Day 17. Jiaonan to Rizhao
The outskirts of Rizhao stretch for miles, actually a few times we almost rode straight past the town thinking that we were on the other side of the approach.
Getting out of Jiaonan wasn't a problem and most of the way was
well signposted. We made one wrong turn and ended up in some
rotten fish stench of a port city. The road was really good
with very limited traffic.
[Toilet Break]
The surroundings weren't as spectacular as we would have wanted
to, however, the G204 does pass through valleys surrounded by bare
rock cliffs which are easily visible from the road.
[Dave gets a puncture]
The outskirts of Rizhao stretch for miles, actually a few times
we almost rode straight past the town thinking that we were on the
other side of the approach. After almost an hour of trying to
get our bearings, we found a hotel which looked like the Empire
State Building with the Twin Towers nearby.
[Amusement Park]
That evening we wanted to have a look at the waterfront,
however, not realizing how wide the town is, after 5km our fatigued
legs grumbled when we hit a few small hills. Two redeeming
features of the town are perhaps its beaches - nice dark yellow
sandy beaches and greenery - what painstaking work this must be to
maintain all these gardens. It was perhaps the greenest city
we've seen so far.
[Bridge leading back to hotel]
We ate at a seaside restaurant not far from an amusement park,
the food was fantastic and the star of the evening was the bean and
eggplant warm salad.
One of our old cycling buddies (Andy) came up in conversation,
so we decided to surprise call him and say hello. It's been a
while since he's ridden with us, and I think he really appreciated
the call. Maybe next year, he'll come away with us again.