not a
tourist area, and I saw neither a single foreigner nor Ernest the entire day. The
way curious locals inspected me, I guessed not many "long noses" ever stopped
in Jinghong - not that I could ever be described as having a long nose. Hahaha!
Even though not feeling well, I was intrigued by the food as there were exciting
vegetarian eats. I especially liked the dried, spicy mushrooms one could eat like
jerky or mixed with noodles. Pig's nose and ear salad was popular but useless to
vegetarians. Bread and cheese were unheard of, and you ate Chinese food or
nothing.