Highways, Love hotels & Phone people

From Nanning to the next big city, it took me another three days, around 80/ 85 km each. I shortened the third day by riding my first highway. I write "first" because in the previous countries there were always... donkeys, bicycles or even buffalo-carriages on them ! Even in Thailand where the roads were large and fast, it was always possible to ride on the side. Here, I had to sneak through the barriers and then... be cautious for my life... But the road becoming a bit tiring and boring, I was ready for this, to have more time in the evening to rest and read !

At night, I find hotels that seem to serve mostly as love hotels for the locals. Most of then are very comfortable.
I discover new flavours, new habits, new sounds. For instance it's almost impossible to find coffee outside of touristic places. I'm being told that the Chinese drink soy milk, nut milk or tea. This was the case in most places during my trip, but somehow when you cross large modern cities or stay in nicer hotels, you expect to find these western products. So I convert to nut milk in the morning. Yummy !

At night, when walking out for dinner, I feel a bit dazzled at what I see : gathered by groups, at some terraces, people all drink out of plastic cups (juices or bubble teas) and... don't talk. Everyone is on their smartphones : playing games, watching TV / talk shows. Let's imagine what it would be if Internet was uncensored !!
As for myself, I am glad that Whatsapp still works (but without sounds or pictures), and that two VPN I set up on my phone do their job : they allow me to read my emails and access to any website (otherwise : No gmail, no yahoo, no proper search engine... Only the chinese "Sogou", which seems to have missed half of the culture and history of the human civilization. Sad..).
To communicate, I use a lot an online translator. It works fine with younger people, who then use their phone to "talk" back. But the elderly, somehow, because they see Hanzi characters on my phone, reply by writing Hanzi on a piece of paper or a napkin, or by drawing these beautiful - but to me unintelligible- characters... in the air ! I keep on explaining that I cannot read Chinese (and even if I could, I'm not sure that deciphering "air drawing" would be easy). They look at me with sad and incredulous eyes.... (Saying "sorry, I don't understand chinese" does not stop them either from talking to me... in chinese !!)

At last, even if its totally unimportant, but.. you will know : all the vehicles in charge of washing the streets are playing lullabies in Midi-file style sounds. "Ah que le monde est petit" or other kids songs thus acompany my ride as soon as I enter a city... The modern complaint of the municipal employee?Read more