After spending a couple of hours chatting and planning our routes home, some of us decided to stay in Southern Cross for the evening and head back the next morning. I managed to hop on some WiFi and contact my parents back home to let them know and to start looking for flights back to... Continue Reading →

Unable to sleep my 4:15 alarm was a very unwelcome surprise.I’m unsure whether it was nerves or excitement or a bit of both. I had a quick shower as I didn’t know when the next one would be, got ready and headed out on my bike. Steve was joining me for the ride down to... Continue Reading →

After getting to know each other I settled in for the my first night in Australia. My host family were amazing and offered so much help and advice when it came with feeding me (no easy task), offering routes to cycle round Perth and advice for the race to Sydney. I settled on riding the... Continue Reading →

Not too far from the border I found a reasonably priced hotel so checked in for the night. It was a bit of a walk to the 7/11 to get some food but it was the only place around that was open. Having stocked up on snacks I left before 8am heading to Bangkok. It... Continue Reading →

It was 300km to Siem Reap along flat roads so I plodded along trying my best in staggering 38 degree heat with unbelievable humidity. The roads to Siem Reap were a bit boring as they were just highways with nothing but flat farmland either side. https://videopress.com/v/y9ugG9Zl?preloadContent=metadata Occasional towns would provide welcome relief and the ability... Continue Reading →

My destination for the day was Da Lat. Having looked at the route it was to be a tough day. Starting off with around 50km of lovely flat smooth roads at sea level leading to a climb up to almost 1700m over 30km. This was the first proper climb since northern Vietnam so it was... Continue Reading →

Heading south to Nha Trang meant that the weather was getting hotter. Each day that went by was a day closer to summer and getting closer to the equator. It was now above 30 degrees for most of the day which meant trying to front load the days and making more stops for water. The... Continue Reading →

They couldn’t have picked a hotel further away from the airport. When I eventually got there I took my bike straight up in the lift, got into the room and gave them a big hug. I hadn’t seen anyone I knew since I left in October so it was great to spend some time catching... Continue Reading →

Cat Ba island is stunning. The hostel I stayed at was right on a quiet secluded beach with perfect sand and barely a wave in sight. I decided to stay for a few days after having a tough ride on the Ha Giang loop. Strangely after time off the bike I was really looking forward... Continue Reading →

Having planned the route for the loop I set off with great expectation. Cycling along the flat for a while before heading up into the mountains kept me excited, especially as the roads often had a dedicated bike lane. I was really looking forward to seeing the most beautiful part of Vietnam and it certainly... Continue Reading →

A new year was upon me and with a New Years resolution of seeing a sunset and sunrise every week I decided to have a lie in. I spent a couple of days in Vang Vieng having a bit of a relax, going tubing and planning my route for the next few weeks. The plan... Continue Reading →

After a surprisingly comfortable and uneventful bus journey, I made it to Chiang Mai. The bike was thankfully unhurt on the journey so hopped on and made my way to the hostel. Being Christmas Eve I checked in, headed straight for the shower and then back down to the bar for the evenings entertainment which... Continue Reading →

After a couple of days to fully recover from sickness I had to get a wiggle on. My VISA for Myanmar ran out on Christmas Eve which worked out alright as I wanted to spend Christmas in Chiang Mai. This meant that I had some big days to get to the border in time. Due... Continue Reading →

The plan for today was a day off but somehow I ended up on a bicycle. Thankfully it was only half an hour down to road to a natural swimming pool and back where en route was my kind of cafe. The rest of the day was spent playing cards, having a few drinks and... Continue Reading →

After saying goodbye to the people I’d spent my time in Bagan with, I headed off east towards Inle Lake. It was a fairly straightforward ride and shouldn’t have taken too long but was looking forward to seeing more of this stunning country. The first stop off was at Mt Popa. A stand-alone mountain in... Continue Reading →

It was around 200km to Bagan and not knowing what the roads were like, I decided to split it into 2 days. It is hot out here easily reaching 30 degrees in the afternoon which is vastly different to the UK winter. The roads out here aren’t too bad at all, a little bit bumpy... Continue Reading →

With the bike all sorted I ventured outside the hostel to have a look round this awesome city. There are some incredible sights with really interesting history behind them. More than that though the people here are fantastic. There is no pestering of tourists, everyone smiles at you and makes you feel welcome. It had... Continue Reading →

The best way back to Kathmandu was an overnight bus. The last time I did this was from London to Inverness for the JOGLE cycle a few years ago. That wasn’t that comfortable but I was sure this one wouldn’t even come close... 14 hours later I arrived back at the hotel in Kathmandu I... Continue Reading →

I spent a day walking round Kathmandu and it is a great city. The ‘touristy’ area of Thamel has more shops than you could shake a stick at. Some of them have the most incredible paintings that have such minute detail on them with fantastic colours. Lots of the city was still rebuilding after the... Continue Reading →

A few of the other guys in the hostel were heading up to the top of a mountain for the sunrise over the Himalayas. I was absolutely knackered but this seemed like an offer I couldn’t turn down. With an early alarm ringing next to my head in the early hours of the morning I... Continue Reading →