Post # 91 Ning Xiang

Day 105 885 days to go. Distance today 55km total 6399km. It’s 6.05pm Wednesday14/3/2012 Ning Xiang. Didn’t get far today kms wise but had heaps of cool fun navigating out of Changsha. It was very reminiscent ofNanning,huge city being a maize of cross roads and overpass infrastructure. The difference is we have a couple of weeks experience to better bumble our way through. And that’s the right word for it as there is no elegance to no idea Irene. Our first step was getting on a road in the right direction. Thanks to the lady at the petrol station we were heading somewhere. Next find an outbound road. I approached a man in a suit who ran off. ‘Rube you frightened the little fella!!!’ Then this taxi man stopped and gave us some pointers. We ended up on an expressway but were heading out of the metro area so that was good. Expressways are usually a no no for bicycles but what the hey we’re touristsJ. Unfortunately we pretty much got beeped, honked and blown off that quick smart. We followed a parallel service lane until I acknowledged that was pointless so stopped at a bus station. The moped men were so convincing about which road to take I relaxed enough for brunch. There was a vending man selling folded omelets filled with cabbage and peanuts hot off the hotplate. 50c, fun conversation of gestures with my buddies and a happy tummy later, we headed off. Unfortunately the moped men were having a bad hair day. I started seeing exit signs to places no where near our route. I’m trying to recognize some of the features in the written language. The map I’m using also has the Chinese characters after place names and this is proving priceless. Back to still being lost….again…This was a fair indication we were cycling somewhere other than where we wanted so time to exit. We took an exit ramp against the flow of traffic but desperate situations require desperate measures. I exited into an outer suburb area and found this couple trying to peacefully eat their noodles at a street café. Sorry folks but help!. They were amazing and saved our sorry ar$es today. Between them they could also speak a handful of English yay. I could tell by the conversation between them that we were way off the mark and that they were a bit unsure themselves. He called a friend to get it sorted. Meanwhile she disappeared and returned with a pocket road map of Changsha. With his directions and her map they marked which way for me to go and gave me the map. We were about 90 degrees out J I couldn’t thank them enough and she said ‘It is my preasure to help you.’ And it really is you can tell that they want to help and get allot of genuine pleasure knowing they have done so.’ It’s a common feature amongst the Chinese folk I’m meeting. Not to mention it’s awesome to be on the receiving end of this generosity when we’re in the middle of ‘who-fa-duck-knows-xing.’ Map in hand and looking ever more promising we headed again. It took us a few more checks with folk but we had a map now. At least they had something more to go on than my waving chicken dance. Pretty soon we were on the G319 to Ning Xiang. This colorful debacle took the most part of 3 hours so we cycled an extra 40kms to this small dot town arriving 3.30pm. Nice!! The ride was extra chilly but no rain. I passed this Chinese lad backpacking and he called out ‘hi, where are you from!!!’ I had my break chatting to him for ages. He’s backpacking across the country walking mostly and hitching when he can. He was a free spirited little lad and nice to talk to. He knew enough Enlish to help the conversation along it was great!!! I asked his name and he said, ‘you can call me Norman.’ And I now know that’s his short nickname for his Chinese traditional name. I can’t imagine there’s too many Chinese men withNormanon their birth certificate J We wished each other a safe trip and headed. It was only about 10km down the road and I came across a field of black headed goats grazing. Actually I heard two of them first and looked to see two babies bleating and jumping about as baby goats do. Time to finish that flask of coffee and enjoy the darling creatures I love them!!!! When we got into Ning Xiang we stopped and asked at the petrol station where a hotel might be. The girl was trying to be so helpful but I have no idea what she wanted to tell me. She wrote it down and said it different ways then eventually just pointed to the building next door. ‘Why didn’t you say so in the first place!!!!’ J On that very cheeky note it’s time for an early dinner and bed. Talk soon x