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My bum hurts. There is no respite from the constant up and down, and today I crawled into Mengyang rubbing my backside. It got a good workout.

Tea fields

I cycled the ‘old road’ which winds around every corner, climbs and drops over every undulation. The neighbouring freeway rests on stilts, flattening the landscape and smoothing the ride. Then it leaves off into a tunnel, only to be seen 30km of wiggles later. The old road is almost void of vehicles. This is so precious. I realise that the constant noise of cars has been deafening. Traffic noise pulls the conscious away from the now, away from nature, and into a whir of stress. I cycled through a cacophony of nature. The jungle is loud. The constant background of crickets and cicadas, with a high-pitched cricket variant. Then the birds. Frogs. I cycle, listening, immersing myself in this natural paradise. Every turn reveals new trees, plants, animals, and new sounds.

And then I heard of the elephants. Excitement. Imagine seeing an elephant on the road. The elephants are to be found in the ‘Wild Elephant Valley’, amongst the busloads of elephant watchers. I rode straight past, and back into the chirps of the cicadas.

The road

This morning was a market breakfast, followed by the realisation that Sydney is only 8973km.

The market in Puwen

Not far to Sydney