i'd say the 4-dayer to Dali is ill-advised if you've "not ridden a bike seriously in 8 months". day three of that ride is a shocker, surface-wise. also, going north/higher brings a higher chance of wet/cold.
i'd suggest riding south (Jinghong or Hekou as possible targets) or staying near Kunming. a pretty straightforward 4-dayer based near Kunming is as follows: Day 1 Kunming to Yuxi; Day 2 Yuxi to Gushan; Day 3 lap of Fuxian Lake (this allows you to ride a day unloaded); Day 4 Gushan to Kunming (this has a fairly challenging climb, and some shoddy surface).
i'd offer to send you KMLs of this, but i don't have them with me now (i'm on a bike trip) - Fried (above) has copies of them, and he knows the roads involved. just don't let him talk you into any of his silly 200km+ per day monkey business...
if you're travelling soon, i.e. winter / dry season, i'd skip the antimalarials. it's not worth the side effects, they're difficult to get in China, and they do nothing against dengue. oh, and there's fewer mosquitoes at this time of year. take some repellent.
much eloquence from Chris - his last paragraph especially hits the nail on the head. i'm not sure I'd have had it in me to ante up for another round after an experience like that.
as i'm sure you've heard me say countless times before, i'd not have been able to move to a place like Kunming without a place like Salvador's at which to anchor my life, and i know i'm not alone in this sentiment. i can't even remember what we did the few months you were closed after the bombing - dark days indeed.
here's something telling: whenever i've mentioned to Kunming newcomers about the bombing, they struggle to grasp it. there's simply no sign of it. i don't mean just in the bricks and mortar, i mean there's no trace in the air, in the character of the place. to take something so harrowing, and move on from it so effectively, takes real class.
Yuxi from Kunming is a great first day. there's a bit of traffic and crappy surface after Jinning, but nothing unmanageable. several Ks after Jinning, you'll cross the highway on a bridge and go up a wee bit more, then after that you'll practically fall into Yuxi. it's significantly lower than Kunming. Fenghuang Lu has a decent selection of hotels.
@Yuanyangren
"I look forward to the day you can find a central backpacker district in Jinghong that looks like its equivalent in Laos filled with hundreds of western backpackers."
@beni-w.
err, "Kunming is preparing to host..." implies to me that this game is in the future. and if we're gonna get all semantic-like, i think 'reporting' is, by definition, after the event. but maybe i've been watching too much sci-fi. seems the game is on September 2. future, innit?
great idea, but it "just" needs government involvement. the Xiong bike shop seems to be having enough trouble getting a one-day race off the ground on roads that aren't even open to cars yet...
40% of the city's area was my understanding... which of course is not so easy to define... the original post has 昆明市城市 - which i take to mean the city area within Kunming Shi (the larger, administrative division.) I'd assume this means the 4 urban districts (Panlong, Wuhua, Guandu, Xishan) and excludes Chenggong New Area (which I believe is slated to become an urban district at some point.)
me, i'm tickled that a 2011-2013 three-year "action plan" is being discussed/deliberated halfway through the first year. errrr, _action_ plan.
oh, and there's more fun to be had with the stats if you're bored (boring?) enough to run the numbers... the plan is to add 6965 hectares of green space, which will raise the per capita green space from 12.41sq.m to 13sq.m, an increase of 0.59sq.m per capita. this implies that the population of Kunming is 118 million. oops. [the recent census reported the population of Yunnan as just under 46 million.]
oh, but these 6965 hectares will be added in 昆明市中心城区 Kunming Shi central city area - what's that then? same as 昆明市城市? dunno. maybe shoddy reportage from 生活新报, maybe they didn't have much to work with.
i've looked into this a bit. while i'm prepared to be wrong, my conclusion is that there is no bicycle path per se. the only mentions of it i've found in Chinese are all sourced from the original announcement referenced in this post.
however, the road around Dianchi is complete, and is accessible to bikes all the way around. i'm thinking that this is what the original announcement was referring to, or maybe what the original plans were downgraded to.
including a bit of downtown distance, the lake lap clocks around 130km. there's talk of a round-lake race in July, but it's already postponed from June, so who knows if it will actually take place.
no-one's reviewed this place for nearly 3 years! i think i know why: it's solid. a bit boring maybe, but they get the job done: food on the table in good time, attentive staff, wide selection of items. the 'Prague Breakfast' is a fine feed, still good value after the recent price increase.
i joined friends here on the weekend. they were getting food and playing a game. the pizzas looked great, but my friends advised me to avoid them, saying they tasted bland.
having made a selection, it took 20 minutes for the staff to tell me that my choice was no longer available. as my friends had nearly finished their game, we then all took our business elsewhere.
helpful advice:
- if someone arrives, give them a menu
- sort out the beer selection
- if i speak to you in Chinese, speak back to me in Chinese
i've recently rediscovered this place. it's a little hit and miss, but i have to say that with a little experimentation, you can find some quality food here. while not perfect, the vindaloo is the best i've had.
i first sampled the Silver Spoon burgers a few weeks back - not bad at all, though i was unconvinced that they were 1/2 pound. another visit yesterday, and this time i was persuaded... definitely a fat burger. i was very happy with my cheese and bacon burger. diners with large appetites, be warned - you'll need a side of something to make a meal - the burger is just a burger - no fries.
First-hand account: Setting up a guesthouse in Xishuangbanna
Posted by@Yuanyangren
"I look forward to the day you can find a central backpacker district in Jinghong that looks like its equivalent in Laos filled with hundreds of western backpackers."
really? was that sarcasm?
Singapore preparing for high-altitude challenge
Posted by@beni-w.
err, "Kunming is preparing to host..." implies to me that this game is in the future. and if we're gonna get all semantic-like, i think 'reporting' is, by definition, after the event. but maybe i've been watching too much sci-fi. seems the game is on September 2. future, innit?
Around Town: Biking the trails of Changchong Mountain
Posted bygreat idea, but it "just" needs government involvement. the Xiong bike shop seems to be having enough trouble getting a one-day race off the ground on roads that aren't even open to cars yet...
Kunming announces plan to increase green space
Posted by40% of the city's area was my understanding... which of course is not so easy to define... the original post has 昆明市城市 - which i take to mean the city area within Kunming Shi (the larger, administrative division.) I'd assume this means the 4 urban districts (Panlong, Wuhua, Guandu, Xishan) and excludes Chenggong New Area (which I believe is slated to become an urban district at some point.)
me, i'm tickled that a 2011-2013 three-year "action plan" is being discussed/deliberated halfway through the first year. errrr, _action_ plan.
oh, and there's more fun to be had with the stats if you're bored (boring?) enough to run the numbers... the plan is to add 6965 hectares of green space, which will raise the per capita green space from 12.41sq.m to 13sq.m, an increase of 0.59sq.m per capita. this implies that the population of Kunming is 118 million. oops. [the recent census reported the population of Yunnan as just under 46 million.]
oh, but these 6965 hectares will be added in 昆明市中心城区 Kunming Shi central city area - what's that then? same as 昆明市城市? dunno. maybe shoddy reportage from 生活新报, maybe they didn't have much to work with.
Construction begins on bicycle path around Dianchi Lake
Posted byi've looked into this a bit. while i'm prepared to be wrong, my conclusion is that there is no bicycle path per se. the only mentions of it i've found in Chinese are all sourced from the original announcement referenced in this post.
however, the road around Dianchi is complete, and is accessible to bikes all the way around. i'm thinking that this is what the original announcement was referring to, or maybe what the original plans were downgraded to.
including a bit of downtown distance, the lake lap clocks around 130km. there's talk of a round-lake race in July, but it's already postponed from June, so who knows if it will actually take place.