Hanoi to Nanning, China

We left Hanoi on a wet dull day.  We needed to cross a bridge over the river but bikes were not allowed on this part of the road, we rode around for a while trying to find a bridge we could use but to not avail, in the end we rode like the Vietnamese, disobeyed the signs and just crossed with the cars.  The road was terrible and the recent rains meant mud, lots of mud.  We rode through rice paddies and past large factories.  Our last night in Vietnam was at Long Son, we had our bikes cleaned by high pressure hose to get all the mud off the chains and the gears, but within half an hour of setting off they were just as bad. The scenery changed from flat fields to lovely rugged hills as we headed to the Chinese border.  The crossing into China went smoothly, our passports were stamped and a nice young official said "Welcome to China" and we rode through.  We were hoping for better roads, and we did get good surface for a while, but not for long, we soon encountered many roadworks and more mud which made our progress slow.  There was very little traffic, mainly cars with a few motor bikes.  China was such a nice change, rolling hills, trees, birds singing and sugar cane fields which were being cut by hand, then loaded into carts pulled by bullocks.  Our first overnight stop in China was a large town just over the border and our first experience of Chinese life.  The streets were clean, the footpaths were clear, there was a shopping centre, and no one hassling us to buy their goods.  For the next couple of days we rode through similar scenery, staying in small towns and eating great Chinese food along the way.  Accommodation was not as good as we have been used to and the humid weather made drying our clothes difficult, but we were happy to be in China with lovely scenery, polite and friendly people and great food.  One morning we stopped to buy a drink and the stall owner offered us some hot noodles which Mike gladly accepted, as he went into the back of the shop to eat them he was surprised to see about fifteen men sitting at tables gambling, they would not let him take a photo. We have been registered with Warmshowers, an organisation providing host homes for long distance cyclists, but had not used them until now.  We were to stay with a host in Nanning, the first major city for us in China.  We arrived  covered in mud and greeted warmly by Nancy, an American who works at Guangxi University and lives on campus.  We had planned to stay two nights but stayed for four.  Nancy was a great host and introduced us to some of her students and friends.  Tien Tien, a friend of Nancy, taught Mike to play Chines Chess so be bought a small travelling set. The university is very big, about 30,000 students and teaches live on campus which is like a small city with a market, restaurants and a hotel.  We enjoyed our stay here very much, we rested, the bikes had a little maintenance and enjoyed having company.