Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30
Day 9: Simatai – Chengde: Bad Day on the bikes
We got up at 5:15 am to get away early and be before darkness in Chengde. We started and found out that Jolanda had a flat tire. People get up early in China because already at this time of the day we had a lot of spectators around us while we changed the tire. Finally we got going and with several breaks we made it to the 60 km mark of our day trip before we found a taxi to drive us the last 60 km to Chengde. The heat (although it was cloudy), the honking cars, the pollution, the continous trouble with the bikes finally made us call it quits. So now we are in Chengde where we have found a decent hotel with SOFT beds, a Kentucky Fried Chicken (we are too tired for challenges in Chinese) and an internet cafe to keep you guys updated about our trip.