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 luggage allowance left for anything else! Luckily my parents were waiting there to make the landing a bit easier and to escort us and [View Full Entry]

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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 route! And finally we had decided it was time to lose our ‘bonkers’ label (thanks George!) and return to some kind of normality back in New Zealand. An overnight ‘sleeper’ bus took us from Yangshou to Shenzen. ‘Sleeper’ because it’s a nice idea, you lie down with your head raised, and your feet go under the head of the person in front of you, [View Full Entry]

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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 route to get food. So Bob (the English teacher) approached a shop owner at the small village just before the turn off and asked him if we could cook at his place! [View Full Entry]

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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 hemp for traditional clothing was being beaten until it developed a sheen. Away from the picturesque drum towers and bridges of Zhaoxing were narrow back alleys. In one I discovered a man blow tor [View Full Entry]

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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 ‘chiefs and robs’ in the area we are planning to cycle in. As this area is famous for its ethnic minority groups (aka hill tribes) I had in my mind an image of an angry chief! (however she was actually referring to ‘thieves and robbers’) China’s railway service was taking such good care of our bicycl [View Full Entry]

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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 couple of major attractions within easy reach, the Giant Panda research centre, and the Leshan giant Buddha, the largest Buddha in [View Full Entry]

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Since leaving Xian we have not seen any other foreigners so we think we can lay just claim to the title of ‘the only Laowai in the village’ Oct 30 Hanzhong We 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 its’ purpose. They wanted to give me a perm but I wasn’t ready for something quite so radical - I ended up with short hair and a fringe instead! [View Full Entry]

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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 on the whole, we are having success ordering vegetarian food. We can say ‘I am vegetarian’ and show them the phrase. We also show them our [View Full Entry]

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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 it’s very flat. Beijing is almost disappointing easy to navigate, after Moscow, because of the dual labelling in Pinyin (romanic script) and also there are many English signs. Here I was expecting to have to match characters on a map to those on a [View Full Entry]

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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 departure to a snow covered and still snowing city, and an icy wind blowing. To our disappointment, a modern jeep arrived instead of a Russian [View Full Entry]

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