The day started slowly as the first two hours were on a busy national road and we only covered 90 km. It is getting really warm in the car but we are reluctant to use AC as it would be difficult to sleep at night if we are not acclimatised to the heat and humidity. We passed through the Tropic of Cancer and so officially in the tropics now!
As we drove along the freeway we saw lots of tea bushes, with locals busy picking the leaves.
We passed a city called Pu’er which is part of the old tea route through which the tea was transported to Tibet by porters who carried 70 or 80 kgs through impossible mountain tracks. This is part of the supply route for the Silk road.
We came across lots of empty diesel stations and queues of lorries in this region. You can imagine how quickly China would grind to a halt without massive supplies of oil. It is a huge and hungry machine, which is a little bit frightening.
We continued on and stopped at Mengla only 50kms from the border. It was quite a relief. We went out that evening with Spring for our last meal and although it was with some guilt that Graham ordered chicken and chips. He did however make up for it by eating it like a local. Marjool was very good and had fried rice!
That night we had a huge thunder storm and heavy rain. We hoped that the roads in Laos were OK and thought of the poor people in Thailand who would receive the rain in a few days. Just what they don’t need!
troopytracks 