Entering The Middle Kingdom
After a super rush through Laos we finally made it to the border of big ol' China. We decided to more or less just shoot through Laos to have a bit more time in China. So Laos consisted only of biking, sleeping and eating. Like most of the trip I guess but everything done a fart faster...
Just before arriving at the border there is a freaky ghost-like border town. It seems it's the Chinese that build it along with the highway we followed through Laos. But the Laotians don't really want it it seems. The town is deserted but once you're just on the other side of it a ramshackle town where all the truckers stay appears. Funny. Who gives a crap about fancy hotels and spas when you can have cardboard walls and dirt floors...
We arrived at the Chinese border post at the very last moment before they closed but nonetheless they had plenty of time to do what felt like an interrogation about our passports (especially Mikele's Italian passport that looks prehistoric). But eventually they let us enter that most Chinese country of all countries...
We then made our way into the first town (Mohan) which looked rather like the abandoned town on the other side of the border but clean and inhabited. We went to an ATM to get out money and after trying out a few we found one that was able to serve us in English and give us money at the same time... Then searching for a hotel! One place had a sign outside saying hotel (one of the few times we had that luck...) and we went in there. Zero English communication but after pointing at some signs and a few awkward moments we got a room. And what a room! Two double beds, television and a hole in the floor for dumping human waste. We were amazed about the cheap price and the quality the money got us! And the same goes for the restaurant we went to. Somehow we ended up with 5 different dishes and a bucket of rice and we feared the moment we had to pay the bill. But when it came we were very happy to see that the price of two very very stretched stomachs was only around 8 euros. First feast of MANY in China.
In the morning we went out to experience our first Chinese market and we absolutely loved it! Eating Chinese doughnuts with soy milk and noodle soup. Mmmmm. Great start! And we weren't harassed or anything! Even better... So we went back to the hotel and packed up to venture further inland...
We arrived at the Chinese border post at the very last moment before they closed but nonetheless they had plenty of time to do what felt like an interrogation about our passports (especially Mikele's Italian passport that looks prehistoric). But eventually they let us enter that most Chinese country of all countries...
We then made our way into the first town (Mohan) which looked rather like the abandoned town on the other side of the border but clean and inhabited. We went to an ATM to get out money and after trying out a few we found one that was able to serve us in English and give us money at the same time... Then searching for a hotel! One place had a sign outside saying hotel (one of the few times we had that luck...) and we went in there. Zero English communication but after pointing at some signs and a few awkward moments we got a room. And what a room! Two double beds, television and a hole in the floor for dumping human waste. We were amazed about the cheap price and the quality the money got us! And the same goes for the restaurant we went to. Somehow we ended up with 5 different dishes and a bucket of rice and we feared the moment we had to pay the bill. But when it came we were very happy to see that the price of two very very stretched stomachs was only around 8 euros. First feast of MANY in China.
In the morning we went out to experience our first Chinese market and we absolutely loved it! Eating Chinese doughnuts with soy milk and noodle soup. Mmmmm. Great start! And we weren't harassed or anything! Even better... So we went back to the hotel and packed up to venture further inland...
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| Crossing into Laos on a boat. |
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| An American guy called Elliott that showed us how to make a pipe out of an apple. |
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| Abandoned building on the Lao side of the border. |
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| Oooh. So close... |
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| ...so scary! |
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| Lao side of the border. I think the idea was that the road should run through the monument there but in the rush they didn't get to connect the two bits on either side so there's a dirt track running around the side of it... |
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| The Chinese border/interrogation building. |
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| The hotel room! |
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| The first feast!!! (in China that is. We had plenty in Thailand...) |
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