Unknown town – MoJiang
In the morning, I discovered another cyclist had arrived late the previous evening.
He was Chinese, riding around Yunnan Province. Without speaking, we rode
together the rest of the day. Unfortunately, I didn't feel well and was plagued by the
stomach problem I picked up in Laos. Little did I know my problems would persist
for a further two weeks.
Still, it was good to have company and to realise I wasn't the only one moving
along at a snail's pace up the long, winding mountain passes. Regular stops made
for admiring the landscape, and he tried to relay what was being said. On top of
one of these passes, a lady invited us in. We sat in her humble home enjoying tea
and cucumber, dipped in chilli powder, and it appeared the only food she had,
except the corn drying in the sun.
Along the descent into MoJiang, my cycling partner had a flat tyre and waved me
on. MoJiang was a reasonably large and bustling city sporting reasonably priced,
modern lodging but without internet access.
I was sick all night and decided to stay the following day, which I spent in bed, only
leaving to see if I could get an internet connection. I discovered an internet café
where hordes of kids were playing computer games. From what I understood, I
needed a prepaid card, but their hand signals indicated they couldn't sell me one.
How strange. This confusion made me feel I had just landed on Mars! Nevertheless,
shops along the street were happy to let me use their computers without any cost -
how kind of them.