T-2: 海口

March 15, 2021

I only went back to sleep a few times this morning. I would have happily slept much much later than I did but tomorrow's flight leaves at 6:55am and that means, even with staying at an airport hotel, I've still got to be awake super early to get there on time.

Once I'd hauled my unwilling ass out of bed, I got the panniers that I'd more or less packed Friday morning from my spare bedroom, unpacked them all over the floor, wrote down what was in them, and repacked them in a fashion more logical than "order in which I found things".

It's missing info like which pannier has the laptop and chargers or where my non bike wear ended up but I think this is the most organized I've ever started a Tour

I have no doubt that much of this so-called "order" will be upended over the next week or two but, being as I was touring just four months ago, I have a better idea than usual of what is and is not necessary and where it should go.

Left my stuff in a pile on the first floor while I went to lunch; got a hair wash; looked around in vain for the driver of the neighborhood tuk-tuk to see if I could get him to help me haul my crap out to where the taxis stop; and ended up piling my stuff on a share bike and using it as an oddly shaped wheelbarrow.

The flat of leftover beer contributed greatly to the overall level of instability but, surprisingly I didn't drop anything until I put the kickstand down.

I had expected an already boxed bike when I got to the bike shop but things weren't even done with changing frames to one that's probably still a bit small for me but which is actually a touring frame.

Technically "on loan" from the manufacturer, it's far more likely that—down the line—they or my local shop will help me source what I wanted in the first place and I'll be allowed to sell this frame (as I'm also planning on doing with the "tailor made" titanium "tour frame").

OTA listing for the hotel I stayed at. I'm actually really surprised it was this cheap.

My having to wait around six hours more than expected turns out not to have been quite as horrible as it might have been as the hotel was less photogenically ready for an influencer than the person comping my stay had hoped.

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