Day 7 | From Hubei to Hunan
September 11th
478km to 577km
We are woken abruptly in the early hours by the townsfolk bawling their heads off, not sure if it was a major interfamily disagreement or simply the eccentric stall owners selling their wares in the market. Got up and loaded our bags back onto our bikes, said our goodbyes and headed along the road to look for something to eat. We manage to find a very small café (the owner's front room).
Stock up on water and head back onto out faithful friend the G107. We make good pace and wave goodbye to the sombre people of Hubei and hello to the hardworking people of Hunan as we enter the final province of our cycle. We immediately arrive in a town where every single person is either chopping bamboo, sorting bamboo or loading bamboo onto the back of a lorry.
After 3 hours trying to find a quiet spot to eat, we give up and have lunch at the entry of a roundabout in the centre of some city. We enjoy a banquet of jelly, Golden Monkey milk candy, rice cakes, BBQ beef Bugles, fake Pringles, mystery-meat sausage, salted peanuts, sweet Pocket Drink, apple wine gums and lollipops. We slowly gather a crowd of inquisitive locals. Lana has a chat with a man with an extremely thick accent making it impossible to understand what he is saying, but he makes his feeling known by giving the thumbs up and draws a heart on his chest.
The sugar rush kicks in and we are back on the road. We head into quite mountainous terrain but the dramatic scenery is spoiled by mines and the resulting numbers of vehicles on the road. The next 30 km are the noisiest and dirtiest we have cycled on so far. Coming across the next big town we try to escape onto a quieter country road. The map fails us, the signs fail us, the locals fail us and after half hour of cycling we arrive back on the same road we entered on. Not wanting the detour to be a complete waste of time we stop of at a nearby petrol station for a pit stop. Some unusually cheery chaps are driven over by their mate to have a chat. It's not until Lana smells the strong scent of baijiu (a Chinese spirit) that we understand the source of their outgoing nature. They alternate between telling us to ‘keep going straight’ and discussing the economics of modern China. They are then driven away while blowing kisses out of the window.
Failing to find an alternative route, we return on the G107, grit our teeth and head towards our destination for the night. We arrive in the lovely city of Yueyang with its unnecessarily wide roads and picturesque riverside views. We find a neat hotel in the traditional market quarter. We dine under the nearly full moon and look out over our friend the Yangtze River. It feels good to be back next to it and will be the last time we'll see it on the tour.