http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Sonya-and-Nigel/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Sonya and Nigel en-us Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:26:25 +0000 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:26:25 +0000 After so much time taken to get from London to Hong Kong overland it was a bit of shock to be stepping off a plane just 10 hours later in Auckland airport New Zealand. It shocked not only us but many of our supporters who seemed somewhat let down to realise the final leg of our journey had been made in such a ridiculously short time. With the bicycles each weighing 18kg there had not been much http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/New-Plymouth/blog-238270.html The sign in Yangshuo announced that London was 9000km away and our speedo had also just reached 9000km. But we had also covered about 8000km by train and bus meaning we must have travelled a most indirect routeAnd finally we had decided it was time to lose our lsquobonkersrsquo label thanks George and return to some kind of normality back in New Zealand. An overnight lsquosleeperrsq http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-233187.html As we approached Guilin rock formations mushroomed out of the land. We saw an even stranger sight Chinese cyclists wearing helmets Two days later riding next to the famous Li jiang river we met an American and a Chinese English teacher also riding bicycles. They were a little concerned that we were taking the back road to Xingping as we had not had lunch. Apparently there was nowhere on r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Guilin/blog-233184.html We passed out of Miao territory and into Dong territory eventually emerging back on the tourist trail at Zhaoxing. Dong woman wear a slightly understated version of the Miao traditional dress the hemp with indigo dye is still used but with less decoration. Here in Zhaoxing the village resounded with hammering not only were many new wooden buildings springing up amongst the age old ones but http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Chengyang/blog-224355.html We arrived in Guiyang off an overnight train from Chengdu. On the train we met a Chinese student Judy studying English as her major. We enjoyed conversation and she also helped us to retrieve our bicycles at Guiyang. During the conversation she warned us about lsquochiefs and robsrsquo in the area we are planning to cycle in. As this area is famous for its ethnic minority groups aka hi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guizhou/Liping/blog-223631.html Arriving in Chengdu we did not have any definite onward plans. We decided to rest there and contemplate our next move and we ended up staying a week. Chengdu is a city with the population of London but much more compact. Like London it has 3 ring roads. It was fun to be in a really big city again. We stayed in a Chinese hotel on the edge of town and got about the city by bus.Chengdu has a co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-220805.html Since leaving Xian we have not seen any other foreigners so we think we can lay just claim to the title of lsquothe only Laowai in the villagersquoOct 30HanzhongWe had a day off to explore this medium sized city. We put ourselves at the mercy of the local hairdressers who spoke no English. The usual sign language and pointing at the occasional useful word in our phrase book served itsrsquo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-220263.html China has welcomed in a new era of cycle touring for us. Not only do we fit right in on our bikes but the tent and cooker have become redundant and we no longer need to carry extra water. Villages are plentiful and hotels are amazingly cheap although they vary hugely in quality. Food is also very cheap and China seems like the land of plenty after the paucity of ingredients in Mongolia. And http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi--an/blog-220256.html Or 9 million and 2 with us so the song goes although Beijing today is definitely ruled by the car. Still we have seen some impressive loads being hauled around by bike including house removals mattresses and household effects on trailers pulled by bikes. Electric bikes are also very common and a practical alternative in Beijing as itrsquos very flat.Beijing is almost disappointing easy t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Great-Wall-of-China/blog-216076.html Enough of couch surfing it was time for ger surfing With good friends in town and the Chinese embassy closed for visa processing due to a week long holiday it was time to escape the polluted streets of Ulaan Bataar and escape for some fresh air. With a little encouragement our friends persuaded us to leave our bikes and share a Russian van with them for a few nights..We awoke on the day of de http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Kharkorin/blog-210541.html Now we are truly nomads in nomadrsquos landArriving in Mongolia the first thing that struck me was a great sense of freedom the lsquoland without fencesrsquo shows that actually you donrsquot need to trap or hobble your animals in order to farm them. apparently pigs are resistant to herding but horses goats cows and sheep all seem to stay within range of the ger and can be moved ea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Suhbaator/blog-210540.html Sept 21 Back on the road towards the Mongolian border. Once we had paid our disrespect to the giant Lenin head in the town square we were off. It was 7 degrees C at 10am in the morning and there was a bitter wind blowing fortunately in our favour. We stopped to visit the Ivolgolinsk datsan built in 1955 as a concession by Stalin to lsquoreligious tolerancersquo. For this reason it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Ulan-Ude/blog-210539.html Arriving in Irkutsk at 4am Moscow time 9am local time it was just 7 degrees. It seemed a small miracle that we and our bikes had made it 5000km without even one revolution of the pedals I instantly had the feeling I was in Asia a feeling that was further confirmed once we reloaded the bikes and headed up the hill into the general chaos of the traffic and past a local flea market where secon http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-210537.html 3 days and 4 nights thatrsquos how long it took to get to Irkutsk on board the Baikal express. Plaskarte 3rd class is the class that most Russian travellers use and most guidebooks warn you to avoid describing it as resembling a refugee camp after several days onboard. In plaskarte you have a bunk bed and the cabin is open plan so that all the passengers can move about freely. In each s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-206044.html First impressionsWhat a crazy experience it is to be in Moscow.Firstly arriving off the train from Riga at midday and making our way the 12km across Moscow from north to south to our couchsurfing host. The city has a feel quite unlike anywhere Irsquove been before and you get the sense that it is throbbing with life we did happen to arrive just in time for Moscowrsquos 860th birthdayMosco http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-206038.html Wersquove spent the last couple of weeks cycling the Baltic Sea Coast and stopping to relax on its beautiful white sand beaches in between Nida and Riga. Nida is on the Curonian spit a small strip of land covered in forest and sand dunes. This Unesco region is shared between Russian owned Kalingrad and Lithuania. From Nida you canrsquot walk more than a kilometre south over the dunes witho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga-Region/Riga/blog-198487.html We discovered today that ever since we entered Lithuania we have been living out of sync with the rest of the nation by one hour that is. Finally it dawned on me today as a big digital clock in a town suggested that the time was exactly one hour later than what I presumed it was. Funny indeed as for over a week we had been going around indignant that shop keepers would shut their shops one hou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Kaunas/blog-194461.html With our eyes firmly set on the coast we rode north from Warsaw with the hope of some beach bumming before heading into the depths of Siberia. On route we passed through Biebrza National Park a large river delta area and Polandrsquos largest national park. Our plans to take the scenic route through the park and spot the elusive black stork czarny bochin were foiled when the road we had int http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-194451.html The last couple of weeks has been busy catching up with friends and organizing ourselves for the next leg of our journey.We met Angela and Paul in Kazimierz Dolny an artists retreat town not far from Warsaw. Angela was teaching English to children on a school camp just up the road in Pulavy and Paul had been visiting Belarus and decided to pay us a visit as part of his trip he also rescued us http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Masovia/Warsaw/blog-194347.html Cycling from Holland to Germany it felt as if we were back in the rolling Kent countryside again andyes we did feel those extra acquistions on the hillsWe arrived in Aachen early and met a couple of other cycle tourists in the campground. Like many other cycle tourists we have met they were up and out of the campsite before we had even put our heads out of the tent the next morning. There is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Rhineland-Palatinate/Koblenz/blog-155458.html