Wild Camping in Myanmar What I did in Myanmar… it was crazy. You may say stupid, and perhaps you’d be right. Foreigners must stay in a hotel every night, and it must be specially licenced to accept foreigners, i.e. very expensive. That is the law. But I didn’t want to stay in expensive hotels; it […]
Cycling Across Asia
Flying a Hot Air Balloon over Bagan and Inle Lake in Myanmar
You may have seen some awesome photos on my Facebook page (if you haven’t liked it already, why not!?) about a hot air balloon flight I did in Myanmar, and be wondering how I’d managed to fly in a hot air balloon. It’s true – It’s a little out of my $3 a day budget. […]
A difficult border crossing: Entering Myanmar from India
This blog post was first published in February 2017 but is regularly updated. Last edited: July 2018 I hate pointless bureaucracy. Officially, part of the clause of my Myanmar visa is that I have to exit from the same border I entered from. I don’t want to do this. I want to enter Myanmar from […]
Adventure and Misadventure in East Nepal
My time in Kathmandu was frustrating. I had been lucky to stay with some fun, easy-going guys for 10 days, and enjoyed the wealth of attractions the city boasts (7 UNESCO heritage sites), but my time was consumed by near-daily trips to embassies chasing up visas for India and Myanmar, instead of the intrepid hiking […]
Cycling Far-West Nepal: The World’s Happiest People?
Think Nepal. Mountains. The heart of the Himalaya. Mighty Mount Everest. This is what most people (including me) think of, and why most people come.But actually, surprisingly, the mountains fall sharply away and the southern third of the country called the Terai is extremely flat and low-lying. Few tourists manage to drag themselves away from […]
Miracle in North India
There’s a theory called the six degrees of separation. If you took all your friends and acquaintances, and then all their friends and acquaintances, and then all their friends and acquaintances, and so on six times, you would know everyone in the whole world. That’s how tiny and connected our world is! Amazing huh? Well, […]
Cycling Southern India – Kanyakumari to Mumbai
I pedalled from mainland India’s southernmost point, Kanyakumari with no plan except to head north. Understandable, two weeks earlier I had been expecting to be in China by now. The past week I had contacted a handful of Indian friends and friends of friends asking where the most beautiful, ‘must-see’ places were. When they mentioned […]
Reaching India – Time to cycle again!
My last blog post, now nearly three months ago, made the shock announcement that after my Chinese visa had been denied cutting me off from progressing further east, I would be flying to India to resume my journey from there. The extended silence on my blog testifies to what a miraculous, intense and incredible experience […]
High Altitude Cycling on the Pamir Plateau: Alichur to Osh
My memories of cycling from Alichur to Osh are hazy. This section forms the ‘Pamir Plateau’; the road flattens out slightly but hovers around the 4,000 metre mark, except for the handful of times it climbs even higher, eventually peaking at 4,655 metres on the lung-bursting Ak-Baital pass, notorious amongst cyclists. Having ascended to the […]
My Chinese visa was denied! What now?!
Everything was going to plan. I’d survived the Pamir Highway, and China loomed giant ahead. I would soon be in Bishkek, where I could rest and party in equal proportions while I waited for my Chinese visa.3 months earlier this would have passed without incident, but a recent change in visa policy meant I was […]