ChrisH

Beijing is truly different to the area of Yunnan I have visited thus far. Normally size and order don't go together, and with Beijing having a population of 15 million, compared to the next biggest city we had visited - Kunming at 1 million, I was expecting chaos. I was amazed and impressed at what I found; an effective traffic system, policemen earning their keep and streets relatively free of noisy interjections - both human throat and motorcar horn varieties. It also further reinforced distrust in the lonely planet's population figures, or maybe it is a sign of China's growth inspite of a single child policy, but I would suggest that figures mentioned above could easily be doubled. So it all started at the airport, arriving at the newly built terminal 3. For me, and I ... read more

As I alluded to in my early posts, when Matt and I started the trip we had the intention of raising some money for good causes close to our hearts; RSI Action in the UK and Carry for Kids, an Australia based charity working in South East Asia. With the invaluable assistance and incredible man+woman power of his household we held a gala evening back in February and raised around around 1200 dollars, or 600 pounds in todays money. I have finally been able to set up a Just Giving website to raising money for RSI Action so for all those who want to make a donation, but were unable to attend (sorry we couldn't do one in the UK too!) it is now easy to do so. You can visit the web page, www.justgiving.com/seatosummits for ... read more

Well I think it's fair to say that just over a week with Greer when I haven't seen her for three months isn't enough, but what with work holiday allowances we couldn't have anymore but we made the most of what we had. We decided to stay in Yunnan province to avoid too much travel which would likely leave us too tired to enjoy the trip. And in any case, if you want to avoid big cities and pollution, Yunnan is the place to be. Greer's arrival was obviously a great pleasure for me solely for her company. However she also bought me some supplies - dairy milk chocolate, mcvities hobnobs (sorry about brand placement but they gave much such pleasure after very little real chocolate for ages), new brake pads, and finally a pda (handheld ... read more

Well, after all the emails asking: "When is Matt going to publish his first blog?" - here it is. South Adelaide supporters have not had to wait as long for this blog as another premiership (1964), nor Saint Kilda supporters as long as their one and only in 1966. I cannot guarantee that readers will enjoy this as much as respective football supporters enjoyed these victories, but I will attempt at least to provide some light entertainment. Unfortunately, given Chris' love of blogging, not many photos can be accommodated in this edition without repeating previously published photos. Fortunately, given Chris' greater love of taking photos, I am sure that I will be able to dig something from the "unpublished" section. As some of you know, Chris is the avid bike rider and I am more a ... read more

Just a quick note following the earthquake in Sichuan province 2 days ago to say that Matt and I are both fine. We did not feel the earthquake although we are about 1000km from the epocenter - about 1/3 as far as beijing/bangkok where apparently the earhtquake could be felt. We did not pass through any towns of substance during the day and had decided to camp in the evening. The first we heard of the disaster was when I turned on my phone and recieved concerned text messages. We are now in Tengchong, and have been able to see news broadcasts and the internet. TV is very repetetive and typcial of CCTV coverge, and UK websites (which i can access without problems) have very little content, prob due to lack of information coming out of ... read more

Due to a couple of comments from concerned mothers and ex-housemates I feel the need to start this post with an explanation and safety warning. It has been noticed that we have grabbed on to a passing truck to assist our progress when spirits were low,and fears raised that this is unduly risky. The trucks have been travelling at the speed approaching a fast walk (imagine if you will an experienced commuter negotiating London's Tube through crowds of wandering tourists) and we were able to hold on at the back therefore risk of being wrapped up under the wheel, as per the horror stories of American kids tobogganing whilst holding onto the car and truck wheel hubs following unexpected snow falls, is negligible. However, we can't recommend this to others out there! So we have had ... read more

Hi all. It has been at times busy, at times relaxing but altogether a very varied 10 days since the last post. A quick tour: tuesday: 3rd day of Lao New Year. - more celebrations in Luang Prabang wednesday: Slow boat to Pak Beng along Mekong river thursday: continued on slow boat to Huay Xai fri: 77km to wild camping sat: 59km ride and 50km hitch to Luang Nam Tha sun and mon: 2 day trek in Nam Tha national park tuesday: 110km over the border to Mengla in CHINA wednesday: 85km to Menglun where meet up with Matt thursday; rest day in Menglun friday; 61km to Jinghong sat: rest day in Jinghong. China has been so very different; in scale of towns, quality of roads, a sense of size of the country (the mountains and ... read more