andyandmel

Bukittinggi (Sumatra, Indonesia) – Bandung (Java, Indonesia): Distance covered so far (since 20 Dec): 6927 km We have made it through the plantations, the jungle, along the coast and over the mountains to reach the southern-most point of Sumatra! With one final cockroach infested hotel (Mel squeaked whilst on the loo, as a cockroach scampered over her legs), we rolled into the port of Bakauheni and onto the boat – Java bound. What a relief! What pride! Cycling hot, hilly, humid, bumpy, sticky, insecty Sumatra, as the subject of everyone’s curiosity has been the hardest thing we have ever done – it has roasted, poached, smashed, pummelled and drained us. Sumatra turned out to be MUCH bigger than it looked on the map, and it has a climate apparently designed to upset cyclists. A truly beautiful ... read more

Aranyaprathet (Thailand) - Penang (Malaysia): 7th - 28th Feb 2013 Distance covered so far (since 20 Dec): 4735 km In some of our earlier blog entries we showed off about the challenges we faced from cycling through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. However, we have found that our fantastic trip down the Thai peninsular (i.e. the bit that looks like an elephant's trunk) with all its beaches and seaside towns has left us little hardship to boast about, but plenty of 'gloatable' times instead. Much like swimming in chocolate, Thailand has been rather pleasurable, gluttonous at times, and resulted in us being quite brown. We’ve still covered some big miles, but on this stage our ‘off-the-bike’ days have incorporated Scuba diving (Ko Tao), climbing (Krabi), and eating pancakes on the beach (everywhere). So, a few lists about ... read more

Hué (Vietnam) to Banlung (Cambodia): 17th - 27th Jan 2013 Distance covered so far (since 20 Dec): 2591.60 km (.... what is this the same as... go on... what do you think? have a look at our stats at the bottom of the page!) Following Mel's short-lived attempt at cutting Andy's hair with nail scissors, we headed out of Hué. Aware that our proposed route was marked on the map as the "Road without joy" (see photos), we were keen to knuckle down and do it quickly. What followed was some fairly hard-core cycling (to us, anyway.) We discovered that our map is useless - it has been the compass that we have used for navigation in an effort to remain off this main highway. Many roads marked on our map seem to have been put ... read more

Luang Prabang (Laos) to Thakek (Laos): 30th Dec 2012 - 10 Jan 2013 Distance covered so far (since 20 Dec): 1361.73 km New Year was difficult this year. Mel was upset when she discovered that Andy had fibbed. The 'mushrooms' in her noodle soup at lunchtime weren't mushrooms - it was stomach lining, and Andy knows that he really should have been more honest with her. That evening, Andy was a little upset when Mel decided that too much money had been spent, and our celebratory New Year dinner would be at the accurately named 'Grilled Goat Restaurant', and NOT at the more promisingly named 'Properly Grilled Goat Restaurant' just next door. Furthermore, New Year was spent doing some of the hardest hills that we have ever had to contend with. A few of the days ... read more

Sadly our time in Bhutan had to finally come to an end. Having had such an amazing time, both through our rewarding work, and through the never-ending hospitality of our Bhutanese friends, we left Thimphu with heavy hearts. As we wrap up this chapter on the blog, there are some photos which we are rather proud of, which never got uploaded earlier. Our home is no longer our lovely Thimphu flat - it is now two bikes (Surly Long Haul Truckers), accompanied by six small bags. We'll be telling you more about this in the weeks to come! In the meantime, have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! We will be somewhere in Northern Laos (probably fixing a puncture by the side of a road). Much love , Andy and Mel... read more