Overview day 505 - 509
21 March 2024 - 25 March 2024
120
Km’s Cycled
325
Altimeters
2
Stages
0
Defects
Hong Kong
We read online that Hong Kong is a quite bike-unfriendly country, but the first 40Km the opposite is true. Perfect cycle paths that have been well thought out, nice parks along the way with public (clean) toilets, public wifi, as a cyclist you will not be short of anything. It’s a bit of a switch when we have to pay for lunch. Southeast Asia and China were relatively cheap, but prices are significantly higher in Hong Kong. So it’s extra nice that the coming days we can stay at a warm-showers address.
Hong Kong bicycle (un)friendly?
Because cycling is going so well, we take plenty of time in one of the parks. We enjoy the sun and grab our snack bag. There is one small hill that we have to cross and then we cycle into a busier part of Hong Kong. The bike lanes stop after the climb and we now understand why people complained online about Hong Kong’s bikeability.
We can’t really make fast progress for the last 10Km because of thebuy traffic in the city, we arrive a little later than planned at the metro station where we have arranged to meet Vlad, our host. Fortunately, he is still waiting there. We settle down in the apartment and go out for dinner that evening.Â
From pillar to post
The next day we fill with practical matters. Because we want to go back into China. Again for 15 days because then we won’t need a visa. But, going through China in 15 days, requires some planning and coordination with buses, trains and boats. And then China is still China. Just try to find out if there are any boats departing from Qinghuangdao to South Korea. And on what day do they leave? Information is hard to come by. Most of it is pre-corona and therefore anything but reliable.
After making a lot of plans, and scratching them out again, and making new plans, and scratching them out again and that a few more times, we arrive at the following: We send the bikes to Qingdao and we are going to make a tour of China ourselves, without bicycles. It would be perfect if we could send our bikes directly from Hong Kong, so we start looking for information. We go to the station where we ask at the service desk if we can take our bikes with us on the train to Qingdao. The woman behind the counter sends us to someone else, who calls someone in, who also calls someone in, who then sends us to the ticket seller, where we stand in line for 40 minutes and then are redirected to security. The people are a little too helpful. They don’t want to sell “no”, so they send us to the next person. At the end of the day we lost a lot of time and energy and in the end we didn’t make any progress.
The plans are definite. We think.
That means cycling back into China and sending our bikes from there. Also fine. Now our plans are really fixed. Sort of. Because, of course, it all still has to be done. When we have figured out our plans, we go back to dinner with Vlad and go into town for a beer. It’s great that we can go with a local who is a kind of city guide for us. Vlad is not at home for the weekend but we can stay in his apartment. What a luxury!
Hong Kong derby 2024
On sunday we go to the horse races, Vlad works somewhere where they gamble on the races with mathematical models. So we’re going to test that model. Horse racing, we both didn’t really know what to expect but it was a fun experience. There is a real “competition atmosphere” and the people in the stands are fanatical. It whips us up and before we know it, we are also shouting “our” horse to the finishline. It is pleasantly busy, all kinds of things are organized outside the races and everywhere there is people betting. They are mainly older guys who are busy with newspapers and betting tickets. In a way, it’s also a bit sad. There are quite a few gambling addicts walking around and it can be seen that they have already lost quite a bit of money on the race track. Big Business for the brokers. That doesn’t apply to us, the model seems to work. After deducting our deposit, the tickets for the metro and two hot dogs, there is still 1.5 euros profit left. YES!
China part 2
After 4 nights in Hong Kong we go back to China. We cycle back to the border and this time it goes very smoothly. It is quiet at the border crossing and we get access to China for another 15 days without any problems. Hurdle 1 has been overcome. We cycle on to Shenzhen East station and deliver our bikes to the China Railway Service. Bicycles are not allowed on the train, they will be sent separately. Our bags are packed in boxes and fortunately our bikes can be taken without having to pack them. Hurdle 2 also overcome. And then we walk towards the hotel, a bit awkward without our bikes and with only 10% of our stuff.
We go on....
So we see our bikes again in Qingdao, at least that’s what we assume for now. And we take the train to Xi’an. Our first stop as non-cycling tourists in China. The plans after that? You will have to be patient for that, but to give you a sneak peek: we will take the boat to our next destination.Â
