I've had to do a U-turn. I'm no longer heading West but now East, back down the same road as yesterday, then on some more. So if you are wondering what the first part was like, just re read the previous days entry, but backwards. Take away the rain and cold air, add some sunshine and clear skies and you have it. I had to come to Guiyang today as part of an emergency damage limitation plan. Can you believe it. I have to cycle 450km to Changsha to find a cash point. That's the same as cycle from Penzance to London just to get a few quid. I couldn't get any funds from anywhere else in Ningyuan, so I have to do it. This has got to hold some kind of record.

There's a careful balance between carrying too much money and not enough. I just haven't found it yet. I always learn the hard way.

I'm glad I ran out of money, if I hadn't I would never of seen what I saw today.  What a ride, simply glorious. I never use that word but today it seems perfectly fitting. The landscape was a mixture of gentle hills, paddy fields and picture post card houses in neat villages. All set to the rhythm of rice production.  The dragonflies in this area were very much alive. Flying in front until you got too close, then making a quick right angled exit like a UFO shooting off to space. Gone in a blink of the eye.

I'd rank the landscape as some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Intricate rock formations were dotted across the landscape, forming beautiful rock gardens where people grew their vegetable. The ridingwas not too strenuous, the weather just perfect and the people were really friendly.

I had a simple conversation with a small child whilst passing through a small village on a hill.

Child: American
Me: English
Child: Chinese

and then we parted, both smiling, happy that we'd made friends.

Once again night was slowly creeping in. I was thinking about trying to camp but there were people dotted everywhere and it seemed impossible to find a camping spot unseen. I was also having the same dilemma as when I need to go for a pee. Its like trying to go to the toilet in someones garden without getting caught. All of the landscape is in use and people blend in with their surroundings, with an ability to appear from nowhere.

The entrance to Guiyang is on a long, long hill. I entered the city from both sides, somehow missing it on the way through. With peopleshouting and yelling at me, practicing their English or just saying hello, I made my way along the high street. I met a young man on a moped who escorted me to a cheap hotel. On the way a another guy showed up waving my hat. I'd dropped it whilst passing through and he'd chased after me. I love that hat. Its a Tilley hat. If had to choose only one item to travel in, even if it meant I was naked, I'd choose my Tilley. Little Wheelie, me and my Tilley are inseparable. I love them both dearly and its only been a two week long relationship

I had to find a cheap hotel for about 15 RMB or one pound. You don't get much for that except that the people who run them are friendly families.

I dumped all my stuff, walked like a puppet into town, found a cash point, but it didn't work. Rejected ! Bloody typical. However food does taste fantastic after 112 kilometres.

I was doing extreme Salon Pas, now I'm doing extreme Willy Nilly. 3 Baozi and a handful of biscuits gets you quite far indeed.

On to Changsha it is then.

I'm looking forward to it.