We're on yet another diversion. This time its not due to roadworks its of our own making. Our ultimate target is Beijing so we should be heading north-east but instead we are riding south on a gravel road with 100 or so switchbacks that take us up, very steeply, from 4300m to 5200m and back again. Why? To see Mount Everest up close from Base Camp. It's worth every inch of the 134 mile round trip to stand underneath the towering peak. From Dingri it's a great ride up and down the mountain passes and its made more enjoyable by the good gravel and lack of sand!!. From the top of Pang-la pass (5200m) the views are spectacular, precisely how you imagine the Himalayas. We are so, so lucky - there's clear blue skies and 4 ... read more

Tibet does have a different feel to it - I think its real and not just me wanting it to be real. There are the obvious differences in the faces, the architecture of the houses, the chortens & prayer flags scattered across the landscape. But also the Tibetans seem to smile more, when we ride past on the bike there's enthusiastic waving and joy. In Xinjiang Province the people were quite reserved, when we rode past they just stared open mouthed and almost seemed afraid to wave. We are currently bobbing along the Tibetan Plateau between 4200m and 4900m making our way east. The climbs over the passes aren't that big, only a few hundred meters but at the top of each pass there are a host of multi-coloured prayer flags fluttering in the breeze. Don't ... read more

Today we have to ride 300 miles - not normally a problem but today the last 100 miles will be on dirt roads climbing from 1300m up to 4996m, that's a lot of up!! But its exciting as tonight we will be sleeping up on the Tibetan Plateau at 3800m. At 07:00 we set off in the dark (that's Beijing Time for you - the locals would call this 05:00!!) but the sun soon rises over the flat agricultural plain. Sometimes the landscape is desert like and other times very green with trees lining the road but always in the distance are snowy mountains. Passing through small towns you realise just how much info your eyes are taking in without you realising it - the smallest words written in English leap out at you from the ... read more

We only have 24 hours in Kyrgyzstan but what a 24hours!!! Two border crossings, two high passes, snow, ice, mud and Chinese trucks. We planned to spend 7 days in Kyrgyzstan travelling through Osh and Jalalabad then into China via the Torugart Pass. Do Osh and Jalalabad sound familiar? Yes there are the stronghold of ousted President Bakiyev and the site of the recent violence between the local Uzbek and Kyrgyz people. So once again we put on our sensible heads and cut our stay to 24hrs only venturing 20 miles into Kyrgyzstan then turning right to cross the Irkeshtam Pass into China. The dirt road up to the Tajikistan border at 4282m was in great condition (apart from the corrugations) but it stopped abruptly at the first two 'Nissan huts' and was replaced by a ... read more

Here we are happily riding through Tajikistan waving at people in Afghanistan. They are not far away, just on the other side of the river less than 100m away. Mind it looks a lot poorer in Afghanistan. We have electricity cables running along our side, brick houses and, obviously, a motorable road. On the Afghan side there's no signs of electricity, its mud houses and the 'road' is just a donkey track - but what a donkey track. It clings to the side of the mountain following the contours and where there's not even enough flat space for a donkey track they have built out the most amazing dry stone wall to support the track. It goes on for miles and miles and miles. Between Kalaikhum and Khorog the scenery is amazing. We are right deep ... read more