Day 54, 76km: (by Chris)

After the glorious views and quiet of the mountains, today was a reality check that we were in China. We cycled 76km down a busy, noisy, narrow main road where the Chinese drivers had ample opportunity to remind us of their complete inability to drive sensibly. Honestly, it's as though someone has given the keys to a bunch of 12 year olds. Once again the horn was the most utilised of vehicle controls, and used to good effect at drawing maximum attention to the fact the majority of them are complete idiots.

Piles of rubbish dumped into rivers also featured heavily today and we had dinner in a noodle-bar run by a guy who was quite obviously put-out by the fact we wanted to pay him money to cook us some noodles. Although today was a bad day, I am not without the ability to appreciate the positives: I am exceptionally happy that we are still alive by the end of it. Roll on tomorrow.