peanut butter and blueberry jelly sandwiches

i'm a stone's throw away from the vietnam-china border. yesterday's hilly 55-kilometer ride from fangcheng to dongxing was daunting even with plenty of stops to munch on finger-licking-good peanut butter and blueberry jelly sandwiches made from supplies i smuggled in from nanning's brand new and sparkling supermarkets.

the last 10 kilometers were absolutely worrisome. my right knee started to experience short and sharp bursts of pain. no matter how much i stopped, stretched, and massaged, it wouldn't go away. so i took it real slow and cursed the whole way. i'll stay off the bike for at least two more days. best case scenario, my knee just got worked up because of all the hills. (cross your fingers; i'm dreading the thought of being confined to routes dictated by buses and trains).

as i reflect on my travels through southern china, i realize that i haven't been completely open with you all. i've held back quite possibly the most precious moments of my trip thus far: the time i spent with kang, "johnny" and jia hao.

these people opened their homes to me, and it was during my time with them and their families that i now cherish the most. i didn't write much about those experiences for some reason. i'm not sure what that reason was; perhaps i was stalling until i could make sense of what i had saw, perhaps it was something else. i dunno, go fish.

with the stronger sense of immediacy brought by the nearing vietnamese border, i'm going to try and recollect those experiences. in doing so, i'm also going to weave in some of the big picture ideas i've been contemplating while pumping plastic pedals for hours on end.

i'll add these refelections in journal entries soon to come.

today i had the luck of having lunch (the usual chicken noodle soup with steamed greens) at a restaraunt next door to a chinese-canadian family. they asked me to come over for dinner. their son even offered to take me out to a bar for a drink later tonight. feeling lucky to have met someone so soon, i gratefully agreed.

the family mentioned that they've never seen a white man come through their town. this is the usual reaction i've encountered, and it makes me feel like i'm back on the right track i set out for. after having ventured to yangshuo and developed quite a stomach ache from scarfing down 10 yuan tourist french fries, it's much, much easier to pass up the tantalizing highway signs and billboards boasting tourist resorts, paradise-like beaches, and fantastic hot springs just 9 kilometers away.