MoJiang - Xingcheng - 75 km
Upon waking, I felt weak from a lack of food but preferred to move on. This
choice was probably not the wisest, and I could hardly get up the first hill.
Creeping along, thousands of flies buzzed around my head and got into my ears
and nose which was not something I could handle right then. Luckily, reaching
the crest of the first hill, the route descended to the next city. The way was
uneven and rough, and the descent was slow, but easier than going up.
Xingcheng signalled the end of the day's ride and I booked into a hotel and ate
plain noodles, hoping the food would stay down. Getting to Kunming City could
be a timeous affair at the rate I was going.
Xingcheng – Yang Wu - 60 km
Each morning I woke, convinced I felt better than the previous day but anything
consumed came straight out. Finally, and with no solution to my problem, I got
on the bike and churned my way up the mountain. Thirty-five kilometres of
climbing took four hours and left me utterly exhausted. By lunchtime, it dawned
upon me that there would be no reaching the next place as I was drained of all
energy. I was thus happy to spot a roadside room.
The room turned out one of the worst places imaginable. Still, I flopped onto the
bed and fell asleep almost immediately. Surely, by morning I had to feel better.
Still, I couldn't eat anything, and drinking water made me nauseous. The day
remains one of the worst cycling days ever. A strange set of circumstances played
out as, a few hours later, the lady of the house woke me and stated the bus
would be there in 30 minutes. The establishment was, most likely, not a place to
stay overnight, but maybe a rest stop where people waited for the bus, or a place
not licensed to house foreigners. Whatever the reason, I had no energy to argue
and sheepishly packed up and followed her to the highway, where she flagged
down a bus. The bus took me to Eshan, approximately 65 kilometres further,
where a comfortable hotel was located. What was that all about? I guess I’ll
never know.