Day 9 Abashiri My it is hot here in Abashiri Town and with the fan on low to keep the noise down we slept badly and at 5.30 I got up to try the Notebook on WiFi before anyone else was on but still it would not work. This means doing this blog on my phone and no photos yet. Most of us chose an educational morning with a visit to the Museum of the People's of the North. This traced many of the Inuits that survived in the North such as Alaska, Russia, Norway etc. It was a very interesting visit tracing their customs, way of life, their food sources, the clothing they made and the tools and equipment produced from available materials such as bone and wood. One interesting fact was their use of ... read more

Shiobetsu to Lake Saroma Day 7. Sunday. Not as far to go today with just 42 miles and a paltry climb of 200m to Lake Saroma near the coast, which is the largest lake in Hokkaido, producing a large array of fish; oyster, scallops and shrimp etc. Not fish again for tea. The lake is actually salt water since it has a narrow channel out to sea and has a fishing harbour with scores of boats in regular use. The ride was a slight downhill for the first 10 miles and luckily without those bad joints across the road, every 20 metres, which we had on the hills the past few days. We passed many farms, both arable and dairy, which appeared quite prosperous with newish buildings, tractors and equipment. One dairy farm had about 50 ... read more

Shintoku Onsen to Nokubira Onsen Friday Day 5 66k 40 miles Today I left the hotel with two indentations in the bedroom floor, where my shoulder and hip bones lived. The two mattresses were no more than 40mm thick each – paltry. Additionally, the human traffic passing by our door to the toilet in the early hours was like the M25 at 8am coupled with the constant flow of high speed water through ancient pipework making a noise like Niagara Falls. Breakfasted on the traditional rice, noodles and fish we were off on the road again, following last night’s light rain which left the roads damp and the hills covered in low cloud. Let’s hope that we can survive the day without punctures, having two yesterday on the hire bikes, which are actually quite good Trek ... read more

Day 14 Kunming Last Day This is the last day in China and we are going home at 11.30pm via Seoul in S Korea. Yesterday we went to the Golden Temple in the north of the city on a small hill where the air is less polluted. The small temple is all copper and used 250 tonnes in its construction. At the top of the hill is a large bell which is 400 years old and a small replica which visitors can ring for 20p by striking it with a big wooden fish on a rope. Alongside the temple are two small trees dating back to the mid 1600's which are still living but rather fragile looking. The temple has a Buddha which is an image of the Chinese General who,opened the gates of Yunnan in ... read more

Day 12 Lazy day in Lijiang Today was spent lazing around the Old City of Lijiang after doing the final packing of the bike and getting Roger and Elaine's bikes out of storage ready for despatch to Kunming this afternoon. It was good to be on the streets early before the mass hoards of tourists are out in force. I bought a few small gifts for granddaughters in the many shops offering anything and everything at double the price of the country markets. We bumped into a retired couple from England who set off three months ago in St Petersburg and followed the silk road down through Kazakhstan until they arrived here. They are due to go down to Vietnam and Laos before returning home in another month. We have had umpteen cups of coffee and ... read more