This is just a recap photo of Vietnam, I stopped between villages to lube my chain. Within 5 minutes all these people just materialised from nowhere and stood around drinking from my water bottle and staring at the bewildering process of a westerner oiling his chain. I was going to start offering my autograph but noone seemed interested so I parted the crowd and headed on my way. It is not the best photo but it sums up how curious the Vietnamese were in a cycling Irishman.

Now I am safely installed in Kunming where everyone could not care less even if I was a flying Irishman. Annonimity is very much appreciated for a while, I was starting to get a bit of a rock star complex!

This is a fantastic city, where at 2000 metres the climate is continually spring like, hence the name "the spring city" and is surprisingly relaxed for a Chinese city of over 5,000,000. I have found a beautiful old park, where for an entrance fee of 10 cents you can drink all the green tea your bladder can handle. It is set around an ornate old pagoda, with lilly ponds with Koi carp swimming about, blossomed trees, flowers of all sorts and what I suppose to be bonsa trees, poplar trees and bamboo bushes but with my horticultural mind they could be anything. The best thing about this park are the people, practicing tai chi, martial arts and the many tables dotted about where the elderly enjoy their retirement by playing ma jong, cards and chinese chess. Having played a few games of chinese chess and not particularly liking (probably because I am rubbish) I stick to the western kind. Sitting under this pagoda on a wicker stool is how I have spent about 80% of my time here only leaving to feast on dumplings, dog or whatever else the roadside food stalls have to offer and at 40 cents for a meal I am considering taking early retirement here.

This retirement can not come in to practice untill the 10th of June, having to wait here until i meet a friend to carry on to Lhasa at that time with, I have found gainful employment by the Chinese Department of Commece, no honestly I have! There is a fair between the 5th and the 10th of June in Kunming to promote tourism in the area, and enthusiastic tourism graduates from Kunming universities are in great demand, oh and westerners, I at least tick one of these boxes so I am in. I have a meeting with some of the head honchos tonight at 8 which I have been reliably informed in true chinese style is a test of how much alchohol you can consume without passing out, finally a job interview a sink my teeth in to, maybe Chinese future domination of the world is not so bad after all! The best thing about this job is I will recieve a certificate at the end of it stating I have aided the Chinese government, now if that is not worth framing and sticking on the wall I dont know what is.

Vietnam

At last I have found a computer that will let me update my blog, unfortunately uploading a photo is still beyond it so no colourful pictures to attract the readers attention. I am updating this from the garage of a house in a village 60km from Son La in the North-Western corner of Vietnam. Internet cafes are everywhere in Vietnam but are so infuriatingly inept at accessing anything you want off the internet I usually leave them a very unsatisfied and slightly irrate customer. As a result of this I have alot of goings on to narrate to you my distinguished reader.
I was more then happy to leave Vientiene after 4 days of doing next to nothing, in fact that city has at most about half a days of activities to do in it, and applying for a Vietnam visa is included in that estimation. So I hit the road on that hazy Saturday morning with a determination to do some serious un-adulterated cycle touring(it sounds more rebellious in my head) and sitting here 12 days on and 1100km under my belt I can sleep easy knowing I have achieved what I set out to do.
The last 5 days in Laos continued the way they started, quite roads, smiling children, amazing scenery and lung busting climbs. I hate to be blazee about it as it was very enjoyable but there is really nothing much else to report.
After the inevitable border crossing beaurocracy and the officials unsuccessful attempts at getting a few dollars out of me Vietnam welcomed me with a most appreciated present........a windy 25km descent through rainforests all the way down to a gushing river lined by luminous green paddies. This scenery followed me till I found a bed to rest my weary legs, which after following 3 wrong directions I finally found. This first day in Vietnam was far from over, trying to find a place to eat in this small town a stumbled across a bar and decided to whet my whistle and sample some Vietnamese brew, which is very tasty. It was not long untill I was eating a feast with the owners family, while he continualy offered me one of his three daughters who were conservatively aged from 16 - 21, I politely declined. After stumbling back to my guest house, I tucked myself in to my bed only to be woken by a knock on my door, some army personelle wanted a quick word! Hastilly putting on some clothes and joining them for some green tea they inspected and copied every piece of writing on my passport, shook my hand and let me finally conclude my first day in Vietnam.
Deciding I wanted to see the sea one last time before Europe, a daunting year away I headed for the coast. Finding a nice isolated hotel somewhere north of Vinh in a small village on a particularly filthy stretch of the South China Sea I said my sad goodbyes to saline air. Heading down to the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat in the evening i found out the restaurant was closed and being 3km to the nearest one I reluctantly went for my bike. As luck would have it two very beautiful hotel employees were more then willing to take me out for a meal, so off I went sandwiched, a very delicious one I might add, between the two girls on the back of a motorbike, as we were departing a loud rumble was heard and the heavens opened. It will be a long lasting memory of flying along this country road, avoiding farmers frantically collecting their peanuts which they left drying on the side of the road, fork lightning lighting the sky around and getting thouroughly drenched, these are the reasons that one travels.
I am rambling on a little bit now and am getting more and more inarticulate as I go so to keep the high standards of this blog continuing i will try and finnish off. Though the above experiences were certainly memorable I think my favourite part of this country is the numerous times I have been invited by old men to drink green tea and smoke 2 foot long bamboo water pipes, they chatter away, smile at me every now and again, pour my tea fill my pipe as I sit there in a contented daze pondering how wonderful life is. The scenery in this country has been the best so far with the kasrt mountains thrown about amongst the contasting greens of rice paddies, tea plants, corn and sugar cane, but this does not compare to the hospitality of the people who in the majority take it upon themselves to welcome you warmly as a guest of their country.
Unfortunately I have to cut this Vietnamese leg of my journey short as lying on my bed this afternoon I luckily glanced at my Chinese visa and realised I have to enter the country in 3 days and being 400 mountainous kilometres away from the border I am praying that public transport services the back roads between here and there. So fingers crossed the next entry to this blog I will be safely in China.

Hello to one and all from sunny Vientiene. Not much to report I am afraid I just really want to post this photo of some monks crossing the top of a waterfall up near Luang Prubang, I ended up talking to them about girls, money and what they are going to do when they finish their time in the temple. Not the most pious and deep conversation I have had with a monk on my trip but I suppose 16 year old boys are the same all around the world.

I have to hang around Vientiene untill my visa for Vietnam is processed then it is direct east for about 6 days untill I get to Vietnam and then direct north in to China, through the mountains of vietnam, I hear this is one of the best routes in South East Asia. From the boarder the route is up to Kunming by mid June and then start on the Yunnan Highway to Tibet. Yes as I am sure it is no surprise to people who know me, I have had another oh so common change of heart and am reverting to my proposd plan, so no turning soft with the idea of plane travel, it is me and my bike the whole way.........hurrah!

Just a quick ode to my bike. After over 1600km and only one puncture my bike showed its first sign of fatigue, at the beginning I waved it off as nothing but a mere superficial wound, nothing a little spin wouldnt fix, but given a closer inspection on the morning before the my last leg I believed it to be something far more serious, maybe serious enough to have to amputate the rear hub, a suspected broken bearing. But surely not I thought, not in such a sprightly young bike, such ailments only happen to old, tired bikes? After easing her gently over the last 100kms in to town, I quickly sought out a much esteemed French cycle doctor renowned amongst the asian cycle community , he quickly assured me it was not serious, removed the sprocket, tightened some nuts and after applying some ointment to help her move more easily she was mine to discharge and take her home, as good as new. Now compared to most of the bikes people are touring on my bike looks quite old style, skinny and weak and does not look like it could handle any particularly rough roads or adventures, granted the true test is yet to come in China and beyond, but I believe she can do it. So after much deliberation I hereby call my bike "Rocacante" after the greatly underestimated steed of Don Quixote, I believe this calls for the 2nd hurrah of the post.........Hurrah!

Spectacular is the only way to describe the road from Luang Prabang to Viang Vieng, I really dont think cycle touring can get much better then this. 230km of perfectly sealed roads, three 1600 metre passes, 2700 metre of vertical ascent and descent all of which are very gradual so as not to work the legs or the breaks overly. Thankfully rainy season is on the way so mainly overcased conditions certainly help on 20km climbs.

The scenery was breathtaking with the karst mountains and cliffs shooting jaggadly up all around with dense jungle and villages clinging to the side, I have much better photos to demonstrate this but this being the only photo with me in it vanity got the better of me. The difference in wealth between here and Thailand was evident in Luang Prabang but once you left that tourist mecha it really hits you, the villages are mostly made of bamboo and leaves perched on the side of mountains with smiley mostly naked, filthy children running up to you shouting greetings, waving like maniacs and offering high 5's. No matter how tired you are, passing these villages never fails to plaster a smile from ear to ear on your face, that smile turns to a rather serious expression when passing one of the many army/guerilla pesonelle(it is had to tell which is which) strolling about with a kalashnikov round his shoulder, there being some trouble of late with tourists on this road so I usually bade them a cordial greeting dropped a gear and off I went as fast as my noodle legs could take me.

So safe and sound in Viang Vieng it is time for a day off before facing the 2ookm to Vientienne. Long live cycle touring!

Day 27 - 31 - 126km

After a perfect two day cycle from Chiang Rai to Chang Saen and then to Chang Khong along the hilly roads hugging the shores of the Mekong. There is nothing quite like cycling in the morning mists sweeping from the Mekong and being serenaded by the gibbons in the surrouding jungle, it makes you feel very far away from the N11. These were my last few kilometres in Thailand and though I would not like to say my best they certainly reminded me of how much I enjoyed the past 5 weeks touring through this beautiful country.

After a night in Chang Khong I took a boat across the river and in doing so entered in to Laos. From here I decided to take the "slow boat" down the Mekong to the world heritage town of Luang Probang. Throwing my bike on the roof of the river barge and paying an extortionate amount for this privilage I embarked upon the two day and 15 hour journey down the Mekong. This, as I had hoped, was a stunning journey through gorges, jungle lined mountains and small fishing villages, by the time I arrived in Luang Probang yesterday evening I was quite sad to be saying goodbye to that leg of my journey. That feeling was soon overshadowed by the beauty of this very touristic town, decaying 19th century French architecture splashed with a large amount of intricately detailed golden temples and wats and all lined by tall palm trees, quite unlike anything I have ever seen.

This morning from the vantage of a golden temple on a hill, I watched the rising sun peel its way slowly over the surrounding jungled mountains and clear the valleys bellow of their shroud of mist. After strolling through the bustling morning market and munching on some succulent ripe mango I breakfasted on noodle soup (which unbelievably is better then in Thailand), baguette and wonderfully thick, strong local coffee. Why yes I thought to myself, it is very good to be in Laos.

Change of Plan

After huffing and puffing, humming and hawing, deciding and redeciding I have finally come to the conclusion that me, my bike and the climate are not fit for my proposed route.
Due to monsoon season starting in a couple of weeks the roads from Kunming to Lhasa are subject to close for weeks at a time due to landslides. If for some by some chance I get to Lhasa unscathed the friendship highway between Lhasa and Kathmandu again due to too much water is not pasable untill late September, with my visa finshing at 20th August and extensions hard to get its another spanner in the works.
I am nearly sure my bike would have trouble as I have been informed by other tourers that you need a mountain bike for the friendship highway and the amount of new gear I would need to buy for the climate would not be cheap.
Although these are all viable excuses, excuses are what they are and with a bit of grit and determination I am sure I could overcome them, but I dont feel confident sneaking passed police in the dead of night to get in to closed areas of China and to deal with the factors above mentioned.
So my new route will bring me across to Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and then back to Bangkok where at the end of August I will fly to Kathmandu and then continue with my proposed route. I should change the name of the blogpage to wills odd way round.

Day 20 - 26 - 197km

After thoroughly enjoying Songkram for three days in Chiang Mai and then spending another three days to recover from that maybe all too thorough enjoyment, I got that very familiar itch in my feet and decided it was time to go.

So in the wee hours of Friday morning I snook out of my guest house and hit the road once more. After twenty kilometres the realistion that partying and touring cycling are not a match made in heaven which is fortunate for my wallet which took a pounding this past week. After thirty kilometres all the excesses of the past week had been sweated out and I was beginning to enjoy the mountainous first stage towards Chiang Rai, winding flawless roads with two different national parks either side of me was the perfect return to the saddle. After 82km my legs had had quite enough so the sight of a roadside hotel was appreciated and at the low low price of 1.20 I said thank you very much. After passing a very boring afternoon, the road being the highlight of the town, I fell in to a deep sleep by 8.

Knowing I had 104km to go to Chiang Rai, I embarked at 5 this morning and had a very eventless cycle all the way there. It was long and hot but reletively flat and passed the greenest parts of the country I have seen so far. Taking it at a leisurely pace stopping at a few great eateries I arrived in the town at about 12. Thanks to it not being as small as I had hoped and taking alot of wrong turns I cycled for 1hour and 15kms around the town trying to find a good guest house, eventually having to give in and print a map from the internet. Moral of the story...........swallow my pride and buy a lonely planet.

Going to explore town tomorow, even though I am nearly sure I cycled passed everything today, and then probably head up towards the Laos border on Monday morning.

Day 16,17,18,19 - 142km

The 102km cycle from Mae Saliang to Hot was the best trip to date. If you had asked me 2 1/2 hours in to it you probably would have not found me so happy by it, the day started with a 25km climb which took me the above stated time. After this there was a fast enough up and down bendy road along the top of ridges, 35km from Hot all the sweaty, painfull climbs of the past week were paid back to me in kind with one of the longest descents I have ever done on a beautifully asphalted windy tree lined mountain road, I hardly had to apply pressure to the pedals for the full 35km , there is no better feeling then seeing those kilometre markers fly by you.

Another reason this cycle and all the ones of the past four days have been so great is that it is Songkram (Thai New Year), which is celebrated for a full week by water fights and alot of drinking, so through every town and village you pass you have children and adults cheering and throughing buckets of water over you. Never in my life could this of been more welcomed then in this past week, I feel like a competitor in the Tour de France with my hoards of adoring fans wanting to help me by cooling me off and cheering me on.

This weekend is the height of the celebrations, and nowhere in the country is it celebrated more then in Chiang Mai, so being less then 100km away I thought it would be rude not to make an appearance, so I cycled the 40km to the motor way (getting drenched through) stuck out my thumb and like magic a car stopped straight away, if anyone out there is thinking of travelling Thailand I highly recommend hitch-hiking it is so easy, but maybe not during Songkram as being hit by water while travelling 140kmph is damn sore . I was left just outside Chiang Mai where I cycled the 6km in to the centre through stand still traffic of people on the top of cars, back of youts, pickups, mopeds, bikes, people on the side of the road all having one big water fight, with ice water, flour water, red dyed water, canal water, beer, basically anything liquid they could get there hands on, cracking fun.

So I shall be staying here till the end of the festivities on Tuesday and beyond as I meet a friend from Peru here on the same day so this blog page, me and my bike will have a bit of a rest untill I hit the road again towards the end of the week.

Day 13,14,15 - 157km

This was the view I had over the Moen river to help me digest my breakfast of peanuts and sugared rice biscuits this morning at 7 a couple of hours in to my day of hill climbing.
I have just finished an incredible three days cycling from Mae Sot to Mae Saliang where I have just arrived. Absolutely stunning landscape, great little hill tribe villages to have a bite to eat in and "rustic" guesthouses, where in last nights case you sleep on a mat on the floor with the rest of the friends and family for 1 euro a night. This was not a problem in the slightest as it was run by a friendly Burmese guy who spoke great English and we went in to depth about the state of his native land and the likes, interesting stuff, even more so considering this was my first english coversation in two weeks, couple this with his great version of "Brown eyed Girl" on his out of tune guitar and you have got yourself a making for a good evening.
Today unfortunately I was unable to do the 90km from Mae Salit to here due to lack of places to refuel and the near vertical climbs that faced me, so I stuck out a thumb and hitched the remaining 35km in to town in the back of a pick up, I feel a little guilty but it was the right thing to do, my legs after the last few days could bring me no further.
So it is a well desrved Thai massage, couple of days rest and maybe if I am lucky a bit of English speaking company as this place seems quite touristy before I head off on the 200km to Chiang Mai.

Day 11,12 - 87km

The mountains around Mae Sot and the Burmese border are full of lush green forests, chrystal rivers that ebb and flow down through huge waterfalls, where one can raft and canyon and in the evening can watch the sun go down through perfect clear mountain visibility with a cool beer chiang one's hand. Unfortunately for me this is true for nine months of the year, the other three months of the year, the very aptly named hot season, the whole area is flash burned to promote growth for the coming year which means for me a visibility of about 500 metres and a constant stinging of the eyes, its like being back in Bangkok.
Yesterdays cycle could well of been the hardest in my life, 87km in 8 hours, not a great average speed! A few stats for you cycle buffs out there, my fastest speed yesterday was 64kmph and my average speed on steep climbs was a demoralising 7.8kmph, for 9km I clung on to the back of a truck who just about went faster then me at 9.2kmph on steep climbs, but being behind trucks fumes for that long finally got ther better of me so I let go to refuel, I regretted that 10 minutes later on the next climb. The day finished sweetly though as I arrived in my guesthouse to find a Thai family about to start eating who promptly invited me to join them, and what a feast to be had washed down by ice cool beer and a mix mash of broken english chatter and a lot of misunderstood laughter then to bed where I slept for 13 hours straight.
Today was decision time to stay on my proposed course and battle through the smoke and hope for a clearing or return to the plains and head to Chiang Mai the easy way, after humming and hawing over my map I decided to take it slow in the mountains as the other route is mainly highways. To celebrate this conclusion I went 10 km to the burmese boarder to maybe go there for the day and get another stamp on the old passport, but no such luck the "friendship bridge", which was not actually that friendly, was closed due to a Thai soldier getting shot on the boarder during the week, another time maybe.
So onwards and upwards to Mae Salit, where hopefully gale force winds are brewing to clear this wretched smoke away.

Day 8,9,10 - 198km

This was the best place yet to have my morning noodle soup, served by a toothless old guy who insisted on jabbering away to me in thai while I tried my best to put on an understanding face, with noodles dripping down my face(still have not mastered the chop stick)
This rest stop was two hours in to my biggest day yet of 128km from Nakwon Sawon to Huamhaen Phet, and lets just say I will be a happy man if that stays my longest day.
I decided a rest day was in order and luckily found a great guest house. The owner of which brought me out to the family farm in the national park yesterday evening. While an incredible electrical storm was going on around us we all ate and drank alot of beer and whiskey and once again the local toothless drunk took it upon himself to entertain me with some very funny jokes and anecdotes (I have on good authority) in Thai, it must be my smell that attracts them. Anyway it all added up to be my best night in Thailand to date, so if anyone out there finds themselves in Humphaen Phet stay in the Three J Guest House, there is my promised plug for Mr. Sharim.
This morning after waking up with a little bit of a groggy head I had a pleasant 70km cycle along backroads to Tak which gave me a little hint of what the next stage of my cycle is to entail..............mountains and lots of them. Any notions over the past week that I was suprisingly fit were dashed on my first 5 minute climb in Thailand and with a vertical ascent of over 1000 metres on the cards tomorow on the 80km road to Mae Sot I am a tad nervous but excited at the same time, after a week of cycling across mile upon mile of paddy fields I feel it is time for a change in scenery.

Day 5,6,7 - 234km

This is the beautiful sunrise I had to spur me on this morning at the start of my first hundred km day, 112 to be exact, and that was about the point that mister sun was at his kindest to me, from then on in he turned nasty, and when I arrived 7 hours later in Nakwon Sawon he had turned the temperature to 41 degrees the evil bastard, my forearms look, well, as red as the tip of my nose, who would of guessed 2 euro Thai factor thirty sun cream would not be the sun defending giant I might of hoped?

That is the end of my grumbling. The last four days I have spent slowly getting accustomed to life on the road again because after Australia it was going to be hard for example no more eating sirloin steak, with burlondaise sauce, garlic pomme puree and asparagus tips for lunch every day and then strolling back by the beach to sleep in my double bed in my huge room, yes siree Cogee treated me alright........anyway enough of that. Today was a great day to teach me again why I love to travel, and in particular why the choice of taking my bike was well informed because believe you me I have had my doubts of late.

Having not had a conversation in English(hence none at all) since leaving Bangkok 6 days ago it has not been easy, especially for a sociable fellow like myself, but thankfully I could not be in a friendlier country where people will always have a smile for you and help you with whatever they can, the food is great, the landscape beautiful the roads are in better condition then anywhere in the world I have been and I have had a southerly wind up my ass since I have started urging me towards Chiang Mai. I honestly believe that this is the best country in the world for me or for anyone to start cycle touring, apart from the fact that I do expect to have an imaginary friend by the end of the week if I dont get some interaction, and at 24 I am nearly sure that is not a good thing! Another hundred plus day to Kamphaeng Phet tomorow so wish me luck.

Day 3 - 76.8km

Though enjoyable I am very glad that day is over. Near 80 km in 40 degree heat and loads of humidity would test the strongest of men let alone a skinny pasty Irish guy who has not cycled over 40 km in about 10 months. 3 1/2 hours and 8 litres of water later I arrived in Lopuri only to realise that without travelling with my trusty Lonely Planet, I have not the faintest of ideas where to stay. Luckily with my 6 words of thai and some dodgy hand gestures I found my way to a pretty good, cheap hotel where I proceeded to sit under a cold shower for 15 minutes..........bliss. After lying naked under a fan and having a pretty good chicken's foot and some other random meat curry from the market I feel human again. Bed for me now and I look forward to the excruciating barse pain of tomorrow morning which I suppose I deserve after not wearing a shami today, oh well you live and you learn.

Day 2 - 29km

Though my technological skills are slowly increasing it has not yet mastered rotating pictures so please excuse the photo, if anyone knows how to do it please drop me a mail.
Today was spent going around all the different Wats in the surrounding area of Ayuttayah which were absolutely stunning as you can see.
The main joy of my day was the brilliance of my bike, though I liked it from day 1 today confirmed my hopes, it just needs the slightest bit of pressure to maintain a comfortable 20-25km an hour, long may it last. Unfortunately I am yet to find a suitable name for it so all suggestions welcome.
Tomorrow will be the first real test for it(and me) as I will be cycling about 70 km north to a town called Lopburi so wish me luck.

Day 1 - 15km

D

Hello to one and all, this handsome young man you see before you is me outside my guest house in Bangkok, hung over and very nervous about the next 18 months of my life, more pressing on my mind is how the hell I was going to negotiate the Bangkok traffic and go the 8km cross town to the Central station.

It was the first time that I had ridden my bike laden with the 20kg of my side backs which did not add to my self confidence, but after sweating my bodyweight in the 40 degree heat and getting some friendly encouragement from the only other cyclist I met on the road I made it in one piece.

I can hear you saying... I thought he was going to cycle the whole way and what a cheat, though I felt a bit of a coward to stumble at the first hurdle but seeing the Bangkok traffic and knowing I would have to brave the maze of streets to get out to my proposed first stop Ayuttayah, 60km north of central Bangkok, I went for the safe option.

Just a step back for those who do not know what my proposed plan is. I have decided to cycle from Bangkok to Dublin over the next 18 months, but as we have already seen I can not claim this so it will have to be Ayuttayah to Dublin, which does not have the same ring to it but there you go. My proposed route is through Thailand, Laos, China, Tibet, Nepal, India(where I will meet my friend Ciaran in Delhi in November), Pakistan, Iran, Turkey then through Europe. I will be hopefully posting some good stories and photos to keep people in touch on this website so feel free to send me encouraging cliches like "Come on Will" and "I believe you can do it". All for now.