Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Rules of the Road


We have now left China and entered Lao, or Laos, we aren't sure of which. We left Jiang Shui for Pu'Er which is China's tea capital and then went on to Mengla so we could reach the border early in the morning.
 
The road from Jiang Shui was dreadful. Including a rest and 10km of good roads, we covered 130km in 7hours. It was the usual state of affairs. We even had a landslide blocking the route. We were also very, very close to falling when a lorry would not change its course towards us. Paul locked up on some mud. It was possibly the ABS that saved us though the front brake has otherwise been a bit juddery. After the lorry incident Francoise hitched for 60km as we just didn't feel safe; John, our Chinese guide, came in very handy. In the end we managed it and we have certainly done an extra 60km here and there to make up for it. Scenery and anything else became irrelevant. We had 400km to cover that day and having got nowhere near far enough by then, we crashed the expressway for the remaining 200 plus km. There were a number of attempts to stop us, but they were not going to succeed.
 


 At Pu'Er we explored a bit and rode through their picturesque National Park to discover banana trees, rubber trees too we think, bamboo forests, tea plantations and colourful bougainvilleas. The road was stunning and we pottered along de-stresssing ourselves from our previous experiences. We drove past a wild elephant centre which was clearly attracting a lot of Chinese tourists.
 
 




We are now also getting quite heavy, hot rain to very heavy, hot rain.  It never lasts very long though. This area is very tropical with Jurassic Park type vistas everywhere with misty clouds hung on very pointy hills and mountains.
 
Now China is ending for us, we can also reflect a bit more. The China we have seen is changing so rapidly that it will not be there in five years time. The internet and modern communications will ensure that. The infrastructure is being built to facilitate the change. The next challenge will be to somehow together bring all the small holding agricultural work into something bigger and more efficient. Shu, seen in the picture with a rather grubby Eddy the Teddy (Eddy is a celebrity in Francoise's primary school) will expect big things for himself, his family and his country.
 
As we have been driving in China for a month and for over 7,000 km, we have been able to decipher the rules of the road. There is a hierarchy involved and this is what we have worked out.
 
1. Pedestrians.
 
Pedestrians are allowed to use the roads for anything they wish, be it as a toilet or for conducting their own business. This is the People's Republic of China and the roads belong equally to all citizens. Pedestrians are allowed to use the outside lane, as the opposite would not reflect the underlying principles of the state. Pedestrians are allowed to cross the road when and how they like as it is their right and other users should respect their right. Pedestrians need not respect directionality. There is no hierarchy to road usage. Pedestrians can also stand and marvel at the pretty light patterns created by traffic lights and wonder as to what they would look like in blue or purple or if they could be combined with fountains and music somehow?
 
2. Cycles - ditto as for Pedestrians.
 
3. Electric Scooters - ditto as for Cycles.
 
4. Motorcycles - ditto as for Electric Scooters but Motorcycles cannot fill up with petrol at petrol pumps and are not allowed on Motorways or in the centres of large cities.
 
5. Three wheeled motorised vehicles - rules yet to be written as far too many sub-classes.
 
6. Single cylinder engined trucks. Don't go anywhere near the exposed flywheel.
 
7. Cars - excluding German models with darkened windows - as for Pedestrians but usually pretty safe.
 
8. German model cars with darkened windows. Rules don't apply. Stay away. Potentially dangerous.
 
9. Large lorries. Just remember they are all overloaded and can't stop and the trail of water on the road is from the water tanks they have above the wheels to cool the brakes.
 
10. Mini-buses and coaches. As for Pedestrians, but they are allowed the loudest horns.
 
11. Street cleaning vehicles. As for Pedestrians, but don't be lulled into a false sense of security by the ice cream van jingles, thats TFE they are spraying.
 
12. Animals. As for Pedestrians, but just remember the Chinese eat almost anything that grows or lives.
 
Finally if we were to choose one adjective only to describe this fascinating country, we would opt for the word "industrious"  whether we talk about the cities or the countryside.  Unemployment is not a concept that exists in the China we have seen.






Time for a final goodbye to John, our guide, and Mr He, his driver.  And now 'en route' for Laos (or Lao?)...
 


 
Paul and Francoise

No comments:

Post a Comment