Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

I met a guy from Holland the previous evening and we planned to ride the 27 or so k's to Ganlanba. We met for breakfast at Mei Mei's, rented bikes for the day and off we went. The day was just beautiful. We left around mid day and rode along the Mekong River the entire way. Halfway there we met a couple of guys whom were loading their bikes onto a truck. One of them yelled out to 'be very careful'. It was later that I realised that there were two guys and three bikes. We found out that one of them had hit a stony patch and landed on his head. Later an ambulance stopped to ask us if we knew where an injured foreigner was...back that way! It took us an hour and 30 minutes to ride there. Poor Holland was struggling to keep up as it was long, slight up and downs the entire way, just what I love.

When we arrived in Ganlanba we tried to find the 'free' entrance into the park. I wasn't paying 50 Yuan again. In the end we took our bikes down to the river and walked and carried them along its banks until we found a farmers trail going up the hill. The afternoon was spent riding around the villages taking photos and relaxing in the sunshine. Around 4:30 we found the fountain I had tried to find on Friday.

Five years ago I had watched a beautiful water fight with many brightly coloured girls throwing water over each other. Somehow it's part of the culture here. This day I was to witness it again. About 100 beautiful girls all wearing different brightly coloured traditional dresses came out and circled the huge fountain. They danced to the music and then ran into the fountain and began throwing buckets of water over each other. Beautiful...JUST BEAUTIFUL! This of course has become a daily activity for the crowds of people whom gather around. Last time it was part of the actual water festival I had witnessed. Beautiful girls all throwing water over each other...who needs a reason!

The ride back to Jinghong took us 1 hour and 45 minutes. I was told it usually takes over 2 hours. Once again, POOR Holland! After a shower a heap of us headed out for Thai food and then to the Mekong Cafe for cold beers and good chat. Later in the evening an Aussie guy from the mines in Western Australia arrived. I think I left around 2:30am.