Bec on a Bike

Greetings and salutations!

I am embarking upon a well-earned (mm hmm) week off… so much to tell and so little time to tell it in! I will give you a condensed version of my recent activities:

We spent last weekend in the mountains, in a town called Yesanpo, which was beautiful! It contrasted wonderfully with the city and, in addition, the air was clear and I could see the sky! We can see the sky sometimes in Shijiazhuang, but it is always hazy at best – some days it’s completely obscured by a cloud of pollution. Take heart, however, it is apparently a great improvement on a few years ago!

We arrived in Yesanpo in darkness (do not believe Chinese ETAs! It is safest to add on at least two hours!), and went to an open air show in which what appeared to be children (?) climbed up ladders made of knives and spun around, without a hint of safety equipment! Bravo! It wasn’t until the next morning that I could fully appreciate the landscape – we were surrounded by HUGE, sheer-faced mountains.

We walked up into the mountains and admired some rather pretty waterfalls and whatnot. I have to admit to wussing out on the opportunity to climb a flight of rickety wooden steps up the steepest section of the mountain. In the afternoon we went rafting on a lake which was just fantastic! The rafts were made of bamboo and looked incredibly flimsy, but turned out to be quite the opposite. Drew and I were the rafting champions, punting around the lake at top speed! The locals seemed to particularly enjoy the spectacle of two blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigners on a bamboo raft – glad to be of service! Rafting was followed by a brief stint of horse riding and, later on that night, an outdoor karaoke party around a jolly big camp fire! Mike, Aidan, Corinne and I regaled them with a wonderful rendition of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'!

The next day we walked up and down a GREAT BIG mountain! I mean GREAT, GREAT, BIG, BIG! I actually thought I was going to die on the way up, but the view was worth it, as was the sense of satisfaction at having made it!

I have bought a blue guitar – finger picked Streets of London here I come! I also have a sparkly pink bike! Yay! I have started my bike tour of China – my suburb first, then Hebei Province, then the whole country!

I have twice partied at a club with a bouncy dancefloor, and visited a range of fairly funky Chinese bars! I will make this small observation: they have a strange interpretation of the word 'vodka'!

Photos will be provided at the first opportunity – I am reliant upon other peoples’ photography at present! Thanks again for your mails – an erratic internet connection is making my generally slow response time even slower, but please do not be deterred!

I hope that you are healthy and happy!

Much love, from the land where ‘privacy’ has no meaning,

Bec
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