http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/PedalledPennings/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from PedalledPennings en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:26:17 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:26:17 +0000 These pages have been empty for awhile and might be again. I'm deeply grieved to hear news that one of my dearest friends died in Dali China while on a solo hike to the summit of the Changshan mountains that fringe the west of Dali Old Town.Arun was a dear friend. He was my senior from Christ College and has always been a bit of a lovable eccentric. We'd often meet and talk of travel mountains a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Dali/blog-452717.html A seven kilometer stretch of no man's land separated us from Mongolia. No man's land indeed for only fuel powered engine were allowed through no walking no cycling. We loaded our bikes onto an already packed jeep and scrambled in me in a gentleman's lap Cedric hanging on the door while steadying an inch of his butt on the tiny dashboard. The jeep was filled to capacity with boxes that held el http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Gobi-Desert/blog-445137.html The birds have been winging it southwards the winds aiding them. Wersquove been steadily pedaling north against the wind. The mountains and high grasslands are an almost distant memory as all wersquove seen for the last month has been flat dry arid scrubland. The sun sets quicker and we can smell the changing season even in the bleak blandscapes of one of the driest parts of China. The roads http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Inner-Mongolia/blog-437798.html ldquoWhy risk getting into trouble with Tibet Just head to Sichuan and yoursquoll see Tibetrdquo this sagacious piece of advice came from more than one of my expat friends folks well inducted and customized to Chinese customs and places. I have to admit as a newbie to the country and still fresh with intrepid aspirations the romantic lure of Tibet still clung strong. I am one among the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/blog-431097.html It's been over 2 months since we started cycling again. We've crossed 6300km and are now at the the Northern Edge of Ningxia Province where the Tenger Desert begin...long due blog updates shall be uploaded while we wait for our final visa extentionLeaving Dali was far from an easy affair. It took days to bid our goodbyes and share our next plans to the assortment of friends and acquaintances I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-429869.html November 2006 I made my first big solo trip. All my savings and years of scheming were directed at one thing to see...no to walk in the Himalayas. I chose to do it the grand way by joining the Himalayas Institute of Mountaineering. A 28 day course with lodging food and the best guides possible and 10 days of roughing it out in the real mountains for Rs. 5000 500USD for foreigners is a deal ha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Sikkim/Kangchendzonga/blog-411399.html It took a good four hours uphill ride from our lovely camp on the Nam Noua to finally catch sight of the border check post through the thick foliage that covered the hills. So far this was the most exciting border crossing. The road again was terrible as always made worse by passing heavy trucks that caused mini dust storms each time they thundered past us engines rumbling from the effort. My les http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-410112.html Slurping up my bowl of ersi rice noodles with spicy minced meat pronounced ersuh the thoughts of a burger crossed my mind. It had been a long while since I'd had one. The last I had was from a little road side stall In Luang Prabhang with a board claiming to have the best burgers in Laos. It wasn't the best I'd tasted but it wasn't a bad deal for the 15000 kip it costed. Then in struck me http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-405116.html I was not in the best of moods. Here we were rattling along a rough cobble stone road with the damp mist bearing down on us obscuring every inch of what should have been gorgeous scenery. All that greeted our eyes were trees shrouded grey in the mist and glistening moist cobbles that seemingly stretched uphill without end. Considering we were cycling through an area famous for its spectacular ric http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Yuanyang/blog-403771.html I couldn't believe it. It really wasn't there. For a micro second I was convinced Ced was horsing around when he yelled out Your bike's gone.... Stuffing the last dumpling in my mouth I ran out of the little restaurant we were in to see a blank empty spot where my bike had been. I could have choked if the jiaozi hadn't been so juicy. A little over 3600 kms of pedalling and the worst crisis so fa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Gejiu/blog-402053.html Blogger's been blocked. It worked fine the first few weeks in Kunming accessed through free wifi that seems to float around the whole of Jin Ma Bi Ji square downtown and somehow wafted in through my friend's apartment one block down Shu Lin Ji. But once I shifted to Dali and finally decided to continue travel narrations again...presto The requested site did not respond to a connection request a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-401623.html