Bamboo trees

March 15th
This morning we cooked fried eggs with Chapotees. Alek is making some coffee and then we're on the road again. We biked all day without a break. We were exhausted by the time we found a spot to stop in the evening. We biked through a small village and some ladies actually everyone ripped me off. I wanted to buy some fruit but it was 2 times too much, same as some cookies. Oh well, what can you do? We found a nice place to sleep in a tea tree plantation again. we were in between bamboo trees and by a small stream. WE saw some people leaving the plantation from work but none of them said anything about us camping there.

March 16th
WE went downhill for a long time in the morning. I stopped in a riverside village to wash some clothes and myself. I've developed a rash all over my upper torso so every chance that I get I wash myself. It's all of the dirt and sweat that comes with this biking/camping lifestlye. We ate a big dinner and Alek cooked tonight wich was nice. I couldn't sleep because I was so itchy though and so in the middle of the night I biked downhill a few kilometres with Tchye's company and the bright half-moon lit my way to a small creek that I saw before we set up our tent. I had to go by a house and two dogs but wasn't scared because Tchye was with me. The creek was in a gorge and I'm surprised I didn't tumble down the steep side in the dark. The water was so fresh and cool, the moon was dancing in the moving water. I felt so good afterwards. Alek was waiting for me and had made some hot tea. We stayed up all night talking.

March 17th
We left at 11 and by 11:45 we stopped again because we were so tired. Right now Alek and Tchye are sleeping on the ground. I'm looking out at the layered mountains in the distance overlapping each other and at the vally walls scattered with farmland and countryside houses. Also, I'm reminiscing of my time in Jinghong. Jason, Sarah's boyfriend just texted me and told me he's headed to Guangzhou to work in a factory for a couple years, so maybe I'll see him when I'm there again. Christina is going to be in Kunming where me and Alek are biking to on the 26th this month so maybe I'll get to see her again too! That would be great. It's so nice to think tha tI have friends scattered across this country. Many places I could go to and see the people that I've met. It makes me feel so happy. China is no longer such a foreign place to me, it feels more like home. I"m comfortable here and happy.

March 18th
Now I'm in Mojiang. We'll buy more vegetables from a marketplace here and be on our way again. I"m always excited to hit a town though, so that I can use the wangba(internet) and eat chocolate, look at the people...