cycling tour day 8.

More up hill and hot, hot heat. My gears are getting really shonky, and I am tired of being stared at. It's not good because it means you feel narky towards people who are mostly being friendly. Mostly tarmac today, but with some huge climbs, then a glorious 5 minutes of speeding down hill, forest and tea plantations flying past. Its a long time to not peddle when you are going so fast.
In Ishaka, a dusty, bustle of a town we stopped for lunch. It was interesting watch our guide Patrick watch this crappy action movie on tv. He has never been to the movies before and was quite miffed by what he saw and that we were laughing in the (completely over the top) sad bits. On the way to the village we stay at my back wheel started sticking, I had to work really hard to travel the measly 5kms. We tried to fix it when we arrived, but the guys think my wheel might be a bit bent and don't know how to replace spokes.
We also tried hanging out in the bar at the front of the guesthouse (chirpier owners today - same hygene levels though) but we were being stare at so much we went and hid in uor room. It sounds pathetic I know but it wasn't just just curious glances. Unbroken stares and not responding to nods or a smile from us. Not many Muzungu come to this place. We had dinner out the back of a tiny bar, where children snuck their heads out of doorways to peek at how muzungu eat (the same as them it turns out!).
I should explain that a bar in rural Uganda generally means a door into a small room that has a bench at the back with beers (in a fridge if you are lucky), sodas, and some spirits (whisky and gin I think) in plastic pouches - we haven't been game to try... Sometimes an establishment will have a pool table. Usually its a couple of plastic chairs and tables and the room is decorated with all the free stuff you get when you stock a particular brand. Then there is a door to out the back where you find festy latrines behind a wall, and women cooking over little coal fires on the ground of a courtyard.