Thursday, 1 January 2015

Cycling through Clouds in Central Asia: Hospitality Again; Today: 73 km; Total: 2813 km



July 1, 2014

It was difficult to get some sleep in the heat and the noise of the trucks passing by although I had good earplugs on. Only close to the morning could I sleep for a short while, which meant we would have a late start. We had agreed to leave at 7:30 last night! Shush! After having instant noodle, we left at 9.

We soon were riding in a village/town. We could see a sharp contrast between old China and modern China. There were very old dilapidated buildings next to modern housing projects. Construction sites are everywhere. In every corner you see a crane.

We kept riding until we arrived in a town called Jin Kho. As we were riding, a couple from a black Honda SUV. Waived "hi" and passed us. After a km, we saw the same SUV, parked on the side of the street, and the woman handed us two bottles of lemon juice. We thanked them, they took pictures with us, and we left. But, after another km, they stopped us and with gesture, asked us if we would like to eat. We didn't know if they were inviting us to their home or to a restaurant. Either way, it was very nice of them. We followed them for a few minutes when they stopped at a restaurant.

Dishes after dishes after dishes on our table. They did not know a word in English, but they fed us very generously. At the end, she called her sister only to know how to ask us if we were full in English. Then she said, "Do you full?". "Oh, yes, we are!" We replied. After eating, they took some pictures and we departed.

We went to a park in the city to wait for the temperature to cool down. We were in the park for a couple of hours. Finally, reluctantly, we forced ourselves to leave at 4. We got some money from an ATM, we bought some instant noodles and bread, and left the town.

After 30 minutes of riding, we took another break. We washed ourselves in a muddy creek. We rode for half hour when the green finished, but we saw a desert in front of us. We decided to go back to the green area and start tomorrow to pass this desert. 


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