I have posted a few photos of the last few days to try and portray the variety of landscapes I have cycled through from Lijiang to Deqin but they dont seem to do them justice but then again photos rarely do, on that same note here is a picture of me. This was on top of my first 4000 metre pass, 4267 metres to be precise after 2 nights of camping in torrential rain and a 52km (20 of which were on cobbles), 2300 metre vertical ascent from the gorge of the youthful Yangtze river which unfortunately due to its force there were no cormorant assisted fisherman, nor cormorants, nor fishermen so maybe my childhood books were telling me lies, best not to think about it. Excuse the rambling I believe only the members of my insular family will have any idea what the hell I am talking about so back to the importancies. The Himalayas of this particular region seem to go up in very different phases of climate and flaura, not wanting to over simplify this immence natural beauty I believe it the best way to describe:
2000-3000- arid desert like river gorges with very little greenery to note but towering walls of varying dusty browns surrounding you at every angle.
3000-4000- depending where you are this altitude is either huge plains inhabited mainly by yaks, lucky blighters (that is unless they are dried then they are very tasty blighters) aswell as a beautiful collection of wild flowers and the inevitable grass. the other option is Alpine slopes covered in various types of pine trees but also with a plethora of different coloured wild flowers, I believe this to be your favourite altitude mum, also the campers due to the large amount of desirable pitching areas.
4000-5000- Coming out if the Alpine reaches and in to big mountain stuff, I have seen mountains today the colour of which nearly rival those of the Andes, bright copper reds, oranges and for the first time metallic silver alot of them look straight from Mars, or perhaps Mars looks like it comes straight out of the Himalayas, a rather pointless argument.
4500-6000- Finally reaching the white stuff, glaciers, glaciers and more glaciers, they make the Tignes glacier look like something that fell out of my freezer.

These last descriptions are all a little blazee and I am sure anyone who has been to this area before can nit pick a fault in every single altitude category but I am rather rushed for time and posess a limited capacity for the english language so by no means is this descripion gospel.

I have so much more to tell of the past week besides the scenery but I will finish with a farewll for the timebeing as I am about to cross the border in to unchartered waters well illegal waters to be more precise so like some kind of western fugitive i have to avoid towns during day for the next week or so, so the federales (PSB) dont catch on to me. I am sure it is not that bad but it adds a bit of excitement and saves the hassle of being sent back to Kunming with a fine lightening my pockets. So my last night in a bed potentialy untill Lhasa so it shall be enjoyed. If you want to conclude this e mail by humming "man on the run" by wings I believe, by all means do so, because it is what is going through my head at the moment.

Belated photo

Unfortunately my camera battery has given out so no photo on this belated report but judging by the himalayan scenery I have already encountered you will be sick of the sight of specacular mountains by the time i reach the plains of India in a few months time. Patience is after all a much sought after virtue!
Kunming reminded me and my trusty 2 wheeled steed of all that we have forsaken on my quest for the holy Dubh Linn. A comfortable city life with a great collection of friends complimented by a not too shabby night life and adding to this the bewildering process of how the Chinese manage to get anything done with such a flipant attitude to deadlines and you may begin to understand how difficult it was to tear myself away. But torn I am in Lijiang safe in the knowledge that I will return to this fascinating country for a concerted time sometime in the not so near future. Now is not a time in my life I care to stagnate so onwards and with the route in mind very much upwards.
"But wait" I hear my cultured reader remark "surely you are in China until you cross in to Nepal", how very astute of you to notice, though indeed I will be in china for a further two months in a poetic and bohemian manner I will from hence forth consider myself in Tibet. I am writing this with with one eye over my shoulder because if the communist party caught wind of the last sentence I could promptly be lying in a Lijiang jail having bamboo trees being grown through my naked torso!. I am nearly sure that does not go on any more but it adds some dramatic affect to this rather mundane paragraph. It is rather hard to keep this free thinking view of a Tibet when every inch of historical cobbled streets are infested with massive camera toteing Beijingites willing to steam roll over any unfortunate soul who gets between him and his flag waving tour guide. Up to now I believed the middle aged french tour group to be the plague on all places of natural and historical beauty but it seemed the devil had another card to play on the unsuspecting traveller.
This town like the last (Dali) are indeed beautiful but they bring to mind that if you got lost between "Thunder Mountain" and "Sea World" you may stumble upon Walt Disney's impression of what Olde China looks like, though I dont think Mao had his wicked way on these towns during the cultural revolution, I am sure they are not in their original state, I have even been told that the women in the indiginous Naxi tribe dress who perform the traditional dances are actually actresses brought from cities to the east. How deliciously irreverent this country is.
Back to the basics of this voyage, though as before mentioned I was dubious to leave Kunming getting back on the bike quickly reinserted the joy of the road in to my soul. I camped my first night last night feasting on home made noodle soup surrounded by fledgeling fir trees and forrested slopes reaching up to the dizzy heights of 4000 metres, an aperitif of whats to come.
A recouperation day tomorow before passing through "Tiger leaping gorge" on the way to Zhongdian where my intrepid cycling companion Vince will have his first run in with the law as he pleads his case for a visa extension. My mind boggles with the thought of crossing check points at night, camping for 2 weeks straight during the monsoon and cycling passes of up to 5200 metres but right now I would not be happier sitting anywhere else in the world.