After several years of fantasizing about riding my bike on the Karakoram Highway, I'll finally be pushing off from XinJiang province in a few days! I am first going to see if I can do something about the monstrous amount of gear I've got laid out. Some of it has got to go! [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Paxse and the first thing I noticed was the wind! Big gusts of wind whirling dust everywhere. Of course the wind concerned me because as it was I was going to be climbing uphill for the whole first day of my Bolaven cycling loop. I asked a couple of people and apparently, the wind is a constant feature here in this area : ( Mr. Boune at Green Discovery was very helpful with his insight to the area. He confirmed the route I was taking was the best way to go, easing my mind somewhat. I still had [View Full Entry]

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Well the ride from Pak Mong to Pak Ou was a LONG one. It was the last stretch on the bumpy dirt road in the dark that made it especially long. I arrived however, in one piece, thankfully. Now where were the guesthouses I was told about?! None to be seen. Luckily a young woman that was sitting outside took me to one of her neighbors who took me in and it seems that it wasn't the first time he has taken in stray foreigners. The pad he set up for me on his balcony left me with a great view [View Full Entry]

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Two days on the road now and the scenery is beautiful! I love how up and close you can get on a bike. The dust, sweat and bugs in the eyes aside, it's great. I am also trying to zen out with the hills. Instead of asking myself, is this the last turn before it levels out, I am trying to appreciate "the moment". According, to the leader of an organized cycling tour I ran into yesterday. I will learn to love hills. I'm not sure I will go that far but so far the hills haven't been too steep. All [View Full Entry]

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It's been a great 3 days exploring the Luang Namtha area. Cycling around gave me a chance to get my legs warmed up and my butt used to being in the seat for a while. Half my time was spent out of the saddle though as I stopped lots to take pictures. I've taken so many pictures already I'm wondering what's left to take pictures of : ) The next 5 days will tell. That is the time I am giving myself to get from Luang Namtha to Luang Prabang. The plan is to get an early start and hopefully make [View Full Entry]

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With my arrangements all settled, I boarded a twin engine plane to Houei Xai where I would start my boat ride up North to Luang Nam Tha. My guide, Xai met me at the airport and after an unusually long time standing around waiting for the bags to be offloaded we were off to load the boat. We packed up rather quickly and were off by 10:30am, an hour after my plane landed. Xai had said that we might arrive in the dark but we made good time and after 3 stops for the appropriate stamps, we arrived at the boatman's [View Full Entry]

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I arrived yesterday in Vientiane. The trip was uneventful which is good especially when you are traveling with a bike. I was surprised that my bike weighed in only at 11kg! Usually the bike and the other gear I manage to stuff in the box weigh in just over 20kg. I guess having the smaller box, although a pain to pack, prevented me from "padding" the box, therefore keeping the weight down and the cost - no need to pay for excess luggage and I was able to check my other bag with all my gear as well - bonus : [View Full Entry]

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I'm heading off to do some cycling in Laos over the Christmas holiday. Although I cycled in Vietnam a couple of Christmases ago, I have no idea what to expect on this trip to Laos. Right now the itinerary is as follows: Fly from Shanghai to Vientiane, spend a couple of days there. Fly from Vientiane to Houei Xai. From there I will take a river boat up to Luang Nam Tha. I will hopefully stay at the BoatLanding Lodge and after a few days start my cycling trip from Luang Nam Tha to Luang Prabang. From there I will fly [View Full Entry]

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My first day in Cairns was spent out at the Great Barrier Reef. Although I could have done without the near 6 hour boat ride that left me green, the Reef was amazing and I did my first ever scuba diving. It's truly another world under the water and it may take me some time to get used to being in that environment. The size, shape and colors of the fish were incredible however, and I didn't want to get out of the water :) I made some friends in Cairns and hooked up with them for a short time at [View Full Entry]

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So, I arrived in Cairns a couple of days ago. It's a big touristy city, not really my style. I had a couple of tours booked the first one being a reef tour. I went out to the Great Barrier Reef. Although I was sea sick almost the whole time we were moving, the diving and snorkelling were amazing. I tried diving for the first time. Quite the experience, I won't go into all the details here but it was cool to do something I thought I would never do. Today I am in the Rainforest and at a beautiful beach. [View Full Entry]

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