Kunming

In the morning of the second I left, but not after changing the the tube of the rear tyre and having a dumpling breakfast. After cycling half an hour I arrive at a lake Andre and I had wished to visit, because of local Naxi villages, but could not find. Away from the lake the road goes up steep now and then, but fortunately not for long. The rest of the day it is going up and down, it feels like more up than down, though. At the end of the day I have a tough climb, but get instant reward with a nice descent in which I am faster than the bus. Around 17:30 I stop in village and the place I ask if there is a hotel around, turns out to be one. I carry my bike and luggage to my room and fall lazily on the bed, which I only leave to prepare my noodle soup with the thermo with hot water. The Godfather part 1 is showing on tv and I watch it until a power failure makes everything dark. Soon a generator is started, but I guess the satelite dish is not connected to it, so the screen remains blank. In the morning I try to set my saddle slightly higher, but is to stuck, so I give up. It is not that important, I 've been cycling with this setup for 5 months. The reason I want it higher is that one of my shins hurt and I think it might come from the position of my foot on the pedal. After a 20 km I have breakfast, eggplant and rice. A drawback of cycling on my own is that I can order less dishes. When with two I got more variety in the meals, because we could share. Still breakfast tastes good. At the end of the morning I reach the big lake Dali is lying on. I decide to take the eastern route, the big road goes west around the lake and is much better, but also much busier. The fishermen put their nets on the road full of shrimps (?) to dry. After cycling alongside the lake I see a ferry crossing the lake. I ask if also a ferry sails more south, the man does not seem to understand, at least the only visible reaction he gives is pointing at a sign which shows a few Chinese characters and 10 yuan price. I decide to read the few copied pages of the LP about this region I got of Andre. I find out that there are two Dali's and that I was heading to the wrong one. I already found it strange no ferries would go to this popular destination. I go back to the guy who was so helpfull earlier and try again if the 10 yuan is for crossing the lake. I get the impression it is and carry my bike 50 meters down, only to find out that the crossing is 130 yuan, apparently the 10 was only for entering the park. I say I already I have paid ten and that is all I am going to pay. Of course they do not understand a word I say. I take up my bike to indicate I will walk back up if they do not lower the price. Soon it is down to 50, still much to high but an improvement. We end up at 30, not a bargain, but I can live with it and it saves me a climb up and a 30km ride. Dali is a bit of a disappointment. I am comparing the city with Lijiang and it is in a totally different league. It is accustomed to tourists though, when I sit down on a bench a woman well above 50 in local dress comes to me and asks if I want hashies, a few moments later a slighly younger woman asks me the same. In the guesthouse are a lot of westerners. To one of them I lend my bike the next day. I only leave on Sunday to Kunming and I do not feel like cycling. When I get the bike back the handlebar is very loose again, but I will deal with that when I am back from Kunming. After a five hour bus ride I reach Kunming where I take my stay in the Camellia hotel, I had read the Birmese consulat was there at well and that would save me a lot of walking. Ofcourse the information is not accurate, but with some help of the girl at the reception I am able to easily find it. I find Kunming a rather boring city, but in the hostel I do meet a Swiss girl I was sharing a room with in Dali and we have dinner together monday evening. She has started cycling to Vietnam today. Tonight I will have dinner with a very beautiful Birmese girl. She would prefer I would not visit Birma because of the regime. She and her family are politically active, which has not made their life easier, she had to flee Birma and her father is in jail. Although I feel more guilty now, I still intend to go.