Planalto Cycles

It was the second hotel in China with breakfast and because of the shorter tour of this day (76km), I could take it without feeling stressed, although it started late, 7:30.
And I was not stressed when a few minutes after leaving, Mr.G “saw” a street where I saw houses, so I had to sidestep on a street that Mr.G didn’t see. In such a case, you only see a triangle, symbolizing you on the bike and not much around. Mr.G is confused and shares this confusion with you.
So, it was good to have mapsme, too. This is not a very precise map, but you can locate your position and see some streets. On that map, too, was no road to see where I was driving and when I continued driving, there was no road where I was driving, even in reality. But a path. A narrow one, that became so narrow that better no one should come from the other side (and apparently, no one was motivated to go there). But after a few minutes, the path became a gravel road and this one lead into a normal road and suddenly Mr.G peeped that we are on the route again. That surprised me, I thought it would be somewhere left from this street, but it was ok for me ?

The rest of the tour, we stuck together, Mr.G and I, we had a good time, mostly on big roads with extra bicycle lane.

Today again, many people smiled, greeted or took photos when they passed me, or I passed them. Why this? Other, more extrovert people? The holidays? By chance? Two guys on a motorcycle accompanied me for a while, first filming and then communicating via translate app. In the end, they wanted to make a selfie (and I didn’t forget the “revenge-selfie” ? )

In Chaozhou, it was again impossible to find the hostel without help, but it was easy to get help, people offered it.

In the hotel, I had booked a dormitory bed and the room was quite busy. A young man started communication in English and then invited me to join him when he met his friend. So, Leo, his friend and the friend’s younger brother and I made a city tour

with focus on local food. On Wikipedia, I had found a list of food and written down some vegetarian dishes. And we worked through this list 😀

I then went back to the room where I not only wrote my diary in uploaded photos, I also chatted with my new “motorcycle-friends” and exchanged emails with Pascal. I just can say: I am excited, the idea slowly turns into a plan!

Today was only a 93km tour according to komoot (the bike route planner) and I reduced it to 80km, because I avoided a detour.

Sometimes, you cannot get the direct way and it is not clear why not. It was  the G324 and in general, “G-roads” are open for bikes. I tried to find out where the problem is and komoot allowed the bike for 7km but not for all 9km.

If I selected a point nearer to the end of the detour, he refused to plan it. And I could use the walking option.

Then, the whole part of the G324 that komoot wanted to avoid, was allowed. It was unclear, why I should use the same street later, but not here.
I had a little bad feeling to go left when Mr.G told me to go right, because I could not exclude that there would be a good reason not to use this road after a few kilometres. And Mr.G protested all the way and only 1-2km after his and my route had united again, he was silent.
The only other noteworthy event on today’s way, was a parade or maybe 3 parades in Puning. There was a group of ~50 costumed girls parading with some dance movements and clapping with sticks to the rhythm of a big drum. Some 100m in front of them was a group of kids and youngsters with grim make-up also dancing or performing to a drum and in front of them older guys that I could not see clearly, but it seemed that they were dancing the most, including jumps.

After that, I soon reached the hotel and for the second time in China, I couldn’t take the bike in the hotel (and in most cases even in the room). But it is a parking with gate and guard and so, I am not too nervous.
In the afternoon, I went for some food and I don’t know why I bought this waffle-ice-cream combination, maybe the smell was so convincing? The taste of the ice-cream, the strawberries and the waffle were not…

Since some months I “plan” 2 projects and for one, today I made a decisive step to turn an idea into a pre-stage of a plan. The idea is to celebrate my 60^th birthday in Uganda or “nearby”, depending on where my dear friend Pascal would be. Through couchsurfing, I learned to know many friends from far away countries and some of them I visit on this trip. But first, there are more friends, also in America or Russia, and second, I want to see them again as often as possible and third I want to introduce them to each other. (Btw, some relatives are also good friends for me).
So, please note, birthday party 2025 in Africa.
Besides seeing Pascal again and hopefully many friends, I want to make that meaningful in another way, too:
It should become a project with and for locals, a place for learning and teaching, something connected to my favourite subject, sustainability, and maybe after that useful as an orphanage, school or whatever. Depending on how much time, energy, money and -most of all!- vision, spirit and optimism this idea can raise, it could be something great or not.
And today, I wrote about that to Pascal, and he answered soon and in such a positive way that I am really excited! You should know that Pascal since many years is involved in different projects, in refugee camps and other places around Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya. His reaction showed me that this idea can be more than only crazy and well-meant.

today was day 200, and day 198 was maybe half of my trip
(I only will know when I am back in Vienna)

Today, Mr.G and I had no disputes, I could comprehend his, and he could accept my decisions. The morning in Huidong was silent, except some bursts of crackers here and there, but there were more people awake than I had expected.The weather was again nice, sometimes the surroundings, too, and so where the people. Until 11, there was only little traffic, but one car stopped, because they wanted to take a selfie with me, another one slowed down, because they wanted to wave and exchange New Years wishes and the first in that list, when I was not prepared for so much friendliness, made me regret my reactions the whole day. A car came from the other side of the street to my side and stopped. The driver smiled and waved to me and I waved back. He made a gesture and I thought he wants to express that it is great that I cycle (as many people did before and after him today) and I said thank you and passed by. And only when I was behind him, I realized that he had had a bottle with water in his hand and that his gesture apparently was offering it to me. But it was too late, and I felt sorry that I had not reacted properly to this nice offer.
Many more people than usually were friendly or looking at me or smiled. Around 11, the traffic became more and more, and I guess that was because of family gatherings around lunch time. But at that time, I was near Haifeng and then between Haifeng and Lufeng, two bigger cities, so the traffic could also have other reasons.
On my way, I could not only see the traces of yesterday’s celebrations, I saw people at temples (but I didn’t see many temples!)

and smaller worship places (did I see more on my way from West to East, I am not sure,  but maybe yes!) and even a group of boys performing a dance with drum accompaniment.

I have to put another untaken photo on my list of missed chances: It was a place of worship, quite tidy and directly on the opposite side of the street piles of garbage, showing me the superficiality of worship. Instead of that sharp contrast I later found two neighbouring trees, one with trash around, one with offerings and incense sticks.

And later, I nearly missed something similar: for some hundred meters, you could find special decoration elements thrown away after use. I have no photo of the most impressing accumulations and the biggest parts, because I was too slow in my decision to stop for a photo, but at least I have something.

At 2p.m., I arrived at the hotel that not only was near to the given location but good to see, at least when you know, where to look. Later in the afternoon, I wanted to buy bananas for tomorrow’s muesli and at the reception, I got the directions to a nearby shopping center with a supermarket. In the last shops, where I found bananas, they were from the Philippines or even Nicaragua but at least I found some older once sold off, something that I allow myself to buy, if I do not find local ones. In this supermarket, you also could find those imported fruits and I didn’t see bananas in the sale, but I found local, small ones. The mall was crowded, all shops and restaurants were open, also around this place, many shops were open, so I guess, I gradually can reduce my holiday-stocks of cookies and nuts to normal.

Another short entry and nothing special or surprising.
Yes, working on the PC, mainly writing the Hongkong blog post (half a day!), cutting videos, preparing my bags for leaving, wasting time on facebook and closing it alternatingly for 1-2 hours and re-open it.
And finally taking a picture of this double packed toilet papers. I wanted to do that since the first day when I saw it. For higher hygiene standards, I would suggest to put every sheet in an own plastic foil

Always after staying at one place for a while, I am a bit more nervous and it reminds me slightly on leaving Vienna. The main difference however is, that I know that this feeling changes again soon. Last week, I had closed Constanze’s door after she had left, this time it was the door of Hasmik. When I know, I cannot open the door again, because I have no key, it makes me also nervous and I check everything as good as a muddle-head can. I am not sure how aware other muddle-headed people are that they are, but I am and so, two parts struggle to be stronger, the supervisory and the muddle-headyness. The latter in the long run must be the winner, because you cannot see how much was under control, you see what was not. And if such a person managed to turn off all the lights, the water and the gas and did many other things well, in the end counts the one thing not well done, let’s say an apple core lying on a plate instead in the compost bucket and now the ants and termites fight with different flies for the bigger part, build new colonies in the following 14 days and call you a muddle-head.
So, after a deep breath I closed the door, went down, prepared my bike

and left in the direction Mr.G had proposed.

It was uphill and after a while, there was a barrier and enough policemen to stop faster guys than me. So, one stopped me and said I cannot go, only push the bike.

I pushed it to the barrier and there was another one who told me I cannot go with my bike, not even pushing. He suggested to leave the bike and go and I explained that I am going to Huidong by bike, so it is better to have the bike with me. And he said no.
It was not exactly so fluent, except his Chinese, but in the end everything was clear. Not everything, because I didn’t know what to do now. Mr.G didn’t show any alternative route, it seemed to be the only road where I could go by bike in this car-driver’s highway-paradise.
At home, I had seen on the map, that there is a lake and a hill that I would have passed on the right side. So, my plan was, to try it on the left side and find the route again after that.

On the left side was Shenzhen with all its nice complications for cyclists but this time for every problem there was a solution and I arrived on the North side of the lake

and Mr.G gave a beep of relieve and we were again good friends for a while. Cockily, he suggested a small lane that permanently looked as if it would have a dead end after the next bend and after 10km, there was a complication near to a dead end, let’s say a comatose end. There was an underpass under the highway and Mr.G insisted that exactly there, I would have to turn there to the right.

The problem is that the map that Mr.G presents is even worse than the maps I have on the computer and can put in the blog, so things are more difficult in reality than on the maps here.
But after these two situations, the route was ok, I mean within the normal range of Mr.G-fun.

I had been warned to have enough food for 5^th of Feb, because nearly every shop and restaurant will be closed. And that was apparently partly the case today, too. Streets were quite empty, many shops closed

and later, I read that every day at least in the first week of the New Year has some special meaning and traditions and I am curious to see if I will have to eat up everything of my storage or go to gas stations to get food. When I arrived in Huidong, I saw one open restaurant and went there (to safe my stocks) and saw that I was not the only customer. So, maybe some restaurants will open to take advantage of those who want to eat outside?
Before I reached Huidong, I had to do 125km (instead of the planned 116, thanks to police and other causes for detours). At noon it was so warm and most of the time sunny that I could go on in t-shirt. The last 25km (and actually, I didn’t know if it would be 20 or 30km, because I didn’t know how big the detours were.) I had the sunny weather in my back and was driving into dark clouds.

But except for 3 or 4 raindrops and some wind (yes, the wind now came from the south, “because” I was going there!) nothing happened.
Huidong looked even more like a ghost city, because there were so many buildings under construction, showing their empty windows like eye sockets in skulls and the scaffolding and billowing covers reinforced this impression.

After my early dinner, I completed my tour and Mr.G said that I had reached the place, but there was not my hotel. I asked people for help and they called the owner and he told them that he is not here, because of Chinese New Year! I had started the booking work for the second part (after Zhuhai and Shenzhen) with 4^th and 5^th of Feb, because I thought, these could be the hardest dates and was glad to find something. And now this guy had forgotten the booking or whatever. My helpers continued helping me and went along Huidong until they found an open hotel (don’t know if I would have found this myself or with my phone, but for sure not as fast) and another adventure-look-a-like became normal before the adventure aspect could grow.

At 10, Anna and Jeffrey would meet me at Kowloon Tong, 42km from Hasmik’s apartment. I calculated 4h to go there, including crossing the border.
I just want to quote Anna when I told her about this project: “I am not sure if it is a good idea to go to HK by bike :)“ and I answered “Let’s say it would be a little challenge 😉

Ok…
I did the first 6km and arrived at the border at 6:20 and the first 2 parts of that challenge were: the officer meant, I cannot cross the border by bike and the border only opens at 7:00. The officer spoke Chinese fluently, but luckily there was a man who translated his flow of words and in the end, he called is supervisor and told me that I can go, but only by bus and the bike has to be stored in the bus. This would have been the first opportunity to leave my bike in China, lock it safely and go by bus. Let’s say – too reasonable for me? Additionally, I thought, maybe I can go back from HK to China by bike and see what happens.
At 7, the group of waiting people went into the building of border control and the officers just noticed my bike with a hint of astonishment. Everything went smoothly, I bought a bus ticket with Yuan and got back change in HK$, put my bike in the bus and off we drove. First, I had told Anna I could be late, because the border is opening later than expected, then I had written that I am in the bus and will be on time. I just wanted to send those messages fast before my Chinese SIM card would stop working. In the meantime, the bus had stopped, and the passengers and my bike had to leave after travelling maybe 400m. There was another building, HK border control. Everything went smooth and I was told to go back to the same bus stop, and: no, I cannot go by bike. The Chinese bus driver had left the bus in the back part of the station, now a driver from HK drove to the front part, my bike went to the luggage space and the bus went on. Only for a while.
I didn’t look at my watch, but I guessed it was maybe 20 min and calculated another 6km. (Now, I know we had been in Sheung Shui Station, and it was less than 6km)

Anyway, here I could start going by bike, according to my calculation I could reach Kowloon Tong at time if I manage an average of 15km/h and only the very small reasonable part somewhere in the back part of my head thought about locking the bike and going on by bus or train (I was sure the train will be there, too, and now I know it was like that, just one station away from the Chinese border)
The next 22km, I was mostly riding along the GPS route, but then I lost it and Mr.G lost me and gave me always changing and confusing direction and in front of me was a big hill and around me were highways and barriers making crossings difficult. Before that, I had met many cyclists and it was easier to decide where to go when I saw what they did. Now, I saw nobody. I tried this and that always turning back to my starting point of confusion. And there was the train station….
When there was not enough time to fool around anymore, I asked someone if I can go with the train with my bike, the answer was no. My problem was that my phone didn’t show me the location (“you are in a tunnel or building” – no, I even didn’t stand under a tree!), so I had no idea where I was and I wanted to know where I would leave my bike when I use the train without it.
25min were left and I decided to follow the road signs. There was Kowloon West and Kowloon center, both showing me that it could not be far anymore. I chose “center” and went fast. Soon, the road looked a bit like highway, only there was a lane reserved for buses calming me down. The road went uphill, and I fought to keep a high speed.
And then there was a policeman, apparently waiting for me, because he talked into his radio set and it looked like “yes, now he is here!”
He stopped me and told me to go back. Going back? First, I didn’t want that so much but second this was very dangerous – there was not enough space between barriers and bus lane. He also thought about other possibilities, also talking in his radio, but then I had to walk back. I ran down the hill on the highway one the bus lane against the direction of the traffic, every 10sec pressing me and the bike against the barrier when a bus came (some of them showing “Kowloon Tong”…). I reached a normal street, raced back to the station and had 10min left to reach the meeting point. I locked my bike (not according to my plans with several locks and my flag-cover), jumped into a taxi, jumped out again to take my phone  out of a small bag on the bike, jumped back into the taxi and the driver showed what he can, going fast and: not using the highway! I could have gone the same road 30min earlier by myself!
With the change from buying the bus ticket I could pay the taxi and then met Ann and Jeffrey. My plan had been to leave the big bike bag on the bike under that cover (and fix the cover with another lock) but in my hurry, I had taken everything with me (in the end, as above mentioned, “even” my phone.)
So, I had to carry everything with me for a while, but then Jeffrey brought the bike bag to his office to store it during our tour.
First, we went to the Chinese New Year Flower Markets in Victoria Park where you could get pigs and food, pigs and flowers and beside other things also pigs.

And like on fun fairs in other places, too, you found those barkers loudly praising peelers or other tools for the household. The pigs were mainly stuffed animals or paper cuts sold by students who by that get in touch with business life.
We used the old tram

and then had lunch in a typical restaurant for locals where you had to wait at the entrance to get a seat and the tables are shared between different customers if there was a free seat.
After lunch, we went to the Victoria peak.

The first plan was to take the Peak Tram but that would have meant one hour of cueing up and we managed to walk up in the same time without hurrying.

After this calm walk, we again met the hordes of tourists at the Peak tower where we gave up visiting the platform or other attractions.

Instead we made a circle walk on the top with less people, more nature and good view down to HK. I would like to say nice views, because even the sun was shining, but the smog clouded my perception.

There are still people who are intellectually overwhelmed by the idea of climate change but when you can see how dirty the air is that you need for breathing, you could guess that someone say, “Ok, stop, business and going by cars may be important, living is more important.” You could solve some of the biggest problems of the world just by changing from madness to reason. (And to make it clear, even when I tend to madness in small things like bike trips to HK or elsewhere, this madness doesn’t do too much damage, so I feel entitled to state things like that)
I asked Anna and Jeffrey about things like meaning of life and the development of HK under the constant influence of  or from China. You can see and feel a big difference between HK and Chinese people’s behaviour. Maybe this started from colonial times when the British brought their way of life and administration etc to HK. But it is interesting to see that apparently after a generation or two or maybe also less than that, people moving to the city adapt this way of life. But Anna and Jeffrey also told me that the mainland-influence changes things in HK, for example language. Every day, 150 Chinese are allowed to move to HK (by a quota for family reunion if I got it right) and it would be a found food for right-wing populists all over Europe to condemn this endangering of the own culture. By the way, I am sure that the second player in this game is this “own culture”. If people truly have something like that, society can absorb much from the new coming people, partly transforming it to something own and new, partly just being stronger than influences. I think Vienna some decades ago was a good example for that, many people came from all sides and their culture in the end made Vienna more Viennese. And now we have starbucks etc, which has more effect on our culture (Viennese coffee houses?!) than some thousands women with headscarf and their conservative patriachs…
I just want to say about Hongkong (and many other places) that I have difficulties with the concept of earning a lot of money and maybe even having a bit time and some possibilities to spend it (besides the cost-prohibitive apartments) but after a week of working being tired enough to need the weekend to recover for the next week of working. This is a circle of live that ignores the uniqueness of our existence in favour of at least meaning- and useless or even harmful activity.
We went down by minibus and on the way to the ferry came to an underpass with many Philippine women sitting there in groups on pieces of cardboards. Ann and Jeffrey explained to me that these women are working as maids in HK households and in their spare time gather there.
This imbalance of self-exploiting rich and exploited poor makes me speechless and helpless. I just know that this cannot be final goal of human development.

Anna had chosen a Vegetarian restaurant for dinner and to make it short, the food was great.

I just must add that even in a Vegetarian restaurant you can ask how many hours a day the people in the kitchen work and how much money they get. Or what about those people who grow that food? Or who transport it?
That reminds me on a pupil at school some years ago who asked me about my income. And after that asked if I mean per month or per week (his father, a cook, got the same per week). At that time, with young children, I could have coped with my monthly salary even every week but that is not the point. For me it was good to hear that not always those who are privileged enough to be able to go to university (like me) also earn more money.
It was evening and time to get back to China. Anna and Jeffrey had made a great day for me with delicious food and many things to see and now they helped me so much until I finally was in the train to China.
I had asked the taxi driver for the name of the place where my bike is. Anna had looked it up at a map and it was only one stop with the train from our meeting point!

She and Jeffrey accompanied me there. There was another problem to solve, because bikes are allowed in the train only when you remove the front wheel. Now my bike is a bit heavy and with the bag it is around 25kg and not so easy to transport when you must carry one wheel and balance the bike with the bag, but I would have done if possible!
At my bike-shop in Vienna, they had exchanged the axis to one with special screw head so thieves cannot take the wheel. And now I couldn’t, too, because the special tool for that was in another bike bag in Shenzhen. To the guard on the platform I suggested to lock my bike to have the same effect (it is hard to move it and for sure not less dangerous for other passengers!) and she said, she would be ok with it but other passengers could complain why I get an exception because I could open the lock any time! (I also could put back the wheel any time). So, the solution was to fix the wheel with cable ties. We had to wait for another guard who came with two ties and fixed both wheels (for more security, for a bigger challenge, for what?)

and both guards waited at the platform until I was in the train, in the last wagon, last door. Now it also was time to say good-bye to Anna and Jeffrey,

the doors closed, and I was on my way to Lo Wu. There, I had to carry my bike from the very end of the platform to the exit at the top. A guard saw me and first meant he cannot open the cable ties  but after watching me for a while he had an idea and came back with scissors. He cut the tie at the back wheel and now I could balance the bike, what was difficult enough compared to just pushing it. And as if I still would be too dangerous our what ever for whomever the guard accompanied me to the gate and only there removed the second cable tie.
At the border control, I should fill in an arrival card but got only a departure card and queued up. But the officer wanted a real arrival card, gave me one, I filled in the form (nearly the same) and queued up again.
Then, they renewed the 17 days old pictures of my finger prints and face, and I could leave. I couldn’t leave the station without asking for a way out, but happily I had been there before (there is that commercial center) and could orientate faster. I wanted to message Anna, but my SIM card had not recovered from the  tour and didn’t allow WeChat or SMS (and of course nothing with VPN)
The last point stressing me on that day was the key to Hasmik’s apartment. I could remember that I had put it in my jacket and closed the pocket with a zipper. But I didn’t find it. Worried and tired I drove home. At the gate, the guard knows me and opened the door. Then I locked my bike and started to search in my bike bag, because I hoped to find the key, it could have been fallen out of the pocket. And then I saw that my bike jacket has one more pocket at the chest and even could remember that I had put the key there and the best thing about that was: the keys were still there.
Many minutes before midnight of this long and eventful day, I opened the door, did what had to be done and went to bed.

*****
“I am not sure if it is a good idea to go to HK by bike :)“
“Let’s say it would be a little challenge 😉
*****

Short day for the diary. Sitting at home, cutting videos (with some procrastination) and sorting things, one time leaving the apartment to go to a restaurant, eating lunch and buying dinner at once, going back and continue.
Tomorrow will be a very active day when I go 45km to Hongkong in the early morning!, will walk a lot and cycle back in the evening!

The morning was dedicated to Angkor Vat. There, I had filmed with my normal camera in the temples and between the temples, I had used the Gopro. First, I had to put all those clips in the right order, because the time codes of Gopro and Cam are not synchronized. And then, I tried to shorten 40min to ~10min. This is always difficult for me when I cut videos, but here, it was harder, because Angor Vat is not a country road with some trees, so the material seemed precious for me in every minute.
Then I wanted to write some subtitles to the temples and had to find out which temple I (most probably) had been filming. Again not easy, because I had seen many temples in a short time and my videos most of the time don’t show the most iconic views.
But it is finished now!

Before I went to the hospital, I wanted to go a big shopping mall that according to internet information should also have 2-3 sport shops.
When I saw the building, I didn’t know difficult it would be, to get there and leave again. At first, I wanted to find the official way, but the best I could find, was only the entrance to the underground car park. So, I had to use a more …creative way, including ignoring some one-way-signs (like everyone else) and carrying my bike up some stairs.
The mall was the next surprise. I had expected big shops and flagship stores of different brands. But it was an accumulation of hundreds of mini-shops around 10m² and narrow corridors.

No signs, not even in Chinese, no overview plan telling where to find what. On 5 levels, the shops presented mainly cloths, bags, some electronics, watches and bored sellers standing and sitting around, desperately waiting for customers. The only shops with enough clientele were cosmetics and pedicure. Through the glass walls and open doors, you could see them sitting closely packed and in front of them people working on their toes, fingers or faces. On my surge for a shop for new bike gloves I walked through every floor from North to South covering as many corridors as possible and found two shops for golf accessories and the second one had two pairs of cycling gloves, one without padding and one a bit too small which I took unnerved and worn from walking and searching as I was.
I wanted to leave the area of the mall that is also a bus and train station and it took me more then 10 min and again I had to take stairs and improvise my way. I tend to get angry about structures that are made from car drivers for car drivers, but this was worse than everything I had experienced so far. So, I was good prepared to stay angry the rest of my way to the hospital where as a further example for this madness, I had to cross 10 lane highway with barrier in the middle. You can chose between a 2km detour to the next “u-turn”, in this case a fully grown cloverleaf that you have to go through to 50% (and maybe bikes prohibited, I only know it from the first time with the car) or you can change to the left sides before you come to that highway and zigzag 2km on the sidewalks (did it last time) or take the stairs of a pedestrians bridge (this time).
In the hospital at the results collecting counter, one person looked at the envelope and at my passport, then a second one and the all five who were present. That didn’t bode well and after some minutes (!) they talked to me and told me that there is another passport number on the paper than in my passport. I wonder how that could have happened, because they had used the papers from Zhuhai and the passport number was correct and after printing out a form with the number, I had checked everything, including that number and had sign it.
I feared the worst, but now they displayed an unexpectedly high degree of flexibility, corrected the form on the computer, printed it out again and delivered everything to me! Now, the crucial point had come. With these papers, I went to room 307 to a doctor to sign and stamp the form of the freighter company. Believe it or not – I got both!

After checking my blood regarding AIDS and an ultrasound scan of my bladder and pancreas

they dared to answer the question “…has sufficient functional integrity of upper and lower limbs…” with yes – although no one had tested that. You can say, that is evident. Yes, and that is the point – it is only a matter of evidence and common sense enriched with medical expertise what the cargo company wants to know. They don’t want to be bothered and troubled by unindependent people as another (funny) question shows: “…neuropsychiatric condition…shall not be an issue …for the crew…taking into account the promiscuity on board”. I am glad that in the hospital no one checked my neuropsychiatric condition directly after crossing Shenzhen to get to them…
I left the hospital quickly to get home, for taking a photo of the certificate and emailing it to my cargoship agent before the stamp might fade away or floods could water the signature, hoping that my camera works properly and internet connection allows sending.
Hermes the god of mail-delivery was merciful and 2h after leaving Shenzhen port hospital, the certificate arrived in Berlin to be passed on to CMA CGM, the freighter company. Then I should get my ticket!!
At home, I re-connected my bike light that also had been impaired when they pushed my bike in that car (day 193), again fixed my bike mirror with glue because also since that, it always sinks down instead of pointing backwards and I inflated my tires. Nothing spectacular, but it has to be mentioned, because it is strange that I have to take extra efforts to deal with such things. I always know I should do it when I cannot and immediately forget it when the time would be right or, worse, I find something else I want to do before (and then still forget). In the evening, I even managed to cross something else from my to-do-list, performing a workout of the “results-app”. I just want to mention that my thighs a bit show that I use them for cycling but jump squats are something else. I can feel that I executed 80 of them (in 4 rounds). To keep a body in good conditions apparently needs many different activities. That reminds me on a group of Chinese elderly people, maybe around 65-70, playing with a footbag. They were moving in such smooth ways and performed cool tricks when they passed and received the ball. I stopped and delightedly watched them for a while.

no photos

In the morning, I went again to the Shenzhen Port Hospital. To be more exact, first I didn’t, because I had told Mr.G that I want to go to the hospital and took his first suggestion, but this was the wrong hospital. It is easier to find a line (my correct route) than a point (a location, like the hospital), so I could soon come to the right way. Still, things like that are in a way stressful for me and today, I could feel that all that imponderables and uncertainties that are a part of such a trip (Can I cross that road? This rad is not passable – what to do now? What does Mr.G mean? Is the location correct? Can I reach the ferry in time? Where should I enter? What does this sign mean? The phone is empty! Mr.G and phone should connect but bluetooth doesn’t work! etc) are exhausting for me, because I am always concerned a bit or more than a bit.
That’s why I went to the Hongkong border today to be prepared for Saturday when I go there. Of course, everything looked different than on the maps that I consulted, and I am glad that I saw it. Still, I don’t know how long everything will take and which problems could occur, so I will be there early, because it is 42km to the meeting point with CS friend Anna and we agreed to meet at 10.
At the hospital, they made a kind of full service, because one nurse brought me from room to room for the health check. It was a quite austere check, including blood, urine sample, X-ray and ultrasound. They even tested my eyes and it would be “funny” if I would not pass their test, because my left eye is not that of an eagle, more that of a mole. The test has not much to do with what the cargo ship company wants to know, but Chinese schemes are strict, they only can do it in one way. I will be relieved when I have my certificate, tomorrow afternoon I can come to get it (or not to get it….).
After that, I wanted to go to a big shop, Walmart, because I had lost or forgotten my bike gloves in Zhuhai and even after only 10km, my palms are nearly wounded by the rough surface of the handlebar. There are some bike shops in Shenzhen, but all more than 20km away, so I hoped to find something nearer.
And there was: nothing, not even the playground that was marked at maps.me at the same place. In this regard, China is mainly annoying, and I have no problem to leave again. There are some other negative things, too, and it would be of course easier with some language or even writing skills.
By the way, it happened more than once that someone, even after it was obvious that I don’t understand any word, not only talked on as if Chinese could be understood by intuition or with a little more efforts, but they even wrote something in Chinese to explain things that I hadn’t understood by talking.
On the way home, I found another big shop, Vanguard. But they had mainly food, especially nuts, seeds and sweets. You find nuts and seeds in endless rows without any obvious system, here nut near drinks, there nuts again near chocolate, then again near cereals, and so on. And every time seeds from different brands, from 50-500g or more and on different places presented open, as well as beans, lenses, dried fruits etc. People like to touch the open food and if you see what they else do with their hands, you like packed food a bit more. Still, I like visiting supermarkets! I know them from Austria and so, the differences and similarities are interesting.
But I could  tear myself away and cycled home.
The rest of the day was again planning, this time around the Hongkong trip on Saturday and a bit Taiwan and Indonesia. And I finished sewing my bike bag and washed some cloths, that’s it.

深圳口岸医院 – 皇岗口岸生活区1号

After writing yesterday’s diary, I went to the international Travel Healthcare Center or tried to go there….
The address that I had found was not the right one, but at least it was a hospital. I asked the nurse at the entrance, she went with me to a doctor, this doctor went with me to another doctor and he made a rough sketch of the way to the Healthcare center. 

There, I talked to a nurse, on the phone, she talked to a doctor, he then talked with me, after that again with her and the result was that I should go to their head quarter, because here, they couldn’t do that certificate thing for me. The nurse brought me to a guy with a car who would go there. Together, they forced my bike in his car.
Later, I saw, that my bike mirror again was broken under this torture.

Same procedure again. I ask the nurse she sends me to a counter, the man at the counter takes my papers to another man. They read very carefully, nearly 10min, then send me to a doctor. This doctor wants to help me but is unsure if she is allowed to. So, she asks her chief. This chief tells her to ask the chief of the chief. This chief fist says no. I tell “my” doctor that in Zhuhai the chief had said yes, but it was a matter of sending or picking up the papers the next day what was impossible for me. Meanwhile she had taken pictures of my papers and sent to her chief (or chief of the chief). Now she calls again with my new information. A few minutes later she gets a call that she can come to her boss. She hurries there and some minutes later comes back and tells me that I can come tomorrow morning with an empty stomach between 8-9!
With this good news, I tried to get back home. First, I saved the location of the hospital on mapsme, so I could feed my route planner for the next morning. Then I tried to find my way to the route from the port to Hasmik’s apartment that I had used yesterday. It was the same problem as yesterday. If I used bike lanes at least where cycling on the road was expressly prohibited, I just wanted to avoid that the same policemen as yesterday would see me ignoring the rules. But today I may have found the right balance between a decent and a determined cyclist and came back without detours and without confrontations with police.

Why mapsme at home did not remember the saved location of the hospital, I don’t know, I just know that the same GPS-signal interpreted by google maps had pointed in a river. And I know that I also had forgotten something, namely the name of that hospital. Both facts combined brought work for a good hour until I had the name (Shenzhen port hospital) the address, the location on a map and finally the route there.

You could ask if that is worth it, the address could be enough or the location, and I just could go in that direction and ask, maybe it wouldn’t take longer than all my preparations.
Sometimes that can and will work and sometimes even my triple-secured planning doesn’t help if the data and the reality don’t fit together.
I just feel better when I had prepared something even if it doesn’t help, and I always had something to regret when I didn’t. Why didn’t I write down the name of the hospital and take a photo of the street name?
And I gave up relying on my sense of orientation, too many times I was disappointed by it, at least two times yesterday. One time, after a detour caused be a bike lane I tried to find back and minutes later realized that I was going back were I had been coming from – a stupid feeling. The other example is Hasmik’s apartment. In my feeling, still the windows point to South and the opposite is true. I had to go the way from the entrance to the lift and from the lift to the apartment deliberately to understand how I could confuse North and South but still I don’t get rid of that wrong image.
So, I better plan!

Shenzhen Port Hospital深圳口岸医院

No.1, Life Area, Huanggang Port, Shenzhen.皇岗口岸生活区1号