We leave Shangri-La and find quiet roads towards the Tiger Leaping Canyon. There are not many people in this area and it’s quiet with a few heavy climbs in between and some great views on white peaks in the distance. The Tibetan flat-roofed white houses disappear and make way for decorative Chinese ones.
We leave Litang and cycle over high mountain passes and pass many Tibetan villages. I always thought Tibet was like a high plain, but it’s up and down and up and down. A cutting wind chills our faces, but we enjoy every moment in the mountains. By order of the police we stay one night with a Tibetan family and we visit a monastery without monks!
As soon as we leave Kanding we start climbing towards the first 4000+ meter pass of this cycling adventure in China. Clouds are rolling in and soon we have rain, at 3600 meter it changes into snow and at 4000 meter we are pedaling through a snow storm. There’s nothing here, so we are forced to pitch our tent by the side of the road. Luckily for us, traffic is also stranded, so it’s a quiet but cold night…
On our way to the Tibetan plateau we should have brought some earplugs! Oh, the Chinese blow their horns as many time as they breath! Weather it means ‘get out of here’ or ‘hi there stranger’ I’m not sure, but for the sake of it I’ll just move…
Scotland from the saddle: a short video of our bicycle touring trip around Scotland. Watch it now!
After the rolling hills we are looking at the first long climb, the Bealach na Ba pass towards Applecross. With 626 meter the highest pass in Scotland. What? No more than 626 meter? That’s nothing! Well, in 9 kilometers and with 20%+ grades it’s a killer!
Here’s a short movie of our cycling adventure in Namibia! Watch it now!
It’s still dark as we wait at the entrance of Sossusvlei. We’ve arranged a ride with the 4×4 drivers working at the famous dunes, since we cannot enter with our bicycles. It’s a bit chilly, but we know it will be blazing hot again once the sun rises.
It’s pretty hot in Namibia! Long, dusty and straight roads, a blazing sun and the occasional tree to have some shade. Our day usually starts at 6AM (after all this is our holiday!) and we ride till we sea a tree at about 1PM. Here we have a siesta and wait for the temperature to drop a bit. Yep, this is Namibia!
Looking down from the window of the airplane we see endlessly long and straight roads through a dusty and sandy landscape. Yes, we arrived in Namibia after an adventurous (and overbooked) flight on the huge A380 airplane.