Onwards on the G312

We left Xinyang via a street breakfast and a dash to the supermarket to buy thirty bottles of probiotic yoghurt. Our intestines are unstable at best. Once again with nice weather, we were able to enjoy some improved scenery and some pretty countryside! Lots and lots of fields, so not too drastic, but better than just buildings. We found a picturesque field, freshly harvested, on which to pitch and watched the sun go down over a factory to the dulcet tones of snoop doggy-dog.

The next morning and rain had returned; this time, only inside our tent as an incredible amount of condensation rendered our tent’s waterproofing inconvenient, allowing streams of water to gather and drip onto us. As a wise Scottish lady told us on the Pamir Highway, deserts or freezing temperatures keep you dry, everything else gets you pretty moist… Outside, a beautiful sunrise was in order and we hit the road hungry for breakfast. We found our fill at the next town where we sat in the warming sun and had some beef stew with steamed buns and chestnuts. It turned out that we were sat right next to a newly opened roast duck restaurant (read: stall). As well as tasting their produce, we were treated to what is so far, and I hope remains, the closest fireworks display of my life.

We let our ears recover and wiped our bikes clean of firework box excrement before continuing our journey east. Other than some sugar cane (which we thought was bamboo) to chew on, the rest of the way was not fraught with excitement, though did provide pleasant riding conditions if the noise is excluded. We stopped just off the road for early dinner of chicken in vegetable broth, did some reading and found a place to pitch the tent when a man whom we believed to be the owner of the restaurant told us we could sleep upstairs for free instead. We unsurprisingly agreed, unpacked our bikes, got settled in and changed. Then the actual owner of the restaurant told us the other chap had been spouting rubbish, they were closed tomorrow so we couldn’t sleep inside. We ‘negotiated’, and ended up on the outdoor staircase…