Love for all, Henan

A mere eight days away from Beijing and everyone is chomping at the bit to close this chapter of their life. We’ve arrived in a small town in Henan province called Bo’ai—meaning love for all, something needed at this point. Luoyang, yesterday’s stopping point, marks the first city I scouted. I’ve started scouting ahead each day since I am more familiar with this area than most of this group; I spend the days double checking directions and finding new (cheaper) hotels than the ones I had previously found.

Double-checking requires me to drive through today’s destination and continue to tomorrow’s city only to return and report my findings. As you may imagine, my days have been long, usually around 400km spent with Mr. Xu (pronounced shoe) each day. Mr. Xu has a heart of gold and the tolerance of a saint. We have been working him entirely too much, but he takes it with a smile and only complains when I am the only one in the car. I think he is looking forward to Beijing more than anyone else.

Coming into Henan province, I’ve had to extinguish more fires than usual. The first hotel we booked in Henan nearly became a disaster. After confirming foreigners were allowed to stay there the day before, the day we arrived they told us we couldn’t stay there. With 40 riders and two trucks on the way, Mr. Xu and I vigorously argued this injustice.

I nearly burst out laughing when Mr. Xu said that we had stayed in hotels from Kashgar to here and had no problems, but the first day we arrive in Henan we are being cheated. [Chinese are notoriously racist against people from Henan. If something is stolen, missing or anything bad has happened, it is said that the culprit must be from Henan.] The verdict came back saying we could stay there, but at an inflated 150RMB/night as opposed to the negotiated 110RMB/night. They were so stingy that they charged a bicycle parking fee of 5RMB. I left the sales manager embarrassed and speechless when I told her that in my country, everyone pays the same price no matter where his or her passport is from.

Riders seem to be completely loosing their minds and sense of decency. In the middle of a conversation last night, I had a rider tug on my sleeve trying to get my attention. I ignored the gross impoliteness and continued my conversation…until the tugging turned to pulling and saying my name. What I said next scared me, “EXCUSE ME, I am in the middle of a conversation, I will help you when I am finished.” As I turned to continue the conversation, an image of my hand tugging on my mothers sleeve flashed in my head with my mother turning and enunciating exactly what I had just said.

We have two more days of riding until the next rest day. I will most likely jump ahead to Beijing and help finalize everything for our ceremony, banquet dinner, and accommodations for our arrival. I’m excited to be back in the capital, even though it’s for a short time. You may find my official updates for the TDA website below. Enjoy!