Mekong and monkey.
Today I crossed the Mekong River on a bicycle.  Of course, there was a bridge involved too.
Going to see minority villages in the area around Jinghong has been a very tough proposition, partly because the information in the Lonely Planet is completely wrong.¬† Their map of Jinghong seems to have been drawn by someone who’s never been there.¬† Today I followed a road they claimed to take me to a ferry across the Mekong and to several Dai villages, but it just took me to a sewage treatment plant.¬† I think tomorrow I’m going to stop in at a cafe frequented by backpackers and ask some questions about where to go and how to get there.¬† I’ll see if they have a map.
One fun thing that I didn’t mention was that I had a little love-in with two monkeys at a local nature preserve.¬† I usually abhor monkeys, but there was this cute baby one that came up to me and scrunched its face against mine.¬† Then later another monkey came and jumped on me, nuzzled my ear, tried to pick my nose, then shoved its hand in my mouth.¬† It was funny, although at the same time I was thinking about whether I’d end up with monkey flu or anything like that.¬† I seem to be fine, though.