tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17901388439370980002024-03-14T09:58:48.871+00:00Cycling ArchitectsCycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-67751845823485837342012-09-24T13:49:00.000+01:002012-09-24T18:45:27.093+01:00Riding an Enfield through Spiti Valley & Ladakh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9c91zE3zoQmXCzP-8vH1v4kDDPesED19gmY_kYNZVMe7HZNVIIg6OVR_20edONYk5BMOsLB3FUg91WhN24kgA0CvOI-jfsI5yChHu0-WufgLp1Hjk3aRxTIZLPpwb55M2U2DiRE7JNlOn/s1600/P1330301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9c91zE3zoQmXCzP-8vH1v4kDDPesED19gmY_kYNZVMe7HZNVIIg6OVR_20edONYk5BMOsLB3FUg91WhN24kgA0CvOI-jfsI5yChHu0-WufgLp1Hjk3aRxTIZLPpwb55M2U2DiRE7JNlOn/s200/P1330301.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Sertx & I are now 3300m high in the
Himalayas, after having driven 2372km & reaching 5373m in height on the
Enfield motorbike. We rode over the 2 highest motorable passes in the world; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Taglang-La</b> at 5347m & <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Khardung-La</b> at 5373m. We also recently
trekked up the 6125m </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631436976866/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Stok Kangri</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> mountain; it took 2 short days to walk to
base camp, from where we were woken at 1am to spend, what was to be, 7 hours to
reach the summit. Only 15 minutes into the hike and it already started snowing
heavily. We crossed a large glacier & had to jump over small crevasses in
the dark, all the time walking on rocky ground; it would have been impossible
without a guide! We gave up after 4 hours, at 5769m, halfway up a steep, loose-rock
cliff edge, as we both started hallucinating plus it was freezing & just too
foggy to see ahead - we were exhausted out of our minds! Thankfully we were not
the only ones who found it hard & had to turn back.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh2EGoBw_L3XuQ7YTNgiSTfBgsM2Nmm2DqFy71Qfkozxw8H83pHnEd2dIBRIlulDVRjSOGtC8cl6x9Sh1F06FFa3HqvOrtWrQmVmvG-7FaVNoo8FwElGKdgNxnHqSuhGRcxzGoeKcZm-p/s1600/P1330365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh2EGoBw_L3XuQ7YTNgiSTfBgsM2Nmm2DqFy71Qfkozxw8H83pHnEd2dIBRIlulDVRjSOGtC8cl6x9Sh1F06FFa3HqvOrtWrQmVmvG-7FaVNoo8FwElGKdgNxnHqSuhGRcxzGoeKcZm-p/s320/P1330365.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">We have met many other Enfielders en-route,
as well as a few short-route cyclists whom we cheered on, & also the famous
touring cyclists <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pikes on Bikes</i>, who
originally inspired us to cycle the Andes, which we will still do one day. Travelling
by motorbike has allowed us to enjoy more time in the places we visit and
luckily our bike hasn’t given up on us - after its first appalling week where
we needed to visit a workshop 5 times; at one point the battery failed, leaving
us stranded on a mountain-top only 20km from our destination, for which we had
to load the bike on the back of a van and were driven down to the flat plains again
just to find a workshop.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaXRwWr-zBYRznFPllT8cBRSNPItxDSOIvQB5ZJMy6Ig2x2WHxNoSwZ4oaqreTGfSZvHGojjYXtbg0sfAbu9jq1DYFk77DzTjAEIydPXaRT6T5JZS4dcqD7CMxjwpaODJJWz3V6zPnKP4/s1600/DSC_3692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaXRwWr-zBYRznFPllT8cBRSNPItxDSOIvQB5ZJMy6Ig2x2WHxNoSwZ4oaqreTGfSZvHGojjYXtbg0sfAbu9jq1DYFk77DzTjAEIydPXaRT6T5JZS4dcqD7CMxjwpaODJJWz3V6zPnKP4/s320/DSC_3692.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Here in the Ladakh region we have been living
alongside Tibetan people, who have just finished celebrating their annual </span><b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631432713930/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">festival</span></a></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">, where people from
different areas of the region dress up, sing & dance. We also recently
returned from the super spectacular, sandy Nubra Valley, where we visited </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631509249384/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Baltistan</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">, a former Pakistani area until 1971, and
closed to tourists until 2 years ago. We have been as north as is possible in
India. Next we will spend one month riding back to Delhi, via Amritsar, where
we will visit the Golden Temple, home to the Sikhs. In Delhi we will end our
trip and catch a flight back to London again!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWLYEbfr_ogAyfGyYCMRlvFVESQyWMZ8BHaRMjBTQrBJ-ryYYRp6SYDKJrbUes7F1fUCZisjQZ5hmYJY2jQ2QapDj1n27pHxdSZEZ5ICsD0Sxsd1YoquYAq_-8h2jQwH_CRX61IGyFz95/s1600/DSC_4326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWLYEbfr_ogAyfGyYCMRlvFVESQyWMZ8BHaRMjBTQrBJ-ryYYRp6SYDKJrbUes7F1fUCZisjQZ5hmYJY2jQ2QapDj1n27pHxdSZEZ5ICsD0Sxsd1YoquYAq_-8h2jQwH_CRX61IGyFz95/s320/DSC_4326.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Rock n
Roll</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-How8QQHE92dgVodGstpLAEZOATR4vcHGtZ082pjZ01xULQO8pW9we-7W53_Y8OMzBvAWjl03vfBrl1JJKWQj0AX6FGiYGqfW8ldfgwKZ9JNHbrrqkxXMSoHllOyrbm5TJ19oBTqdxvdh/s1600/DSC_4628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-How8QQHE92dgVodGstpLAEZOATR4vcHGtZ082pjZ01xULQO8pW9we-7W53_Y8OMzBvAWjl03vfBrl1JJKWQj0AX6FGiYGqfW8ldfgwKZ9JNHbrrqkxXMSoHllOyrbm5TJ19oBTqdxvdh/s200/DSC_4628.JPG" width="134" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">After leaving Chandigarh we headed up into
the steep pedestrian village </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631217015632/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Shimla</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">, known for its summer retreat of the Raj. We
drove through <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kinnaur valley</b>, which
was lush green, and then through <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spiti
valley</b>, which was dry, brown desert land. We watched the mountains being
pounded by machines and also blown-up – all to make way for a wider, smoother tarmac
road. These new roads were in the process of being constructed along most of
the way; and we occasionally saw large rocks rolling off the edges down to the
roads below!</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> We are however extremely grateful to all the Indian workers who
toil in freezing conditions to construct the new roads. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">We drove through immensely
astounding rocky & arid landscapes; sometimes also along hair-raising sandy
roads; also down steep, spine-tingling roads with no visible barriers; along
cliff edges which dropped 50m down into a narrow river; through a number of
metre-deep rivers, which cut through the roads, and even through a couple of
muddy landslides. Only a 15 minute thunderstorm rain shower can create a
torturous, metre-thick muddy path to cross. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdPZl3VX1LS0p0BEAR8hD7LMSBtcWroURSnz77aTVRZeadt-sokgJVkUEShx66gHxNWvo-a4bBparJsksatGEX4aX3om1ebzTURznDmPJlHMAD5bVhI_lreeMzolnLCYSMCJphC1DorW2/s1600/DSC_4115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdPZl3VX1LS0p0BEAR8hD7LMSBtcWroURSnz77aTVRZeadt-sokgJVkUEShx66gHxNWvo-a4bBparJsksatGEX4aX3om1ebzTURznDmPJlHMAD5bVhI_lreeMzolnLCYSMCJphC1DorW2/s320/DSC_4115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Y1qQ26NQMullv6IEPAkDcadob4zgsBMnQOmNlzUhGgusySLN5TIxIjjnsM_Uq5mJMdO0nndM700fjpTJcVjNMcVTZ4vhcQZ3DZi6omYgDytTB5f-LTNp0uHwsQWxRTaw3x-vFe7Bx5ds/s1600/DSC_2603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Y1qQ26NQMullv6IEPAkDcadob4zgsBMnQOmNlzUhGgusySLN5TIxIjjnsM_Uq5mJMdO0nndM700fjpTJcVjNMcVTZ4vhcQZ3DZi6omYgDytTB5f-LTNp0uHwsQWxRTaw3x-vFe7Bx5ds/s200/DSC_2603.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">We were riding over mountain passes higher
than 3800m, with the occasional snowy mountain peak revealing itself from
behind the clouds and also observed the thick snowy glaciers, gradually melting
between the peaks. We also crossed through an ‘inline’ area bordering Tibet –
our closest at only 17km from the country, where the Indian army were based. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS4V7DPfMGwuknnP9s8OBJ5iZGh3bKabCiU2e_za625bDt6HrriXPaAv6QyiWc0tTgMAO5IakYo_rFBn2ls3RCYzy1YhIs1t4jxoeiUvfOba2IAgqYECRPPXIEPtMMfbcbQd3nX2q-SBf/s1600/P1320474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS4V7DPfMGwuknnP9s8OBJ5iZGh3bKabCiU2e_za625bDt6HrriXPaAv6QyiWc0tTgMAO5IakYo_rFBn2ls3RCYzy1YhIs1t4jxoeiUvfOba2IAgqYECRPPXIEPtMMfbcbQd3nX2q-SBf/s200/P1320474.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">We
met an Enfield couple from Bombay at a landslide near </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631304374462/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Kaza</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> with whom we crossed over the 4557m high </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631332504004/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Kunzum-La</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> pass. We rode together along the toughest
muddiest stretch, so we could help each other out (unfortunately we weren’t
much help, as they were the ones wearing rubber boots!) Together we rode passed
the ‘Gaddi’ shepherds controlling their enormous herds of sheep & goats –
the shepherds often carry the youngest lamb in their arms, or parcel up 8 of
them in woven sacks which are slung around their horses! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLnr3sY__O8Bc6KppAdOlYTY17ltTLULrE8n873_OqdLdHwOq_5kgbAAgj4woNvUjS7_1IlIqv_MWk0d_dbYQV_zdFRyrmtTG4cMoOG55I_giCmkhdzqLRn0as1Nals51ykQeX37JED-r/s1600/DSC_2291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLnr3sY__O8Bc6KppAdOlYTY17ltTLULrE8n873_OqdLdHwOq_5kgbAAgj4woNvUjS7_1IlIqv_MWk0d_dbYQV_zdFRyrmtTG4cMoOG55I_giCmkhdzqLRn0as1Nals51ykQeX37JED-r/s320/DSC_2291.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARFGKN-WSNCoHVQLX2L7FsNitiXRK00Q5sV51ECHwwiXOSdufzQDPZDc_x-ooi8D8SH5ZjmBDBy0tvo3nFWI-lX_dhoYoD7sUasCDaDs_9i339sPqu_eglaR9oASyI5IC6BCJJQU9xwKG/s1600/P1330252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARFGKN-WSNCoHVQLX2L7FsNitiXRK00Q5sV51ECHwwiXOSdufzQDPZDc_x-ooi8D8SH5ZjmBDBy0tvo3nFWI-lX_dhoYoD7sUasCDaDs_9i339sPqu_eglaR9oASyI5IC6BCJJQU9xwKG/s200/P1330252.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">We connected to the infamous ‘Manali – Leh’
highway, which is misleading as the road is barely wide enough for two vehicles
to pass. The climate here is so extreme that this highway is only open for 4
months each year. We rode north passing higher mountains; Baralacha-La at
4910m; Nakeela-La at 4937m & Lachulang-La at 5074m. We also spent a night
in a tent with an attached bathroom which had a ceramic toilet & sink! Our
last stop before Leh was at </span><b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631335662678/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Tso Kar</span></a></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> lake where we spotted
2 black-necked cranes and a pack of wild kiang horses. We have also seen massive
buzzards & eagles, some blue sheep (which are actually goats,) a few Ladakh
pikas, plus several friendly, furry & fat Himalayan marmots on our walks
through the mountains. Unfortunately we haven’t spotted a snow leopard yet.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik49-VqaxfUNhv9Pt1GLDvFxqJWKtDT1ysYAn6juP0uKb9Rjwc0IW54uDZTL1NHXAmrktjiOTTHTTQDRZFG0TBHi4_9rISp561iTfGLv6dAxXWqoH-5KW_CwZ3EUhJnjIfjl6yPydIxenw/s1600/P1330009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik49-VqaxfUNhv9Pt1GLDvFxqJWKtDT1ysYAn6juP0uKb9Rjwc0IW54uDZTL1NHXAmrktjiOTTHTTQDRZFG0TBHi4_9rISp561iTfGLv6dAxXWqoH-5KW_CwZ3EUhJnjIfjl6yPydIxenw/s320/P1330009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Just before entering </span><b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631350858974/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Leh</span></a></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> we entered what
seemed like a Star Wars set – a purple coloured gorge with immense upended
strata rock. As a pillion passenger I got the chance to observe all the various
rock formation patterns, from flat and wavy, or smooth as sand, to jagged and
sharp. This landscape is worth a billion – the mountains are like a compilation
of all the finest jewels of the world – and passing through them is better than
a visit to Mars!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBTgxY9gk-teDFRGuNTFWRyknwNFyXxr9cHyG0XQfGmUdE17XpmHOJBrNzei-q0gkKiNATGUmRFEaXMJbeHrvjuYyd9xWrlbbgI6uEWP3snQGbDbKFd6U3xVP0-MpbfdsRIFR7iPeoC5z/s1600/DSC_3223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBTgxY9gk-teDFRGuNTFWRyknwNFyXxr9cHyG0XQfGmUdE17XpmHOJBrNzei-q0gkKiNATGUmRFEaXMJbeHrvjuYyd9xWrlbbgI6uEWP3snQGbDbKFd6U3xVP0-MpbfdsRIFR7iPeoC5z/s320/DSC_3223.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Locals
& Mud-Brick Architecture</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFzGp-wcHI8vjOJx1G1QqZPSHJ9nwcQBqAKULhJcwatUrgyNxvII5j6dIYdgZTAdyWYVw4y657Llzk6BdqiVTcFmvPR9iLWHUq3QgDX3uiIzAA1UREFVzez2hVt6PPwYhU8NgiAKB-i2t/s1600/P1320358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFzGp-wcHI8vjOJx1G1QqZPSHJ9nwcQBqAKULhJcwatUrgyNxvII5j6dIYdgZTAdyWYVw4y657Llzk6BdqiVTcFmvPR9iLWHUq3QgDX3uiIzAA1UREFVzez2hVt6PPwYhU8NgiAKB-i2t/s200/P1320358.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">The time and effort it takes to ride through
this landscape makes you wonder how on earth anyone can come and settle down to
live here in the middle of what seems like nowhere amongst this desert land.
The people we met are not Indian-looking at all and we often forget we’re still
in India; There are more Tibetan flags & prayer flags around than Indian
flags. Everyone is friendly & welcoming, yet the food is unfortunately minimal
– with only a choice of chowmain fried noodles or vegetable <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">momos</i> dumplings along with milky masala
chai tea. Thankfully I can have locally grown porridge oats for breakfast. I
woke up one morning to find a scorpion crawling out from under my bag; which
was a stronger wake-up call than my beloved black coffee for once! At night,
when we turn off the lights to sleep, all the dogs start barking non-stop.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdC6eDk7TLAWl8bWDWMt_XuLcTOtHp5gyaCqqG_Qo4bTEa8PhNkztuyU0YUK0faL-i0Qr_3twjEJIhE-tb9Dzc4TkmMehJoq_nXIyEBbmBRbFpOdcsc8b83cJkq9oYkbRhQZ-pthd9M0j/s1600/DSC_3372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdC6eDk7TLAWl8bWDWMt_XuLcTOtHp5gyaCqqG_Qo4bTEa8PhNkztuyU0YUK0faL-i0Qr_3twjEJIhE-tb9Dzc4TkmMehJoq_nXIyEBbmBRbFpOdcsc8b83cJkq9oYkbRhQZ-pthd9M0j/s200/DSC_3372.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">We have visited several monasteries,
including the most important, yet what seemed like the smallest one in Ladakh,
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Khardong</b> Monastery. At </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631432196828/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Hemis</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> we watched artists carefully paint the
colourful demons on the temple walls. For <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thiksey</b>
we had to climb over 300 steps to reach the monastery, but were gratefully rewarded
with amazing views, as well as seeing a massive golden Buddha in one of the
temples. We also stopped in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tabo</b> to
see three of its nine small temples, one of which had paintings from the 16<sup>th</sup>
century. We also visited a very old temple on top of a mountain in </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631217302132/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Sarahan</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">, which was dedicated solely to the Hindu
goddess Kali.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0_ZSZXyJ8DDcId4uKo6PpMfIGsOsmjEEUausARyRdIocaf6aAD5t-fTA-yFD-lF094IWcI2Pt_G77Bu6Y23mUzN_5BIwavxZ_NpHaMOCfb27xqvbJrmHJiK_wHuW05SBnez4lSibOoqDf/s1600/DSC_1112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0_ZSZXyJ8DDcId4uKo6PpMfIGsOsmjEEUausARyRdIocaf6aAD5t-fTA-yFD-lF094IWcI2Pt_G77Bu6Y23mUzN_5BIwavxZ_NpHaMOCfb27xqvbJrmHJiK_wHuW05SBnez4lSibOoqDf/s200/DSC_1112.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">The houses in the Ladakh region are built
from mud-brick, which is supposedly best for keeping in the warmth during the
long -30°C winter months. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">The locals also collect cow pat & either pile it on top of their roofs or place stacks of it beside their cow-coartyards for use as insulation or fuel in winter. We visited a tiny town, </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631301370686/" target="_blank"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Nako</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">, at 3600m elevation which had beautiful houses
made from mud-brick, wood & stone. Each house also has a small private
courtyard for their cow. When walking through the town we also noticed the
underneath of house-walkways were decorated with colourful Buddhist scenes and
Mandalas, made from fabric suck to the wood structure.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Riding on a Royal Enfield through this
astounding landscape is in our opinion, the ultimate experience of a lifetime.
If you ever get the chance you have to ride around here.</span></div>
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Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-19027303024118540052012-08-15T09:19:00.001+01:002012-09-24T18:30:23.772+01:00Changing Bikes for Touring Northern India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Surprise</span></b></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">!!<br />
We decided to exchange our bikes for a 500cc Royal Enfield motorbike!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3m7f-5HJXU5vbw23wYWAVUamL6l1aCeo_H6YV1AuXtuNEEjX_RVtZVf3KiDY-E31T5g9g4084Hbmyfs1tAjHWBNvqUiRx8UMcfUCik0AN4kSJ_jucLxL-Krc5eCHPYF1WsGZUvegYdrO/s1600/P1300625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3m7f-5HJXU5vbw23wYWAVUamL6l1aCeo_H6YV1AuXtuNEEjX_RVtZVf3KiDY-E31T5g9g4084Hbmyfs1tAjHWBNvqUiRx8UMcfUCik0AN4kSJ_jucLxL-Krc5eCHPYF1WsGZUvegYdrO/s320/P1300625.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">On our Royal Enfield at the India Gate in Delhi</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">
There are a couple of reasons for changing our form of transport:<br />
We want to stop sweating all day, relax a bit & start our holidays – being
able to spend more time in the places we visit;<br />
As it’s monsoon season we want to reach our destination faster, before the
daily 4pm rain showers;<br />
Our budget is running low so we won’t be going to South America as planned
& instead will be spending longer touring India, thereby covering greater
distances, which are too long to do safely by bicycle;<br />
By travelling greater distances daily we then know where we’re sleeping
before it gets dark, unlike when we were cycling;<br />
We want to feel safer in the chaotic Indian traffic, so have moved to an upper
caste now; from “touchables” to Enfielders;<br />
We still have a few 5000m+ mountain passes to cross on our way to Leh, so
adventures are guaranteed!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCa4V5NdB4EylHTfLrDL8T7ybOU3RRNdg_onRFvHGp8wdYlWgyjK0rCBmr3Dmki8FyjG9Flburp9Ep9rctVXDsHMAsfmScD0G3XEeLfFoJRmp0uAgHlnzmQFYSP91N504hdu1i5vujYYbO/s1600/DSC_0315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCa4V5NdB4EylHTfLrDL8T7ybOU3RRNdg_onRFvHGp8wdYlWgyjK0rCBmr3Dmki8FyjG9Flburp9Ep9rctVXDsHMAsfmScD0G3XEeLfFoJRmp0uAgHlnzmQFYSP91N504hdu1i5vujYYbO/s320/DSC_0315.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Hot dogs in Rishikesh</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">I get to navigate for once & take photos without stopping & frustrating
Sertx, whilst he enjoys driving the bike, beeping our loud double-horn on the
road (making somebody else’s ear drums burst for a change), & learning
about how to fix all its different parts after it breaks down…every day. And
now, rather than being covered in wet-dripping sweat, we get covered in a layer
of black sandy dirt, as well as petrol and oil. We love riding the Royal
Enfield so far, yet our knees, backs & bums already ache due to the
different seat position, but it’s all part of the fun.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimETVY7L3movS8nPiER9mg1Na9YUPcfoeuU5tVeQejGa28DSTADNrXLDEZV8xJPBf3V-7sJ7Ps-GUw77JOS5jkGrrkdfrwSyvXxxze_TFYK8vQQ7vzGNArWEd2QYvtU05guV2XSfuV7Y2z/s1600/P1290845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimETVY7L3movS8nPiER9mg1Na9YUPcfoeuU5tVeQejGa28DSTADNrXLDEZV8xJPBf3V-7sJ7Ps-GUw77JOS5jkGrrkdfrwSyvXxxze_TFYK8vQQ7vzGNArWEd2QYvtU05guV2XSfuV7Y2z/s320/P1290845.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The joy of seeing the locals who gather around & watch us on our bicycle breaks</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">So we ended our cycling adventure in Varanasi, city of birth, life & death,
just after visiting </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630894349112/" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Lumbini</span></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"> in Nepal, the
birthplace of the Buddha. After visiting these two symbolic places, we decided
to give our bicycles a rest, and begin our motor biking adventure from New
Delhi, heading north into the Indian Himalayas.<br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCjWghcSnLq_Ebx7T4saEECSF5iYP-LS8L-GtafjZ9BIe4zMlHsvQsIbl2cdvsMk7RtvqiFo-enia0gq06EqD6PttGjbWMWOYL9YclPAPulzFyFzfaB8t6wStoqZyauevJdO0IHsZZTzn/s1600/P1300374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCjWghcSnLq_Ebx7T4saEECSF5iYP-LS8L-GtafjZ9BIe4zMlHsvQsIbl2cdvsMk7RtvqiFo-enia0gq06EqD6PttGjbWMWOYL9YclPAPulzFyFzfaB8t6wStoqZyauevJdO0IHsZZTzn/s200/P1300374.JPG" width="150" /></a></span></div>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Incredible India</span></b></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pT9NeD3skWIiUsIO6Yw9SI5Kn_Qjo7szfcjdqTL7JzQuz8TkXMBcCon9zvtNe3AX-ycD42mnC465tbFshgB7vvU8_mR-KspvS3EHdLbOb4_h2unSdzIK8bNyIF5CtZkOVv-BaaALdnTH/s1600/P1300060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pT9NeD3skWIiUsIO6Yw9SI5Kn_Qjo7szfcjdqTL7JzQuz8TkXMBcCon9zvtNe3AX-ycD42mnC465tbFshgB7vvU8_mR-KspvS3EHdLbOb4_h2unSdzIK8bNyIF5CtZkOVv-BaaALdnTH/s200/P1300060.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">
In India the traffic is the scariest. Whilst cycling, some guys on motorbikes
have pulled up right beside us to try to engage in conversation – stopping all
traffic behind them and creating a narrower & more dangerous cycling
situation for us. Some guys have tried, & some have even succeeded, in
stroking me as they ride on by. Another guy wanted Sertx’s autograph for some
unknown reason, and chased after us for a while. In Nepal we were continuously
asked ‘<i>where from?</i>’ whereas in India we are asked ‘<i>Where are you
going to?</i>’ We receive attention & help wherever we go; when we stop to
catch a bite for lunch, the locals slowly stop what they’re doing & start
crowding around us to stare at what we’re doing. When lost or when the
motorbike has broken down in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, people
still manage to appear and offer all their time and endless efforts in helping
us. </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">So far we have visited </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630935453608/" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Varanasi</span></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">, known for the
rituals & ceremonies taking place at & in the Ganges river;</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicH0SFVKvvDB1ZZHAjFqya3XL6101H2HT3Qx1iLVrMRIV0i_-xthgqlFsPOnMR_8skUNRflA48OoJgaG8a2-aKdHHEFLIjUO2P7FOzuyfTk0ySbWIG5nlFcwNNeyjIT1K13MUltVox_bZJ/s1600/P1300500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicH0SFVKvvDB1ZZHAjFqya3XL6101H2HT3Qx1iLVrMRIV0i_-xthgqlFsPOnMR_8skUNRflA48OoJgaG8a2-aKdHHEFLIjUO2P7FOzuyfTk0ySbWIG5nlFcwNNeyjIT1K13MUltVox_bZJ/s200/P1300500.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">bathing water buffalos</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631047997844/" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">New Delhi</span></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">, the bustling
capital;</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUND3MawFb68z_bL0zWtAt_VG8gk4V7IoaLIG_AE3P7sxJeTOYzEIlKP3BVpngeUeuhYN4nQaqa5qaRGecACB6cpd-LrNMnUnqfbgcIxc6lhtBbCh9MfdPcB_bFWmi5u3AowF-f67MkHfY/s1600/P1300630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUND3MawFb68z_bL0zWtAt_VG8gk4V7IoaLIG_AE3P7sxJeTOYzEIlKP3BVpngeUeuhYN4nQaqa5qaRGecACB6cpd-LrNMnUnqfbgcIxc6lhtBbCh9MfdPcB_bFWmi5u3AowF-f67MkHfY/s200/P1300630.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lotus Temple</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> in Delhi</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631048174892/" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Rishikesh</span></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">, the yoga capital of
the world made famous by the Beatles; </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IpeGN3v9pKdmaP5F39_zxdZ-FLXnXkZsnXTYCtmIzOCm-MG4VhrluUdKBg7iavzyUERMktNljYOkBktKxK6Uyaqpm2pdQ3nkkYLJAPO82tPUaPH-hksjL3vwYTxFxa-bfiHYycBfgAEo/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IpeGN3v9pKdmaP5F39_zxdZ-FLXnXkZsnXTYCtmIzOCm-MG4VhrluUdKBg7iavzyUERMktNljYOkBktKxK6Uyaqpm2pdQ3nkkYLJAPO82tPUaPH-hksjL3vwYTxFxa-bfiHYycBfgAEo/s200/DSC_0351.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kali goddess statue in Rishikesh</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631076791406/" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Mussoorie</span></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">, a crowded yet
beautiful 2000m high mountain resort & </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UzSg8W9GYsIFwjE2mXq1f_9s6SDh51pWLU-HaAmYkX4GmmylfFRNQrYVG4s5Nt0X4-Zvog98b-wAtdJ3w6wI0pgU8Ygk2meO-kLCrHFH9SIHRUo7f73XpvdfGSQ40ZHQu1me42TXIjQD/s1600/DSC_0414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6UzSg8W9GYsIFwjE2mXq1f_9s6SDh51pWLU-HaAmYkX4GmmylfFRNQrYVG4s5Nt0X4-Zvog98b-wAtdJ3w6wI0pgU8Ygk2meO-kLCrHFH9SIHRUo7f73XpvdfGSQ40ZHQu1me42TXIjQD/s200/DSC_0414.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">arriving in busy Mussoorie</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157631083669370/" target="_blank">Chandigarh</a>, master planned by the one
& only Le Corbusier. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusEVFrb-5S5jdlM3NPjccuP8nqQzRMMyFJZj_exczu0ZubrLPzlpNc65AyCD-Pkv7OQWdVBdHL_Xt6b_lW5Ca7tiebfVsySxXsyv-sW8OLoGecv5O8q-2_UEBhak-JdwhM-z7r9R8E5px/s1600/DSC_0528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusEVFrb-5S5jdlM3NPjccuP8nqQzRMMyFJZj_exczu0ZubrLPzlpNc65AyCD-Pkv7OQWdVBdHL_Xt6b_lW5Ca7tiebfVsySxXsyv-sW8OLoGecv5O8q-2_UEBhak-JdwhM-z7r9R8E5px/s200/DSC_0528.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sertx in the Rock Garden in Chandigarh</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">India has the most delectably flavoured food & sweets,
and the flies that share our meals think the same too! We pass monkeys,
elephants, goats, buffalos & holy cows on the roads every day. Every corner
is full of surprises. India is an incredible country!<br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxhoh4QgMiUXhsVz3zHoj_G93_CFB4I__YS6qlvopz6ZNvimsBodOj7hdq31lFLBRT36mANezgfykKZM3OS44-tM6Emzp4peTUY0KuSrgvg5TIojugAtaMnTowmF80B5SjTqcApFRFeT4/s1600/P1290956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxhoh4QgMiUXhsVz3zHoj_G93_CFB4I__YS6qlvopz6ZNvimsBodOj7hdq31lFLBRT36mANezgfykKZM3OS44-tM6Emzp4peTUY0KuSrgvg5TIojugAtaMnTowmF80B5SjTqcApFRFeT4/s200/P1290956.JPG" width="150" /></a></span></div>
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Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-40124541208625543682012-08-15T09:07:00.000+01:002012-08-15T17:23:58.581+01:00A Short Cycle through the Nepal Terai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nepal
Experience</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Our
first day in Kathmandu involved running to the Indian Embassy to apply for a
visa, as this was going to take 5 days. Already here Sertx managed to make
friends with the security guard who helped us jump the 2 hour queue; we
therefore wasted little time and went straight into touring the city centre. We
visited Durbar Square in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630478909484/">Kathmandu</a>,
Durbar Square in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630581804326/">Patan
</a>and Durbar Square in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630582388272/">Bhaktapur</a>,
where we saw countless statues of gods, goddesses, deities and Buddhas, carved
out of wood, metal and brick into the many different kinds of houses &
temples which make up the squares. We saw the palace where the virgin goddess,
Kumari Devi, lives – this tradition of worshiping young pre-pubescent girls as
a manifestation of the divine female energy, has been practiced by Hindus since
the 17th century. We also visited the small temples Changu Narayan & <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630676994320/">Gokarna
Mahadev</a> known for their numerous Hindu goddess statues, and spent many
evenings walking around the world’s largest stupa at Bodhnath, alongside the
locals who carry their rosaries, whispering their prayers.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8srQkFVh0PzUmjs7I-pH-sGa3bMFtST60t6PAudSLS98a2brwP2VRdHZQosG7tN4hykEgrblsTABDAGKWgKA3bdflMSHQFZwZznPX8A5yu4RVGSHaHhkBsso8snippL9hR-JIYk081eJ/s1600/P1270709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq8srQkFVh0PzUmjs7I-pH-sGa3bMFtST60t6PAudSLS98a2brwP2VRdHZQosG7tN4hykEgrblsTABDAGKWgKA3bdflMSHQFZwZznPX8A5yu4RVGSHaHhkBsso8snippL9hR-JIYk081eJ/s320/P1270709.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Nepalese women are Chinese-looking, dressed in brightly coloured Indian-like
saris and the Tibetan woman wear multi-coloured striped silk aprons over their
plain dresses. As well as buying Tibetan flags to dress our bicycles, we also
bought some Tibetan herbal medicine – which resembles goat droppings, tastes
fowl yet apparently works wonders for one’s health. We drank many milky masala
chai’s and ate the spiciest & most delicious foods. In Nepal they use
cardamom, cumin, turmeric and chilli together with potato, pumpkin, squash,
green leaves, lentils and meats. The food is so tasty and we can’t get enough
of it.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpzKHb1CqO44wfr0uYoDvjmdcuC_BLmzqSpy5GjaZhpvKCki33WRQahKBx_RaUyhmW1w5gZR0mJ0o5gMIOFCi-pr65svLiV6EGk5GwvpLEIkns6BeTO-7VS-bxSdYzSvss9d99TUGgx4J/s1600/P1270873.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpzKHb1CqO44wfr0uYoDvjmdcuC_BLmzqSpy5GjaZhpvKCki33WRQahKBx_RaUyhmW1w5gZR0mJ0o5gMIOFCi-pr65svLiV6EGk5GwvpLEIkns6BeTO-7VS-bxSdYzSvss9d99TUGgx4J/s320/P1270873.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Phenomenal Himalaya Mountain Views</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">On
cycling out of Kathmandu we were continuously surrounded by heavy honking
traffic, and at the end of the day, covered in a layer of brown dust from head
to toe. Thankfully the truck drivers in the mountains had softer sounding horns
and also beeped much less, sometimes just flashing their lights at us to
indicate a friendly hello. Yet the drivers still drive like crazy & we
already saw an accident where a tourist bus had flown off a cliff edge some 30
metres down into a river. The following day we read ‘17 killed and 26 injured’
in the local paper. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOTe-BB6GsxwaNaLsM2cNUUdcjsAE9sxfVbEQnU_WoKi6e5LqTF_OtZhd7Zr6wxl6ZxZlM6OV_eeo5Mraui3dV6Gq0Y2pO5_S4vbWipjx19sADu4my03xf47g-Has3O29uhKt6oQ8nIFE/s1600/P1290239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOTe-BB6GsxwaNaLsM2cNUUdcjsAE9sxfVbEQnU_WoKi6e5LqTF_OtZhd7Zr6wxl6ZxZlM6OV_eeo5Mraui3dV6Gq0Y2pO5_S4vbWipjx19sADu4my03xf47g-Has3O29uhKt6oQ8nIFE/s320/P1290239.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Not a comforting thought, however, we were cycling in a
beautiful subtropical country again, passing lush green land, rice fields, tiny
thatched-house villages & friendly water buffalos, so our minds were
distracted from the danger for most of our ride through the country. We spent 6
days cycling through the Terai, the flat plain land, which makes up 17% of
Nepal, with 50% of its population & 70% of its agriculture. This land rises
from 90m in the south to 8850m at Mount Everest in the north.</span> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYKB6FfU5b40IEFg9Sly9_wa5PHt4VkrWWKXUd5pfwzE2FcOVsU1GF02yYWemnQMXsToRPgBPU6QKxhexE2-LTwoQGVZ8p6iQw3oLxbAxALZ8tIWaXcceKzccQRbHIkRfghNzuHSnEWkT/s1600/P1270626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYKB6FfU5b40IEFg9Sly9_wa5PHt4VkrWWKXUd5pfwzE2FcOVsU1GF02yYWemnQMXsToRPgBPU6QKxhexE2-LTwoQGVZ8p6iQw3oLxbAxALZ8tIWaXcceKzccQRbHIkRfghNzuHSnEWkT/s400/P1270626.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We
already spotted Mount Everest from the plane – its pyramidal summit, peeking
its way through two cloud layers. We stopped in a couple of towns to see the
best views of the mountain ranges; <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630679572894/">Bandipur</a>,
a pretty little town on top of a mountain, to which we hitched a ride with the
presidential armed forces, (due to the last 5km being extremely steep) is a
great place to spot the Mahabharat mountain range from. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingarchitects/sets/72157630694199728/">Pokhara
</a>was another town from which to see the Annapurna range. We spent a few days
in both towns waiting for the thick fog & rain to clear, before we could
see the amazing mountain peaks. It is said that the design of the local Newari
pagoda temples were inspired by the triangular-like mountain peaks. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2cldzBhcE0XirqAi0ObndeYBm0EKqxTYaYeXkINeUwW2ZQHCGm0FyBohGbs66MggEJffspXR1isquDfgZ9gTrEqGu2E1979jkHROjTJYhh2f5mb1_Lv1z4vsqlv12KHgyHiXrLyQh4PmS/s1600/P1280277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2cldzBhcE0XirqAi0ObndeYBm0EKqxTYaYeXkINeUwW2ZQHCGm0FyBohGbs66MggEJffspXR1isquDfgZ9gTrEqGu2E1979jkHROjTJYhh2f5mb1_Lv1z4vsqlv12KHgyHiXrLyQh4PmS/s320/P1280277.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nepal
is stunning, and neither the constant power cuts nor the cockroaches who
visited us in every hotel we stayed in stopped us from adoring the country. One
massive cockroach even crawled through my hair and halfway across my face in
the middle of one night; but thankfully they don’t sting or do anything disgusting
& it only took 1 hour for Sertx to get rid of the rest of them hiding
behind the bed.</span></span></div>
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Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-40828070421487093592012-08-13T19:34:00.001+01:002012-08-15T08:05:59.572+01:00434km Cycling Up & Down Sichuan Mountains<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">On leaving Shangri-La mid-June we spent 10 days touring the mountainous region of Sichuan, in West China. We had initially planned & paid for a cycling trip from Lhasa to Kathmandu, yet only one month before our flight to Tibet we discovered that the Chinese created a new rule - stating that all foreign visitors to TAR have to be in groups of 5 or more & all must be from the same nation. This destroyed our plans making us deeply upset, so we therefore decided to spend the next month cycling around the Sichuan province in China; planning to visit the North & South Tibetan Highways, which we were hoping would give us some insight to what Tibet is like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Majestic
Mountains</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We spent the last couple of weeks in June cycling
up & down the foothills of the Himalaya mountains in the Sichuan province in
China, along the border of Tibet. Our highest mountain pass was at 4652m. Some
of these rides through the bare mountains at 4000m+ altitude have been our best
rides yet, although none of them were easy. Breathing became trickier as the
air got thinner (I troubled Sertx by taking breaks every couple of kilometres
just to have a semi-asthma attack and get enough air into my lungs,) and the
days became shorter as it started to rain every afternoon, with dense fog
covering our views. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgA8kRK2JPUSDo-XdYOQQTZo8PAS2t1pAmKTjhfGaVKmB_GAaIA_TDBK9mlv_jb-kpJocc3ALI31RsGnPSByVZZ_yTkMXf2JUaTANiLo-dlKSftvzRBW6rQfiTptcl0UEIFw1ErAW4pTpT/s1600/100_0752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgA8kRK2JPUSDo-XdYOQQTZo8PAS2t1pAmKTjhfGaVKmB_GAaIA_TDBK9mlv_jb-kpJocc3ALI31RsGnPSByVZZ_yTkMXf2JUaTANiLo-dlKSftvzRBW6rQfiTptcl0UEIFw1ErAW4pTpT/s200/100_0752.JPG" width="200" /></a>The temperature also decreased dramatically; I was pulling
my windproof jacket, arm-warmers, gloves and ear-covers on & off about 5
times per hour whilst cycling (annoying Sertx who would just deal with sweating
profoundly in his jacket); riding uphill became uncomfortable. Luckily the Chinese
make good fakes; I bought a North Face winter jacket in Shangri-La, which works
better than my non-waterproof Gore-Tex jacket. Some days we cycled just 20 or
30km up a mountain to get over another mountain pass at over 4000m altitude,
then descend 20km and 1000m into a warmer valley, where we would rest the night
before starting another 1000m mountain climb the following day. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVwBw-PhIGLIKiXNzA6Pz833VWSrIBJjhDgBRs1Z54fiuDlbeoiYypmcuRdd6LKhfsaZT9H1WJaLePVZdjX4BjgnaRNwFn7KZnfGXRcRAkodDRRGLWVBXT-2V-e24PU35AO9NfGODi37x/s1600/P1250795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVwBw-PhIGLIKiXNzA6Pz833VWSrIBJjhDgBRs1Z54fiuDlbeoiYypmcuRdd6LKhfsaZT9H1WJaLePVZdjX4BjgnaRNwFn7KZnfGXRcRAkodDRRGLWVBXT-2V-e24PU35AO9NfGODi37x/s200/P1250795.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">The landscape was stunning. There were whitewashed
stupas dotted everywhere and the locals had hung strings of colourful Tibetan
flags between shallow mountain peaks in villages and also across rivers. Every beautiful
Tibetan-style house we saw also had a big red Chinese flag on display, which
made us question whether these were really Tibetan or just recently built for
Chinese tourists. We finally used our tent and camped a couple of times, taking
care to wait until it was dark so no one could see us; although we were always
found in the morning by the farmers who walked their cattle across the fields. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVUD4BWisNCShB3UWYuLmHpIHYfJ6IiyVy-HhACIPZhhJqKvOzIJ2AzynebOOz-vFjtuunrgdZ5pgMY9QxKFB6w-6sFU7Bsom77Ycsw56rneHkeRwkz9iS6lSQyQHYHzUEstvDjqiRFpR/s1600/P1260579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVUD4BWisNCShB3UWYuLmHpIHYfJ6IiyVy-HhACIPZhhJqKvOzIJ2AzynebOOz-vFjtuunrgdZ5pgMY9QxKFB6w-6sFU7Bsom77Ycsw56rneHkeRwkz9iS6lSQyQHYHzUEstvDjqiRFpR/s200/P1260579.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">We
also spent nights in rooms with no running water; no sink, no toilet, no
shower; having to use the ‘street-tap’ and wash in front of the whole village,
often in the rainy weather. There was one occasion when Sertx asked where the
toilet was, and the man of the place we were staying in replied ‘go off the
balcony’. We saw many pigs, dogs, goats and yaks in the mountains; and we
awkwardly also met the dogs & pigs in the village toilets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We tried ‘butter
tea’ which tasted like oily tea straight from a yak’s udder, and we ate momos,
small Tibetan semi-fried dumplings filled with either vegetable or buffalo meat.
We did not try some of the stranger foods on display, such as pig snout or ears,
chicken crests or feet or duck tongue. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMW3m0mLwDpb9VsEVG5tgvdL3NXIPT65PO37d-o2iwEa5xnqTJRpN2Iq2ZiNetgx0MmCjL1DTVioMoqw60HILht_o5hTWYpawqnNqLoWGBbveKwW-LdIXpDA6xp-baijNs_mDj7iUApC1/s1600/P1260459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> We also saw the locals selling golden
root-worms for 10 dollars a worm, which are apparently good for you, after
you’ve scrapped all the earth off them with a steel brush.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Tibetan Monasteries</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We visited a couple of monasteries, one in
Xiangcheng & another in Litang, and the monks have been the nicest people
we’ve met in China so far! In Xiangcheng we watched 4 monks creating a Mandela
– using special hand-crafted metal tools which they would bang with the end of
a knife to let out a certain amount of different coloured salt. On entering the
monastery in Litang we had a group of young monks cycle away with our bikes for
30 minutes. They were so excited until one of them got their red dress caught
in the chain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Both monasteries were spectacular, with large detailed, colourful
paintings of Buddhas & demons covering all walls inside & out. The
monks even congratulated Sertx on his big beard and several of them asked to be
photographed together with him, little did they know it was his birthday, so he
was happy to get the compliments. In Litang we were also invited to watch the
monks pray, with their big yellow Mohican-like hats on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_LFjdeq5nOLwKj8pWYqqpJ-deeNhEjeD5qguSElhJlOSZ4qLjj20Z4M3t0dWL4qVoSJX011EDPPGxbDQZShe4TfCj4zk9qtWjJnHZTUFLwYnXQRXvCynLiGcf70jACdoA2RbqI5cl7lX/s1600/P1270426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_LFjdeq5nOLwKj8pWYqqpJ-deeNhEjeD5qguSElhJlOSZ4qLjj20Z4M3t0dWL4qVoSJX011EDPPGxbDQZShe4TfCj4zk9qtWjJnHZTUFLwYnXQRXvCynLiGcf70jACdoA2RbqI5cl7lX/s200/P1270426.JPG" width="200" /></a>Otherwise, the local men continue to play
board games at their local restaurants, whilst the women continue to work in
markets or restaurants or even on construction sites. At least they have a
daily exercise get-together after a day’s work, in the main square or park,
where you can see groups of 30 or more woman dancing in sync together to music
blaring from a stereo speaker. The locals also spend lots of time turning
prayer wheels at their town stupa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Under
Construction</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">There is construction going on in every city
and town we’ve gone through & stayed in. A new highway is also being built
right across the province – which results in many heavyweight trucks passing by
us on the roads. These trucks, and also motor bikers, would beep their horns so
loud it felt as though our ear drums had burst. They weren’t honking at us –
they were just doing what felt absolutely normal to them- honking for about 1
minute before & continuing after turning a bend in the mountain. We cycled
by several earth & rocky landslides, thinking ourselves lucky not to have
experienced one, yet we’re both hard-headed Cancerians so it would have been
fine anyhow!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We didn’t expect Litang to be a town under
construction, yet on arriving the town was loud, dusty and all the roads were
being rebuilt. It wasn’t exactly the Tibetan experience we were hoping for. There
was also no bank for foreign credit cards in Litang so we had to head to a
city, rather than continue our planned route to Garze on the North Tibetan
Highway. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NdaxEJBWTuq6HdKSSfwO16atjC4UTmrY-7sPoSdYVdr8Tc27kXHSt90oa78s8uwVAGBHQGyp024ZWJCbnMTWH237I41vktjFBVlj4FWLkIF2iMQ7Mdgi8RX1OVmgPefWSP4jQ16Jp_kN/s1600/P1270190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NdaxEJBWTuq6HdKSSfwO16atjC4UTmrY-7sPoSdYVdr8Tc27kXHSt90oa78s8uwVAGBHQGyp024ZWJCbnMTWH237I41vktjFBVlj4FWLkIF2iMQ7Mdgi8RX1OVmgPefWSP4jQ16Jp_kN/s320/P1270190.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The South Tibetan Highway was not all we assumed it would be. We were
fortunate that we decided to take a 15 hour minivan ride to the next city
instead of cycle the whole way; which involved another three 3000m+ mountain
passes. It had rained the last week and as the road was under construction it
became a massive thick mud-bath that even the buses & 4WD’s had trouble
crossing. This was the bumpiest and slipperiest ride we’ve ever had, let alone
being the longest in a minivan. The ride also destroyed the soft parts of our
bicycles, which were strapped upside-down on the roof for the journey. The day
after this we chose to endure another 8 hour bus ride into Chengdu, from where
we would take a plane out of China.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Chengdu chaos</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Strangely, we found the city cleaner and
quieter than the towns in the mountains, yet the mosquitos were back &
biting again. The mountains were disappointingly littered with green, glass
beer bottles and red ‘Panda’ cigarette packets in every corner, yet we found the people there more welcoming to tourists than in the busy city. We also got a
bit tired of hearing the locals’ constant throat-clearing-spitting and seeing
them with their fingers all the way up their nostrils before inviting us to
their restaurants, so we felt it was our time to leave. On our last day we decided to take a cab to visit the Panda Breeding Centre, yet the driver drove us in the
opposite direction; after we complained because
we knew what he was up to, he only said sorry before speedily driving - like in a computer game - through traffic making us sick as parrots and wanting to get out so he got his money & we didn’t get to where we want to go. However, we got to see the famous
pandas in the end, by taking a minivan tour and otherwise we quite enjoyed
cycling through Sichuan!</span></div>
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Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-12566689637732924352012-07-15T17:35:00.001+01:002012-07-15T17:42:16.450+01:00Cycling through Yunnan<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSFCxkPZWRUWXYSlOXpsr2-I6BqVulU4a4HOD3ENR6KmriU7qUUPGWgFNYik_aWINS3ycnf7Y7eUDGzoJWftmZb3uTWa-25fkUEpvsdNr9UyIYyLAvdtbTHr19hZx8fcNZe-r1-yXqjOA/s1600/P1240705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSFCxkPZWRUWXYSlOXpsr2-I6BqVulU4a4HOD3ENR6KmriU7qUUPGWgFNYik_aWINS3ycnf7Y7eUDGzoJWftmZb3uTWa-25fkUEpvsdNr9UyIYyLAvdtbTHr19hZx8fcNZe-r1-yXqjOA/s200/P1240705.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yunnan,
known for its tea and rice-terrace fields; banana & teak tree plantations;
wild edible mushrooms; spicy food, spitting locals & stinky toilets;
colourful traditional clothing; beautiful Dai, Bai & Naxi villages, & totally enjoyable, gradually
inclined mountain roads with magnificent valley views. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95aH-qKuQf8u2PCYxwvrvYP8EcQwaAYWiVNVDFXTa8bCzn7TOqO9mbUCnpjaPLzF9RoExrRidLrrUCd9tETzvQxE1nEqgOXGP6AKyRthbmCTq_KJxd5lBJ1feFEHhrJzzDvHl_nRSL1tQ/s1600/P1230030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95aH-qKuQf8u2PCYxwvrvYP8EcQwaAYWiVNVDFXTa8bCzn7TOqO9mbUCnpjaPLzF9RoExrRidLrrUCd9tETzvQxE1nEqgOXGP6AKyRthbmCTq_KJxd5lBJ1feFEHhrJzzDvHl_nRSL1tQ/s320/P1230030.JPG" width="320" /></a><b>Landscape </b><br />
The entire Yunnan province is stunningly beautiful to cycle through. We’ve been
through national parks, botanical gardens, up quiet mountain paths &
through some ancient villages too. The mountain roads are incredibly gradual in
inclination, making the uphill cycling last a lot longer yet feel completely
painless as we zigzag our way up, only to descend the other side again, in
front of yet another climb. The mountain views are breath-taking, their peaks
are covered in snow and their slopes packed with lush green vegetation so delicately
prepared and cared for.</span></div>
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We have seen neatly organised terraced rice fields & carefully cut tea tree
plantations, and we’ve watched how the locals grow, clean and collect their
crop from their vast land. The women tend to work in the fields more than the
men; we've spotted the men in the local restaurants & bars playing games
all day long whilst drinking bottled beer. Women even get to work on
construction sites, shovelling sand, stone and throwing bricks up to others to
build walls.</span></div>
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We have also cycled alongside the deathly cliff edges of the Tiger Leaping
Gorge, where only a thin white painted line separated us from the huge drop. We
have visited the White Water Terraces, formed over thousands of years from the
deposits of calcium bicarbonate dissolved in spring water. We also spent a
night in Shigu, a town by the first 180-degree bend of the 6418km long Yangtze
River. The following day we experienced an optical illusion after crossing the
river by boat - thinking we were on one side of the mountain which defines the
river bend, yet we had somehow already cycled round to the other side; we would
be totally lost without our GPS!</span></div>
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We also cycled over a 2950m mountain to an ancient village, Shaxi, known for
being on the Ancient Tea Route leading from Yunnan to Tibet. More recently we
cycled up to 3722m before a long chilly decent through a green valley with
free-roaming yak, goats, horses, ponies and pigs, before reaching the city
Shangri-La.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Food </b><br />
All restaurants here have small stools and short-legged tables, making us need
to crouch in a typical bicycle-position, over our bowls to eat. Our knees go
through torture sitting on these short stools, often being banged into the
table edges, yet the variety of food on offer allows us to forget these little
burdens. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmC4qFOgQ0vIWRcsehyphenhyphenamTsbCdWDcCDhCDsRVQVT9QE2fdQLF3uOFbuH23JyZZ2rRzfl8fmlcVBF51QnJ3a44YsUaM5In-ju7Q9VCtD9uRKXftWxSHKw6V4DJrmUF9ettyuLB4TGifDQw/s1600/P1230665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmC4qFOgQ0vIWRcsehyphenhyphenamTsbCdWDcCDhCDsRVQVT9QE2fdQLF3uOFbuH23JyZZ2rRzfl8fmlcVBF51QnJ3a44YsUaM5In-ju7Q9VCtD9uRKXftWxSHKw6V4DJrmUF9ettyuLB4TGifDQw/s200/P1230665.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The food ranges from dumplings small & large to different meats cooked in
garlic or chili together with an assortment of green leaves; we have also
tried yummy dairy products from goats and yak. There are also sadly a lot of
flies in this part of the world and we spend much time flapping them away from
our bowls of rice or noodle soup in order to enjoy the food fully.</span></div>
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In one of the last mountain villages we visited, before arriving in Shangri-La, we ate in someone’s house
together with many men who slowly wandered in, expecting to be served their
noodle soup, as usual. After attempting to make conversation with one of the
locals we were asked to follow him through the village. We walked through the
dark and were stunned to suddenly come upon 100 men in black & red costume,
dancing to their local anthem in a basketball court. We sat and watched them
all dance in rhythm at the same time, yet during their breaks it seemed like we
stole the attention, being the only white people there. </span></div>
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<b>Noise </b><br />
The Chinese are not short of being the noisiest people on the planet. They
speak loudly to their companions only centimetres in front of them; they talk
loudly on the phone; they beep their loud car, motorbike & truck horns - so
loud we needed to cycle with rubber earplugs for a week; (we feel we might
become deaf before we return home.) They are loud in hotel corridors, slamming
doors or laughing in conversation with their companions, not seeming to realise
they are in a hotel where others might be resting.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_ydE580yr0MDCbrEXgKQGjegZgd5OxkCpWCR1sUn_HA9QHVJCCzB3KrB0s74apQ-hZyfdNyOFOyeQpIv_QRsnYgUhJL6ZRMNBXuTsFbjGgmDGP6J8L1tDzsIga9E99ESSyYDka20Lg3s/s1600/P1220385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_ydE580yr0MDCbrEXgKQGjegZgd5OxkCpWCR1sUn_HA9QHVJCCzB3KrB0s74apQ-hZyfdNyOFOyeQpIv_QRsnYgUhJL6ZRMNBXuTsFbjGgmDGP6J8L1tDzsIga9E99ESSyYDka20Lg3s/s320/P1220385.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not only do the drivers honk loudly, they also drive like suicide drivers; on
leaving the city Lijiang we saw several accidents as drivers continuously
attempted to overtake without looking – even just before corners, or even
moving out to find themselves right in front of a car driving in the opposite
direction. They never look out or back when turning into a main road & just
don’t pay enough attention to others on the road! The only thing that keeps
them quiet is smoking massive bongs, which the men here do most of the time!</span></div>
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<b>Architecture </b><br />
The most spectacular part of the Chinese Yunnan buildings is their decorative
tiled roofs. We have seen styles from the ethnic minorities; Dai, Bai, Naxi and
also Tibetan. The traditional Yunnan house always opens to a courtyard space,
around which the living rooms are organised. The toilets are often nowhere to
be seen.. so if you’re ever looking for one in this part of the world, try
listening out for the snorting of a pig, as the toilets are always right beside
the pig huts!</span></div>
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We’ve cycled by some picturesque Bai houses in the Dali region, all made from
brick and wood, with white-painted walls and hand-painted scenes in blue,
depicting dancing people, local nature, birds & animals. We have also seen
Naxi handmade wood houses in the mountains. Now closer to Tibet we see more
clay-brick & mud-made houses, with exterior walls which slant inwards like
those of a pyramid. Even the windows of these houses have a slanting frame
imitating the walls. We have also seen many colourful temples, old & new,
with fabulous layers of roofs painted in reds, greens & blues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We have met a few Chinese cyclists on the way; all heading to Tibet of course
and making us terribly envious as a result. We cycled a couple of days with
some single cyclists we met; our Greek friend Petros, a French girl called
Agnes and an Irish lad, Robert, whom you can easily spot in our photos!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9DhkulNAz4qmeQaV9JVp8uSJr-pchAV_uCzZGjO-k8xPgEUBpADxbUVpTlLBlj2RqQQEYtBCZ6tDXbNn0GJ9hllTfQYYOOS5LU5w1glL56wXPntLUapDvqfYAWEVPwuNtqvAMSM4F76m/s1600/P1220258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9DhkulNAz4qmeQaV9JVp8uSJr-pchAV_uCzZGjO-k8xPgEUBpADxbUVpTlLBlj2RqQQEYtBCZ6tDXbNn0GJ9hllTfQYYOOS5LU5w1glL56wXPntLUapDvqfYAWEVPwuNtqvAMSM4F76m/s320/P1220258.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Cycling through Yunnan is so relaxing when passing by the mountains or along
rivers. We only wish we could inspire you to come and do the same. </span></div>
Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-66608417045608276882012-07-13T19:53:00.000+01:002012-07-14T21:01:46.218+01:00Cycling through Central Laos & Northern Thailand<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumF5w8yuYW0tTFZz-ZTce8A4a5fZR4zaSoo4g9ZUoC7qaw5tv8i4lNLygOmF9HffhfgmJazFSH0rDxLzZ7bpXCJs6cIHt3OCc16F09_hW-Z3zSZRYl31c7tReuN4lOQFagl8-QK4R7hsy/s1600/P1190407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumF5w8yuYW0tTFZz-ZTce8A4a5fZR4zaSoo4g9ZUoC7qaw5tv8i4lNLygOmF9HffhfgmJazFSH0rDxLzZ7bpXCJs6cIHt3OCc16F09_hW-Z3zSZRYl31c7tReuN4lOQFagl8-QK4R7hsy/s200/P1190407.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">We spent a week cycling around central Laos visiting some famous caves, including the 7km long Konglor cave, which you should definitely go see if you ever visit Laos! Our way of getting there was by cycling & pushing our bikes up & down some very narrow and steep muddy trails and streams, whilst passing the occasional remote village, rice fields & grazing water buffalos. As Sertx was cycling down one of the paths, a young girl pulled out her machete just to show him that she was not scared of the bearded man (the villages were that remote!) </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_yMCWVZvMbcPmORyectfaZ7GLySFc_LJvvTLQ26fpaBDkHUC_1jKz6P0WPMELM6B_3NCbvajB8B4gTGSp9hUiEEhnAOz_jfQG7SnJO8z2JCrvcWCssYFG16iDK-inwVUGENVRDWhLAoo/s1600/P1190494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_yMCWVZvMbcPmORyectfaZ7GLySFc_LJvvTLQ26fpaBDkHUC_1jKz6P0WPMELM6B_3NCbvajB8B4gTGSp9hUiEEhnAOz_jfQG7SnJO8z2JCrvcWCssYFG16iDK-inwVUGENVRDWhLAoo/s200/P1190494.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Once we arrived at the cave we needed to spend another 2 hours convincing the boat drivers to take our bikes on their small, narrow boats for less than the usual bike price, which always seems to be as much as a ‘person’ ticket. We guess they weren’t happy with the outcome, as Sertx’s bike was dropped & sunk into river! The boat ride lasted an hour, which included having to get out and walk in complete darkness across shallower sandy parts a couple of times. Only the boatmen had powerful enough head torches to light-up the vast cathedral-like cavern. This cave was really an unforgettable experience and unfortunately the only place we could not take any photos as it was pitch black inside. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcXvp86HFlDBzQO3uyqFLGh1KgiZQMcrEw-bpG9YjrT2aEWGA1Nd_1iQYyn-SbWAxM86T7vdDfk2OobVy9qQ9TZL68U-ORNJ631_D6iy3ibS0sp5aqk7rJlMFXKLuqU6PXxM0oHSHkZJh/s1600/P1190607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcXvp86HFlDBzQO3uyqFLGh1KgiZQMcrEw-bpG9YjrT2aEWGA1Nd_1iQYyn-SbWAxM86T7vdDfk2OobVy9qQ9TZL68U-ORNJ631_D6iy3ibS0sp5aqk7rJlMFXKLuqU6PXxM0oHSHkZJh/s200/P1190607.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our Greek friend Petros caught up with us for a day here after cycling through the country on muddy off-road tracks, on which he continued after leaving us, only meeting us again in Laos. We stuck to the asphalt road, cycling passed tobacco-leaf fields in valleys, and up some very steep mountains only to descend their other side steeply, all on our way to the capital Vientiane, from where we crossed over the Mekong into Thailand. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whilst crossing the ‘Friendship’ Bridge </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">I somehow, inadvertently managed to get my front tyre stuck in a train track, thereby flying off and over my bicycle for the first time.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEoTZ_4UWqoVAmxUoOVKLe9mmZterBU4OBiG3DsJxsD3MP91WmHnXHY3E_08LyUVpctema6jOz7kaKrmiGkKkwmuYnJ3xLN76Pm72eI8Xsq0cwlr_5DnnmNnV2vxF1-vKfqN_yM6HUmPp/s1600/P1190598+tob.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEoTZ_4UWqoVAmxUoOVKLe9mmZterBU4OBiG3DsJxsD3MP91WmHnXHY3E_08LyUVpctema6jOz7kaKrmiGkKkwmuYnJ3xLN76Pm72eI8Xsq0cwlr_5DnnmNnV2vxF1-vKfqN_yM6HUmPp/s400/P1190598+tob.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>The beautiful tobacco fields of Konglor<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp6QB4qaHVfSN3ym68RJ2v1Dyzrt60jB5rLheAt4wdkggKb4lIAXMDgqGSY-kcPpzsUOwRNjGValaC3SFWLk9cztQtT2MazVv2v5F2E8fBzMPfxRXi_rEZ1CPXdDLQPh50Qzi9SorVIuP/s1600/P1190660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp6QB4qaHVfSN3ym68RJ2v1Dyzrt60jB5rLheAt4wdkggKb4lIAXMDgqGSY-kcPpzsUOwRNjGValaC3SFWLk9cztQtT2MazVv2v5F2E8fBzMPfxRXi_rEZ1CPXdDLQPh50Qzi9SorVIuP/s200/P1190660.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We spent the first 2 weeks of May cycling through Northern Thailand; One week on undulating roads following the Mekong westwards towards Uttaradit & the second week resting in Chiang Mai then cycling over a few mountains back into Laos again. We thoroughly enjoyed riding these peaceful roads until our third 100km-day where we met some seriously, illegally steep mountain roads that we were forced to get off the bikes & push them up the more than 12% inclined slopes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz5Zb9keu2c7Rle9gO5t_a4sO-FzEHA9xW8dVYYEQA9UqvxHnA_32nAGE52LVUWBfG7qu8ktlgv7U2AWpezOz9GE5e5_zRD29hhN0pDbu3uAf5SgRGDpjbOvG1zutay_gIhzTnPCCglvt/s1600/P1200213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz5Zb9keu2c7Rle9gO5t_a4sO-FzEHA9xW8dVYYEQA9UqvxHnA_32nAGE52LVUWBfG7qu8ktlgv7U2AWpezOz9GE5e5_zRD29hhN0pDbu3uAf5SgRGDpjbOvG1zutay_gIhzTnPCCglvt/s200/P1200213.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We were gratefully rewarded with stunning valley views for every mountain we climbed, however, some massive, biting horseflies managed to catch up with us on our last slope of the day, resulting in us rapidly hopping back on our bikes & spinning our pedals as fast as we could, whilst they flew into our eyes & ears & even tried to nest in Sertx’s beard. Sertx looked like a human windmill trying to fight the horseflies away. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Although most days on the bike were spent cycling under the intense heat of the sun, we also experienced cycling through several thunderous rain showers, where we needed to dodge leaping frogs & scuttling crabs on the roads! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6GKmumhDpqXRy0xuuJJJPPj0ysVSj9vWkTu21CkFr33ZDJUbpKz_dyvrSJuxw2AGV3zsbti-wFqUMSgv9nwbJG_FiWRgGmn2zTQsnEL2rYAmtd9-KQJ5YzxQHVopR41a_mXxkW4pqqWu/s1600/P1200495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw6GKmumhDpqXRy0xuuJJJPPj0ysVSj9vWkTu21CkFr33ZDJUbpKz_dyvrSJuxw2AGV3zsbti-wFqUMSgv9nwbJG_FiWRgGmn2zTQsnEL2rYAmtd9-KQJ5YzxQHVopR41a_mXxkW4pqqWu/s200/P1200495.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">We accepted an offer for a lift from a friendly Japanese-Thai local, who drove us over many mountains, and across a few towns in order so that we could catch an afternoon train to Chiang Mai – so that we could spend more time exploring the north before our 15-day visa expired. Even though we rushed it was only after arriving at the station that we discovered that large luggage was only allowed on the 5am morning train; the following morning we also discovered that the 5am train is always 3 hours delayed. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxSBT8GlJ4UtU7KBnTsvDTOZ5OR4unm2E8WtgkvtU4ymDVlAsgUabg-xolJutNWy5tSKnkEh59UF2nRdyHYxivi9yiZaGg-3UmbGASxEs9szGv-Qg5kThZVfyZvVNVLTPt3FCchvP6fVE/s1600/100_0208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxSBT8GlJ4UtU7KBnTsvDTOZ5OR4unm2E8WtgkvtU4ymDVlAsgUabg-xolJutNWy5tSKnkEh59UF2nRdyHYxivi9yiZaGg-3UmbGASxEs9szGv-Qg5kThZVfyZvVNVLTPt3FCchvP6fVE/s200/100_0208.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">Once in Chiang Mai we picked up our front panniers & rack pack bag, which were filled with our winter clothes & camping kit for the months ahead. Sertx now carries 28kg on top of his 14kg bicycle & I carry 10kg less than him. So since then I’ve been racing up the mountains in front of Sertx for once, who is only slightly suffering from carrying the heavier load. Riding our bicycles now feels as though we are steering a caravan! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XlhTUEBPKZY5qTCB-EAxcjqRHLb40RSejOzfodiwnIeEoB-y-xPaQ0_Xx-ZWvroa3s6oRgenXj8nu-3Avj_NqVsOb-MBqZzppRti_ISw6FILcFLHd7GLMOXTIYJz51toLmsrcCWD739D/s1600/P1210053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XlhTUEBPKZY5qTCB-EAxcjqRHLb40RSejOzfodiwnIeEoB-y-xPaQ0_Xx-ZWvroa3s6oRgenXj8nu-3Avj_NqVsOb-MBqZzppRti_ISw6FILcFLHd7GLMOXTIYJz51toLmsrcCWD739D/s200/P1210053.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">After crossing the Mekong again, we spent 3 days cycling through 40 degrees C. temperatures over the steep mountains in Laos to our final stop in Luang Namtha. From here we spent a day renting a motorbike to explore a town just 58km away, yet only made it 50km to see a waterfall, before a thunderstorm caught up with us. On this occasion we forget to pack our raingear, and ended up soaked to the bone & shivering on the windy & winding motorbike ride back into town.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Laos is breathtakingly beautiful throughout the country, and would make a fantastic trip if only you have the perpetual patience to wait until the locals understand anything you ask for, even when you ask for it in their own language! As for Thailand; that is a country we would happily cycle through any day again!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8yJ-EdbGZpsc0mxnPKMU5IdaYPh23gY21ZRhXX3vK8YtQe8d0XwhmskqWqtEwk31QH5vi8RBSRxg9xyNpfCjvOWgTjxKhlurtvubc7JS7TBn3Uv_pg39LIXLNoMqQ2xKxI10PxcDBCvQ-/s1600/100_0348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8yJ-EdbGZpsc0mxnPKMU5IdaYPh23gY21ZRhXX3vK8YtQe8d0XwhmskqWqtEwk31QH5vi8RBSRxg9xyNpfCjvOWgTjxKhlurtvubc7JS7TBn3Uv_pg39LIXLNoMqQ2xKxI10PxcDBCvQ-/s320/100_0348.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>I swear I didn't knock that lorry over!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-57530881322259179222012-07-12T19:26:00.000+01:002012-07-14T20:40:21.868+01:00Our Summary of Cycling through SE Asia<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We spent February, March & April cycling 4280km through Southern Thailand, Cambodia & Laos.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZklzNYLdIjRbP-RXu1AD-2xtvUuTkfhsULtFYTV6z2hdoOj6Xz4SJTIS6XUds9UmsR3OIw2PyrxdPlzm3K1RYuuu7jxI6H8CB5SJnLs6rPCsibGQEb96nfSK0WryZ2HKQ8YO2ZgOn7jK_/s1600/touring+cyclists.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZklzNYLdIjRbP-RXu1AD-2xtvUuTkfhsULtFYTV6z2hdoOj6Xz4SJTIS6XUds9UmsR3OIw2PyrxdPlzm3K1RYuuu7jxI6H8CB5SJnLs6rPCsibGQEb96nfSK0WryZ2HKQ8YO2ZgOn7jK_/s200/touring+cyclists.JPG" width="200" /></a>In Thailand we met Dutch, British & French touring cyclist couples almost daily, all heading the opposite direction to us. In Cambodia we met touring cyclists from Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, Korea & China. We hadn’t cycled with anyone until South Laos when 3 cyclists suddenly caught up with us, heading the same direction -two of them sharing a <a href="http://tandemasia.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">bright yellow tandem</a>! So we joined forces & cycled together for a few days then continued to cycle along with our Greek flip-flop friend, <a href="http://cyclinginflipflopland.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Petros</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuytYEnj0zPrLHJIxAX9i1bFRz2c_j_oz29FdRiJOehVxzU-5vp9rxoLNs0juL8vikRrq2XiFDjLF43xxCyV5JAMORU0oiFSIVfofzl-2cx931CvM9cWoX2C9I-ltk-FbAo57n0oQK0c-/s1600/P1090706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuytYEnj0zPrLHJIxAX9i1bFRz2c_j_oz29FdRiJOehVxzU-5vp9rxoLNs0juL8vikRrq2XiFDjLF43xxCyV5JAMORU0oiFSIVfofzl-2cx931CvM9cWoX2C9I-ltk-FbAo57n0oQK0c-/s200/P1090706.JPG" width="200" /></a>Apart from seeing hundreds of golden Buddhas our trip through Southern Thailand was incredible; we were able to cycle on dirt tracks, (thanks to our GPS) compared to the asphalt roads we needed to stick to in Malaysia. So we have been sliding our wheels through sand, loose rock, dirt & mud, all under a hardcore sunshine and occasionally through a torrential rain shower. We cycled through a trazillion rubber tree plantations, watching the entire process from collecting the latex, to squashing it into flat white sheets, which are then hung over bamboo poles to be dried out in the sun, and then piled onto a lorry and taken to a warehouse, from where they are eventually sent on to China for processing into such uses as bicycle tyres.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bzQD9EuLynQOC9K9e_WFFLcd7YJD-ED4pjsa2iCqhM740C-PSCG1JHCMwiDvvD9_j2_KWL31nJBXx-VDqn3JqgTMK5z0rtwRuwjlDLG46epdFM0VnWwUyw-MapfAgaBpnLBgnlMeIJqr/s1600/P1110896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bzQD9EuLynQOC9K9e_WFFLcd7YJD-ED4pjsa2iCqhM740C-PSCG1JHCMwiDvvD9_j2_KWL31nJBXx-VDqn3JqgTMK5z0rtwRuwjlDLG46epdFM0VnWwUyw-MapfAgaBpnLBgnlMeIJqr/s200/P1110896.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">We also cycled passed salt fields where the workers wear ‘fonejacker’ woolly masks to protect their skin from the sun! We have also observed how durian, coconuts, pineapples, papaya, bananas & mangos are grown, collected & transported & we also visited a famous floating market in Samut Songkhram where such fruit is sold. There we got the chance to see the Thai princess at an old-style theatre-dance performed specially for her. We also took 3 weeks off cycling to explore the beach islands of Koh Lanta, Koh Tao – where I completed my Dive Leader/Manager course (hurray!) & Koh Samet, where we visited a fishery with Sergio’s parents. We tried a few Thai massages, which Sertx ended up hating, & I had a fifty fish nibble away at my feet, which took some time getting used to. We also ate ice-cream with a mountain bike champion in Don Sak who helped fix my bike brakes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAmV9kKXaCHo7praE8Q9FZZFmNrpfmoqR4QwFEoxNazao5GlebH2oaxH39hdFzksKHzj8vXWtwiDnyKVm3pjiOIayC9jDrZb1V_Tfl9RmuG-Bkrba-ljUSsnRq4UFN8gALWo8fxshIKqU/s1600/P1110108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAmV9kKXaCHo7praE8Q9FZZFmNrpfmoqR4QwFEoxNazao5GlebH2oaxH39hdFzksKHzj8vXWtwiDnyKVm3pjiOIayC9jDrZb1V_Tfl9RmuG-Bkrba-ljUSsnRq4UFN8gALWo8fxshIKqU/s200/P1110108.JPG" width="199" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In Thailand we had cats, dogs, chickens, water dragons, snakes & tarantula-like spiders jump in front of our wheels; in Cambodia it was just the crazy drivers who almost ran us over and in Laos we had larger animals such as cows, water buffalo & goats casually walk into the road making all the traffic stop. We have had dogs tiny & large barking and chasing us as well as locals speeding passed us shouting ‘hello’ from their mopeds & staring back at us in amazement, whilst they continue to drive on. Dogs are born on the roadside & so are used to jumping in & out of the way, just as babies are born riding scooters – we’ve seen kids as young as 5 driving by us!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKh0oQMl6230dfVp_aMmZFcQypesWIR4Y7KEnyvE2_mEVyIjKzHGKaSY3rkMA8KNZdmC4lnCz8CaVpkIWK6BaiEomQ18KKsG45cjgUxqWBrF8fuK7xxz9eMon9P0v_sRufC4DdNSuw4ad/s1600/P1140286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKh0oQMl6230dfVp_aMmZFcQypesWIR4Y7KEnyvE2_mEVyIjKzHGKaSY3rkMA8KNZdmC4lnCz8CaVpkIWK6BaiEomQ18KKsG45cjgUxqWBrF8fuK7xxz9eMon9P0v_sRufC4DdNSuw4ad/s200/P1140286.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> We did some of our longest cycle days in Cambodia; our lengthiest being 145km, but we also took 2 weeks off in Siem Reap to see the Angkor Wat temples, visit a crocodile farm, see 3 Child Dream Schools & also get both our bicycles serviced. We got to cycle alongside students cycling to school, as well as forest fires and some maniac Toyota Camry drivers and also heard a few too many children screaming ‘hello’ endlessly. Thankfully there are no dead animals on the road, the reason, which we came to discover, was that they throw almost anything on the barbeque! We watched some incredible sunrises & sunsets over the Mekong River & also went on a boat trip to try and spot an Irrawaddy dolphin. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUEhHHGpcTFiner9q3isfGvMEEQRchYEDILErDOkWhQNdk3f_mGchjEgwsUHcaxP5FgAkeAVDYKxLahJLcccWPr-hUJ8S68IHufxPj-OszxhKCkOLwN0eIbGODTCiqwpZV2yW4XMn7bOt/s1600/P1170598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUEhHHGpcTFiner9q3isfGvMEEQRchYEDILErDOkWhQNdk3f_mGchjEgwsUHcaxP5FgAkeAVDYKxLahJLcccWPr-hUJ8S68IHufxPj-OszxhKCkOLwN0eIbGODTCiqwpZV2yW4XMn7bOt/s200/P1170598.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Laos is breathtakingly beautiful. The roads are better than in Cambodia, & they have road signs & speed limits, unlike in Cambodia. We have seen more concrete houses, rather than just tree leaf huts; more babies wearing clothes rather than walking around naked; women wearing normal clothes, not colourful pyjamas all day long; and less screaming kids - families having 2 kids, not 6. However, here no one speaks a word of English, unlike in Cambodia where the locals understood our sign language. Here in the south, we have cycled through sandy islands along the Mekong, passed coffee bean plantations in the mountains, and swum in some mega big waterfalls.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheC8PKydCZmSbfzqogmn6RehiGAskhUpuKv3xsDfl9KMBlPichwVAPYry9ZQWURWkIhtbZNFAMykCfVy_eqvKqnFNivWZ2jm3Zknt9A7VFFGBZYN5Z9z2IFXPMA40iSvKUnRYV67BhccwH/s1600/P1180554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheC8PKydCZmSbfzqogmn6RehiGAskhUpuKv3xsDfl9KMBlPichwVAPYry9ZQWURWkIhtbZNFAMykCfVy_eqvKqnFNivWZ2jm3Zknt9A7VFFGBZYN5Z9z2IFXPMA40iSvKUnRYV67BhccwH/s200/P1180554.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">We were in Laos for the Asian New Year which coincided with the week-long water festival
- where the locals were drinking too much alcohol & throwing
buckets of water at us cyclists from the side of the road, rather than lying calmly in their hammocks as usual. We also changed
our road tyres to 2-inch-wide off-road ones to cycle 1324m up to the
Bolaven Plateau to visit some beautiful waterfalls. Only days after we were cycling & pushing our bikes through a jungle terrain along the rocky Ho Chi Minh trail which was the
hardest thing we’ve ever done. In this off-beaten track we found an
American tank and saw local villagers exchanging metal war junk for
Vietnamese sweets! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cLMsLSip2VQfmR65BvSlhldwKzj6cNl-4-m8yvcXER8IrV76Jx2AnkjjOEeLuonVlgnJXyOmeIq8GYjjT2RjaLJjww9zFsc_d8ip0QP0NC_rbw5Joiqk9pgj14JP3Dk-rW7mz6_xismk/s1600/P1160591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cLMsLSip2VQfmR65BvSlhldwKzj6cNl-4-m8yvcXER8IrV76Jx2AnkjjOEeLuonVlgnJXyOmeIq8GYjjT2RjaLJjww9zFsc_d8ip0QP0NC_rbw5Joiqk9pgj14JP3Dk-rW7mz6_xismk/s200/P1160591.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">I’ve experienced head pains, tummy pains, muscle pains, knee pains and shoulder aches; yet Sertx only feels bicycle pains, becoming frustrated when another wheel spoke snaps, or the inner tube punctures, or the Rohloff hub leaks black oil everywhere, or the tyre is too wobbly to ride with. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We’ve experienced sleeping in a thin-walled love motel in Thailand, on an ant-infested balcony floor of a monastery in Cambodia, and have also spent a few nights in homestays in Laos, where there is no clean water - having to wash ourselves in a nearby muddy river or from a barrel filled with old water.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA14My6Fp_nkOVeiOsgKKgZHrOejSBukLOS4s8WCRVDPCuqssMZ6zB6YapD812ldKZrfjWM69eYg2R695vh89W12oep6FMEVAOfRleoHkPtr0b-1EaEgNGNAndv-liIsEmIY4bMxefdOnM/s1600/P1040837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA14My6Fp_nkOVeiOsgKKgZHrOejSBukLOS4s8WCRVDPCuqssMZ6zB6YapD812ldKZrfjWM69eYg2R695vh89W12oep6FMEVAOfRleoHkPtr0b-1EaEgNGNAndv-liIsEmIY4bMxefdOnM/s320/P1040837.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>This photo was taken by Petros</i></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our thighs are thinner but our bellies are bigger; I ate lotus fruit in Kratie, whilst Sertx ate a locust in Yan Ta Khao. Every morning the thing we look forward to least is the torture of pulling on our sweaty lycra padded pants, but what we enjoy most is being able to experience time with the funny locals by cycling through their land. Our experience of each country just becomes more
insightful & the routes definitely tougher as we cycle on
northwards.</span></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-84470211422144154042012-07-12T18:09:00.003+01:002012-07-14T21:03:40.621+01:00Supporting Child's Dream to Build a School in Laos<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1PNQLGgpTbxUme7tqPjQonzobjDNI4TH11SRwA3GPyZTkdP3Z6ghtLU55zB9CB0PlJezOWc6qrH3lqmLGmFaSNJWB8AGaF50q2cBe6KUFeMFQXszhBZP9rqi58GXo3Lx59yCuwmiCcTYm/s1600/P1140184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1PNQLGgpTbxUme7tqPjQonzobjDNI4TH11SRwA3GPyZTkdP3Z6ghtLU55zB9CB0PlJezOWc6qrH3lqmLGmFaSNJWB8AGaF50q2cBe6KUFeMFQXszhBZP9rqi58GXo3Lx59yCuwmiCcTYm/s200/P1140184.JPG" width="200" /></a>In March we cycled 140km each day for 3 days to visit 2 schools by Child’s Dream, which were located in the most remote part of northern Cambodia. We cursed our way through sandy paths and off our GPS route through jungle terrain, praying not to be eaten by a tiger in the Kulen Prum wildlife sanctuary we were cycling through. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We saw the current conditions the children are taught in; the village locals have built small huts out of bamboo & dried out palm tree leaves to act as a classroom under which 200 students need to be taught. During the monsoon months the wind & rain water disturb the lessons and in summer the heat is uncomfortable to concentrate in; all this in a malaria prone area.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMpl98M48KZQgiSzrxYZ4E8tg5alH3e8vAX0VO2g_mnj1iZ4UwKO8-QslnkYkUMguC04rgp9f3k9cxuqc-su6UA1ACqJXwY4BjZ_C_8adJ-KY4l2VvtDoyNS4Ert6EjTfkfABb7topUUa/s1600/P1140418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMpl98M48KZQgiSzrxYZ4E8tg5alH3e8vAX0VO2g_mnj1iZ4UwKO8-QslnkYkUMguC04rgp9f3k9cxuqc-su6UA1ACqJXwY4BjZ_C_8adJ-KY4l2VvtDoyNS4Ert6EjTfkfABb7topUUa/s200/P1140418.JPG" width="200" /></a>The new schools built by the Child’s Dream charity follow government approved construction plans & designs. They are
made from concrete, have high ceilings for hot air to rise and large
windows for cool wind to ventilate through and altogether provide a
comfortable learning environment. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Teachers are provided & paid by the government and </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">the schools are also provided with
classroom furniture, toilets, a playground, a ground-water hand-pump for
drinking water and one school even has a solar powered battery charging
station, for producing electricity for use by the village! </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">All in all Child's Dream aim to create effective, efficient & sustainable projects whose progress they continue to monitor.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In Cambodia: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">45% of children just end up working in the fields for their parents </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">More than 50% of all school children cannot afford to continue their education after primary school (from the age of 12 onwards)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In Laos: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">20% of all villages do not have a school; </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Only 15% of the population have completed primary school.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ejPU5mZKTIedLz4C4KgrRE_C_kNuCZvYAws_C2KkrgqOXe5qxmh_WNl06WgzrXzf0iSeAm4_LkN47Dz7RbKOUukbNECHY6YE16Ou48F5tcXFq2obrvS6NwtGUP4HzKY77m3TSfB-Rh_y/s1600/P1200386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ejPU5mZKTIedLz4C4KgrRE_C_kNuCZvYAws_C2KkrgqOXe5qxmh_WNl06WgzrXzf0iSeAm4_LkN47Dz7RbKOUukbNECHY6YE16Ou48F5tcXFq2obrvS6NwtGUP4HzKY77m3TSfB-Rh_y/s200/P1200386.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">Child's Dream also support a sustainable agricultural project; <a href="http://www.need-burma.org/" target="_blank">NEED-Burma</a>. This Network for Environmental & Economic Development project is </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">an attempt to act as a catalyst for progressive change in Burma. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">NEED's Model Farm Initiative (MFI) is a six month professional development training program in sustainable agriculture, environmental justice, community development & leadership for ethnic minority youth from Burma. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The participants live, work & learn at the farm & training facility in order to implement these skills back in their country. We spent a day being shown around the farm, which is located only a short distance from Chiang Mai.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfsth39ShHD-iZlhju1LmavcS0hvSUhAcC2prT20nVjK8I4JKI6b-ipscSguS7w_sgH9y4g2MS2JYpZ3u_Dx_DCrC8a1rZpLrLtOgp1xz8O3hSkmzgqMx0yVJuf65zpcAVb3jTfv8rVko/s1600/P1200884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfsth39ShHD-iZlhju1LmavcS0hvSUhAcC2prT20nVjK8I4JKI6b-ipscSguS7w_sgH9y4g2MS2JYpZ3u_Dx_DCrC8a1rZpLrLtOgp1xz8O3hSkmzgqMx0yVJuf65zpcAVb3jTfv8rVko/s200/P1200884.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We also cycled up more steep side roads in northern Thailand, close to
the Laos border, in order to visit one of Child's Dreams nurseries.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our
website has a photo page of all our visits: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.cyclingarchitects.com/buildings/childs-dream" target="_blank">Child's Dream images</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Help us fulfil these children’s dreams!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thank you to all of you who have already kindly supported the charity through your donation! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">To those of you who haven’t (and promised)… - just think that as little as $5 will help support a child.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Please help by clicking on the link and making a donation: <a href="http://www.cyclingarchitects.com/donate" target="_blank">www.cyclingarchitects.com/donate</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6cJzXTN63J6ZSjXfsvMNsoaeSfpKjGZvIe42uSq43TJjhUV-B26g9fLI8dZ2yKlOWaN68-92tsH1EhXXupycsQbTOFXk_LFwvP7JgVhoalJDqm6fWevB9u3VXmWojJlgXtVcDicJJjtA/s1600/P1140443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6cJzXTN63J6ZSjXfsvMNsoaeSfpKjGZvIe42uSq43TJjhUV-B26g9fLI8dZ2yKlOWaN68-92tsH1EhXXupycsQbTOFXk_LFwvP7JgVhoalJDqm6fWevB9u3VXmWojJlgXtVcDicJJjtA/s200/P1140443.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whilst in Chiang Mai we cycled to the Child’s Dream headquarters and met
with the founders, with whom we discussed the options for which school
your donations could go. They confirmed that we could choose the country
in which we would like the new school to be built, & that it would be
possible to monitor costs, construction & follow all building stages,
including post completion. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We are currently in the process of choosing a Secondary School project in Laos. If you make a donation we will keep you informed of the progress over the next couple of years.</span></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-18983660955448323842012-04-25T05:39:00.000+01:002012-04-25T06:35:06.060+01:00The most Comfortable Cycling Saddles<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Sergio
has a <a href="http://www.selleanatomica.com/" target="_blank">Selle An-Atomica</a> mens saddle & I use the <a href="http://www.brooksengland.com/catalogue-and-shop/saddles/touring+%26+trekking/B17+S+Standard/" target="_blank">Brooks B-17 S Standard</a> ladies saddle
for our touring. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLEudaiV85ZbBAIP170XJ57kV56miOldtIMjbSIaTEZc2DWPJNOh5i93VBz7t_CBzR3DDh80ezbxnWNrTuf4-V9X8v3IC4REnU7-ClooheshaQqPxF_7CDHCSTUI7R8YCRio_eMs_zmBN/s1600/saddles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLEudaiV85ZbBAIP170XJ57kV56miOldtIMjbSIaTEZc2DWPJNOh5i93VBz7t_CBzR3DDh80ezbxnWNrTuf4-V9X8v3IC4REnU7-ClooheshaQqPxF_7CDHCSTUI7R8YCRio_eMs_zmBN/s320/saddles.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">We chose these two because they are apparently the ‘very best’ of touring cycling
saddles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">It took
about a month for Sertx to get used to his saddle. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">His bottom was numb & swollen in
pain </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">for the first 2
days - yet we cycled 100km long days. Nevertheless, he reckons he got used to it quickly. He still felt pain in the soft bits after
1000km, so he tensioned/increased the bolt in the front part of the saddle,
which alleviated the pressure. Sertx also turned the angle of the saddle
towards the left as his left leg is shorter than his right; this actually worked, reducing the discomfort he felt in his upper thigh. Sertx knew about the adjustments one could make to the saddle after
reading the <a href="http://www.selleanatomica.com/resources/Documents/Saddle-Adjustment-Instructions.pdf" target="_blank">saddle adjustment instructions</a>. After 5000km on this saddle Sertx is riding comfortably even without padded pants or chamois creme.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">The B-17 S Standard Brooks saddle fitted me from day one. I wear super duper <a href="http://www.assos.com/en/19/singleProduct.aspx?cat=7,19,22&prod=228" target="_blank">H FI.Lady S5</a> Assos polyamide, padded pants and
find the saddle great to ride 100km long distances with; however, if
riding just a short distance without padded pants I feel my bones pushing into the hard
leather, which is not really that comfortable. I spent some time adjusting the tilt of the saddle – notch
by notch until it felt in the right place for me (other female cyclists have sat on my bike & told me it's really uncomfortable for them - so the saddle really only fits & works to your bum). We have met many touring cyclists with Brooks saddles who don't wear padded pants anymore, yet I guess it will take me more 10,000km until I can ride without padded pants, as I'm still slapping on chamois creme before each ride & skin repair gel after each ride. Overall it is a great saddle for 80km cycling days!</span></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-62593693192134154932012-04-25T04:45:00.002+01:002012-04-25T04:45:34.966+01:00How to use Google Map Tracks & Embed Tracks on your Website<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Below are
20 steps to creating a track in Google maps, converting it from a kml file to a
gpx file for transferring it to your GPS device, then downloading your recorded
gpx track & converting it back to kml for use in Google maps &
embedding your tracks on a Google Map in your website, as I do it for our
website. You will need to setup a Google Maps account & download Google
Earth for free. I use a Garmin GPSmap 62s device & MapSource. </span></span></div>
<ol style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Sign in
to your Google account and click on ‘Get directions’. Use the boxes to write in
your location & destination. Google will create a blue track between your
points ‘A’ & ‘B’, following roads & tell you the distance &
detailed directions to your destination. You can click on the track to add a
point, which you can then drag around to include other roads. You can also type
in a search item, such as hotel/hostel/guesthouse & the map will display
all the hotels in the area; you can right-click on any hotel and select ‘Directions
to here’ to change your destination. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Once you
are happy with your track you need to save it; scroll down on the left side
toolbar until you see a ‘Save to My Maps’ button. Select 'Create a new map' & click on the 'save' button save the
track to the 'My Places' folder. Your track will open in a new window and you can 'Edit' it
further (change the name or colour of the track). </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>After
saving the track & clicking on 'Done' you have the option to export it as a kml file. Click on the
‘kml’ link & save in an appropriate folder. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Use this
link to convert the kml file into a gpx file for use on a Garmin device: </span><a href="http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/convert_input?convert_output=gpx" target="_blank"><span>GPS Visualizer</span></a><span> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Save the
gpx file to an appropriate folder eg: ‘Planned gpx Tracks’ with a suitable
filename.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Open the
file in Garmin MapSource for transferring onto your device. Note that for some
Garmin devices you will have to reduce or ‘filter’ the track points to 50
before transferring it; Do this by right-clicking on the track &
selecting ‘Track Properties’, then ‘Filter’; where you have the option to
reduce the points to 50 ‘Maximum Points’. Click ‘ok’. Check the ‘Name’ of the
track is as you want it then click ‘ok’.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Connect
your GPS device & transfer the track. Disconnect your GPS device, and then
turn it on to check your track was transferred, under ‘Main Menu’/’Track
Manager’. There you will find the track under the name you saved it; select it
and ‘View Map’ then simply select ‘Go’ to follow it.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The GPS
device will create a new track of where you’ve been, under ‘Current Track’ in
the Track Manager. When you’ve reached your destination you can save the track
& transfer it back to MapSource for use on your website. Depending on how
many days you’ve travelled, the Garmin device will either combine the tracks
under ‘Current Track’ or store them under ‘Archived Tracks’. The Garmin device
also gives you the option to save tracks daily in its Main Menu. To transfer
your current track, go to ‘Track Manager’ and select ‘Current Track’ and ‘Save
Track’, as the date filename they suggest. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Connect
your GPS device to your computer; the device will ask ‘Connect to Mass
Storage’; select ‘yes’. A new window will open on your desktop. Click
‘Garmin’/’gpx’ and find the saved current track under the date you saved it.
Copy this over to a suitable folder on your hard drive.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Open the
track in MapSource. Right-click on the track & select ‘Track Properties’.
Change the track ‘Name’ to something, such as the location, which you want
people to read when they click on it through your website. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>If you
want to group several days of tracks under one long track you can simply
‘select all’ in this properties box, click ‘copy’ and paste it into another file
with a track – in the correct date order (I click on
‘end’ at the end of the points to paste more tracks). If you want to split
combined tracks into separate tracks save a copy of the track then delete selected points by date.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Your
Garmin device will have saved several points per track (seen under ‘Index’ in
the properties box). Unfortunately Google Maps can only store about 300 points
per track before it starts splitting one track into two or more. So again we
need to ‘Filter’ the points to a maximum of 300. You can either follow Step 6
above or after clicking ‘Filter’ select ‘Automatic’ & ‘Fewer Points’. You
might have to do this a few times until your ‘Index’/points number reduces to
around 300. By reducing points this way your track will become less rigid
between points, sticking to the bends in roads for example, rather than jumping
them.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Save the
filename as a ‘gpx’ file, under an appropriate name; I always add the number of
track 'points' to the end of the filename, eg: ‘Laos Tracks-300’, and keep a copy of
the detailed file with all the points. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>I use
Google Earth to open this gpx file to convert it into a kml file; Open your
file in Google Earth selecting ‘All files’ to find the ‘gpx’ file. Select
‘Create KML Tracks’ & ‘Adjust altitudes to ground height’. The track will
be shown in blue. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Right-click
on the track & select ‘Save Place As…’ then choose a new folder, such as
‘website kml tracks’ to save the file in, and select ‘kml’ to save it as a .kml file.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Now you
can upload this into Google Maps. Sign-in to your account; select ‘My Places’,
then ‘Create Map' and 'Import' to upload the .kml file. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Hopefully
only one track will be created, not a split track. You can then edit this, change
the colour of the track & name & add any markers. To view the track as
‘miles’ I use googlemaps.co.uk but if I want to have the track in ‘km’ on my
website I sign-in to googlemaps.de </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Once
you’ve saved your track you can choose to view it in either satellite, or
simple street-map or terrain mode; I choose the
‘terrain’ background for our website, as when you zoom in you can also see the
contour lines of the mountains we cycle over. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>To save a
script of the map click on ‘Link’ (beside the 'printer' button in the side toolbar) & ‘</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Customise and preview embedded map</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span>’. (If you are not able
to select this try logging out & in again.)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>A new window
will open where you can customise the size of your map. Select and copy the
HTML script to embed it onto your website. I use Basekit.com for our website, which has an ‘embed’
widget where I can easily paste the script into. </span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Hope
these steps help. This is the way I plan our cycle tracks. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Comments
or suggestions below please! </span></span></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-62446512422142000442012-02-23T17:14:00.001+00:002012-02-23T17:14:09.146+00:00Sigg Water bottles for cycle touring<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We like our 0.75L wide-mouth, Swiss <a href="http://www.sigg.com/products/" target="_blank">Sigg</a> sports aluminium water bottles; & carry 3 per bike. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJpLa1z2A0KxBeuM6zC3qnShHpwWX_8QTORAXG-aUb-S_A77V9dPASlna_znKhxSaVGJXnorHJBuqRgKN7Vobrx0n3iu__WCPE3NkyswjPoG8Z7zYyMGzU_tXJJthJmcjjxHoNedrmUWh/s1600/P1110713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJpLa1z2A0KxBeuM6zC3qnShHpwWX_8QTORAXG-aUb-S_A77V9dPASlna_znKhxSaVGJXnorHJBuqRgKN7Vobrx0n3iu__WCPE3NkyswjPoG8Z7zYyMGzU_tXJJthJmcjjxHoNedrmUWh/s320/P1110713.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">They are lightweight, leak-proof, keep the water cool, keep the taste of water neutral & work well for our usage. We chose to get the wide mouth version and the sports top which has a press-release nozzle and mud-guard cover. We can therefore use any of 3 openings to drink from or fill water from other bottles into. The bottles come in several colours, either with or without the moulded grip, they are free of harmful chemicals and 100% recyclable! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">We really like our water bottles.</span></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-66664780800785960942012-02-23T16:52:00.002+00:002012-02-23T17:15:01.578+00:00Exustar Sandals for cycle touring<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We meet touring cyclists every day on our travels, yet we haven't met anyone wearing SPD sandals yet, so we thought we'd give a review of our special sandals. Both Sertx and I use these <a href="http://exustar.com/product.php?t1s=12&level=2" target="_blank">Exustar sandals</a> with inset SPD clips:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EiV4F7Qh03VtZueyz8TuAEP1MrCstDDCevLNUjFazeQ_JLJTdf84hu9SvHyMwER_21sFUQ0vssN7m1NZlQ95Sp3D0bX9dO9TLdOomi2RXeuqsyH_If1puo4kcUTiTSabAczpWXef9VLh/s1600/P1100347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EiV4F7Qh03VtZueyz8TuAEP1MrCstDDCevLNUjFazeQ_JLJTdf84hu9SvHyMwER_21sFUQ0vssN7m1NZlQ95Sp3D0bX9dO9TLdOomi2RXeuqsyH_If1puo4kcUTiTSabAczpWXef9VLh/s320/P1100347.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I have the E-SS502 model (left pair in image above) & </span><span style="font-size: small;">Sertx has the </span><span class="mainTitle" style="font-size: small;">E-SS503 </span><span style="font-size: small;">model</span><span style="font-size: small;">. They are fantastic for cycling use in hot and/or rainy weather & overall very comfortable to wear.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">We both ordered two sizes just to see which one fit better and ended up getting a size bigger than our usual shoe size. (I am size 40 but got size 41/42 sandals; Sertx is normally size 42 & got size 43/44 sandals).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Both models have adjustable velcro heel-straps; in addition the </span><span class="mainTitle" style="font-size: small;">E-SS503 model has a full length neoprene inner lining under 3 adjustable top-</span><span style="font-size: small;">straps; and the </span><span class="mainTitle" style="font-size: small;">E-SS502 model only has 2 adjustable top-straps with a shorter neoprene lining. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Sertx has to use the back strap to get in & out of his, whilst I can use either the top strap or the back strap. Both sandals also have protective toe guards, which we find great against sand & gravel; however, the occasional stone still jumps in.. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The </span><span style="font-size: small;">E-SS502 model has a very bumpy footsole-surface which takes some getting used to. The only problem with this is that dirt gets stuck in between the bumps & is tricky to clean out. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2AWcbzT2NbLTaoKwTP9Z6hdyRoY0Zv4KCh7KxznzyHvqXIxVRP4AJoE2Q0OmwTBuxYdcJU_UdXEA3C0veRxuxWD1o9S2YJTQN_NS4bAMAIyTCII97HoKeLRaeMyKNjjufw6LOmBCBiFo/s1600/P1110815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2AWcbzT2NbLTaoKwTP9Z6hdyRoY0Zv4KCh7KxznzyHvqXIxVRP4AJoE2Q0OmwTBuxYdcJU_UdXEA3C0veRxuxWD1o9S2YJTQN_NS4bAMAIyTCII97HoKeLRaeMyKNjjufw6LOmBCBiFo/s320/P1110815.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">We have also used the sandals for a 4 hour hike off
the bike; I discovered that the E-SS502 pair rub against my ankles, so I
now wear socks with mine when not on the bike (but this is no
problem because I'm a German.) </span><span style="font-size: small;">The sandals also make loud crunching noises when walking on gravel which is on a harder/concrete ground.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">At the moment we are only carrying & wearing these cycling shoes, yet we are going to change into closed cycling shoes once we reach China. Just for additional information: the </span><span style="font-size: small;">E-SS502 pair weigh 995grams and the </span><span style="font-size: small;">E-SS503, 1kg, which is not any different to the weight of a pair of closed SPD cycling shoes. </span></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-83725855771775038522012-02-20T18:48:00.000+00:002012-02-20T19:39:01.167+00:00833km in Malaysia + 886km in Thailand & still cycling!<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We completed our cycle along the west coast of Malaysia on 30th January and have since been touring southern Thailand. This country is the Land of Smiles; from the moment we entered the locals were calling out 'Hello' after us & cheering us on our way. We have watched & experienced so many new things it is impossible to capture it all in photos or even remember to write it out in words, despite our million photos or textual summaries.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We cycled through Malaysia at about 90km per day. The roads were dead flat; the weather - hot &
humid; & the mosquitos - plenty. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">We spent
the first 4 days in </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Port Dickson</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> to acclimatise & deal with the jet
lag. The first part of our
trip was along main roads with heavy traffic, so not altogether enjoyable due
to the fumes, speedy vehicles & crazy drivers who used the bicycle/hard
shoulder lane to overtake slower vehicles. Even though we were cycling parallel
& close to the sea on the map, we never actually saw the sea during our
rides. We did however pass through several palm tree plantations, small Muslim,
Chinese & Indian villages, mosques, Chinese & Hindu temples, and hundreds
of traditional Malaysian brightly-coloured raised houses, & also stopped
at the occasional petrol station for a coke & chocolate. We were cycling with
the sun on our backs, direction ‘headwind’, sometimes through a shower of refreshing
rain but otherwise burning our necks & calves; a little bit challenging, but mainly fun, of course.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We spent our second week on
Pangkor Island at a beach chilling for a couple of
days, before riding along more enjoyable quieter roads through jungle-like
terrain, with monkeys jumping from palm tree to palm tree above our heads. We
waved passed & also caught up with other touring cyclists along the
way, as well as honked our horns at the local kids, dogs, snakes & fat lizards. We also
met with some Malaysian friends who took us out around town to sample the
local delicacies such as stingray & oyster omelette. We tasted a range
of the Malaysian food & fruit from street corners; our
daily breakfast consisted either Indian or Chinese style roti, omelette & chai
tea with super sweet condensed milk. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We spent our entire third week on Penang Island as we had to wait for the
Chinese New Year celebrations to end so we could get
a visa for Thailand. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">We therefore chose to explore the only beach on this island, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Batu Ferringhi, where the sea was impossible to swim in; not only was it filled with Jellyfish both large & minuscule, but there were several boats, water-scooters & inflatable bananas hovering all over the place - even occasionally over a lone swimmer. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">We visited a national jungle park, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">spending half a day walking</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> over trees & rocks to Monkey Beach; might sound great, but 2 hours & 3 litres of sweat later we found
the
usual at this place; water scooters, dirty water & no monkeys. So
after a short
cycle up to see a dam we returned to the people-packed beach, where the locals asked for photos with us & stared at us
whenever
we walk passed. We spent the following day cycling through the island, cycling to a height of 207m from where a </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">pack of 8 dogs heard us and sprinted after us, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">shortly after which I had my first puncture right at the start of a grateful descent. Thankfully the dogs didn't run too far from their home and we found a quiet place to fix the wheel before cycling on. We also spent a few days in Georgetown; a UNESCO protected world
heritage
site with pretty colonial shop-houses, colourful Chinese temples hidden
amongst towering apartment blocks and unfortunately also crowds of backpackers
& ladies who sell themselves to the night. The cheaper guesthouses here were strangely windowless,
so we had to search through over 20 of them to find one with daylight!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">After we got our visa for Thailand we caught a ferry over to Langkawi and spent a day cycling through rubber tree plantations to another Monkey Beach in the north. This time a pack of monkeys surprised us; I went to guard the bicycles yet another monkey was heading for our bag of bananas, which lay next to Sertx who was peacefully lying asleep in the sun. The monkey grabbed the bag, jumped over Sertx & made a run for it before he realised what happened. Sertx managed to get the bag back and ran into the sea with the remaining bananas. I thankfully got some great shots of the monkeys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Here in Thailand we've seen water dragons, snakes, massive spiders, chickens, hundreds of friendlier dogs and a few cats jump out in front of our bikes. We've cycled up & down all types of terrain, from sand, to loose rock, red dusty mud paths & melting hot main-road black asphalt. We've cycled through a billion rubber tree plantations, seen how pineapples, mangos, papaya & cucumbers grow; watched how locals cut coconuts from palm trees using mega long bamboo cutters; seen colourful fisherman boats & watched the locals dry out their caught fish & squid on mile-long nets supported by bamboo-structures. We've cycled alongside young kids who drive scooters who often just look back smile surprisingly at us; we've even seen dogs getting the front seat on the scooters! We've cycled by and spent time on the most amazing white-sand beaches; some with few tourists, others without tourists. We have also already spent a week on a Thai island, Koh Tao, which is over-populated with tourists, but has some great dive sites around. I got to complete my Dive Leader course & Sertx got to ride a scooter around the island to find some quieter beaches. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We are currently cycling up the east coast of Thailand from Chumphon to Bangkok, exploring the fisherman villages, visiting dog rescue centres, discovering the Swedish community here, passing several colourful Wats, and watching the waves of the sea whilst we cycle along the quieter paths & routes through the country. We are enjoying it tremendously and wish the road/aka mud-paths would never end!</span><br />
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</div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-61142768621174662522012-01-15T14:34:00.000+00:002012-02-23T17:18:28.695+00:00We have started our southeast Asian cycle trip!!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
We are cycling up the West coast of Malaysia from Port Dickson to Thailand, currently at a rate of 90km per day and 20km per hour, in a very humid & hot environment. We are both already sunkissed red in the face & covered in mosquito bites at our ankles! Thankfully my new gel-handlebars perform superbly & I have no aches or pains. Unfortunately this is not the case for Sergio... - as I bought him a new <a href="http://www.selleanatomica.com/" target="_blank">Selle An-atomica</a> saddle just before we left the UK & so he is slowly getting more comfortable on it during our long day trips, together with lots of Assos chamois creme & skin repair gel! <span class="imageContainer" id="ctl00_Zone2_19_product" style="display: block; width: 100%;"> </span></div>
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Check out our <a href="http://www.cyclingarchitects.com/countries/malaysia" target="_blank">Photo</a> page & <a href="http://www.cyclingarchitects.com/timeline" target="_blank">Timeline</a> for the latest stories from the cycle journey.</div>
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As well as carrying around 6kg per pannier, we are also taking a reminder of our dogs, Coco & Kali, on the ride with us:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXQMvhcuAbdes6aySl3I-XpTPFG4g11J4wFk5tTtjHhEH5j43UM2n_YuxqpLlVNG0qTfILUoCXCsDyc7zLt8h-e-hmccBrBwHzgvffUXSxzDdCtpWcNc_5U7y6GH3Z1ro9kis91n2Ekgy/s1600/Kali+Coco+on+the+ride.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeXQMvhcuAbdes6aySl3I-XpTPFG4g11J4wFk5tTtjHhEH5j43UM2n_YuxqpLlVNG0qTfILUoCXCsDyc7zLt8h-e-hmccBrBwHzgvffUXSxzDdCtpWcNc_5U7y6GH3Z1ro9kis91n2Ekgy/s320/Kali+Coco+on+the+ride.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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... and this is them, snug as a bug at home at the moment:</div>
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<br /></div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-67783981956924397882011-11-24T16:37:00.001+00:002012-02-23T17:19:20.605+00:00Need a Kickstand for a Touring bicycle?<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
Well here's the answer.</div>
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The last newsletter from <a href="http://travellingtwo.com/" target="_blank">Travelling Two</a> published a different type of kickstand called Click-Stand, so we both bought one, as no ordinary kickstand would fit onto our bicycle frames, or support the load we are going to carry without cancelling our warranty.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsOuvkAqtqbeDpR6q7E887NWVWzqwlCcXYo5YcnGTQqkpmNCNyODo4weUmUxaOQdJDZrAicsQQkk2g-47VWtoelzgBv_f7DOGWcck6LyoJPjyf1S2Xaesh40tOJtiLGV0414K-UzLt7Xd/s1600/Click+Stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsOuvkAqtqbeDpR6q7E887NWVWzqwlCcXYo5YcnGTQqkpmNCNyODo4weUmUxaOQdJDZrAicsQQkk2g-47VWtoelzgBv_f7DOGWcck6LyoJPjyf1S2Xaesh40tOJtiLGV0414K-UzLt7Xd/s400/Click+Stand.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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First one needs to apply the brakes with 'brake bands' then one can neatly flick out the compact click-stand using one hand, placing it on the underside of the back of the frame, as shown in the photo. See the <a href="http://www.click-stand.com/" target="_blank">Click-Stand </a>website for more details.</div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1790138843937098000.post-37134076306205218952011-11-24T16:26:00.001+00:002012-04-25T06:29:21.223+01:00Rohloff Shifter for Drop Bars<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">I wanted drop bars on my touring bike as this is
how I am used to riding, yet the Rohloff shifter was only made to fit on
straight handlebars. The image below shows my initial handlebar arrangement with
the Rohloff shifter fitted on the straight, together with ergonomic grips and
touring </span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/origin8-pro-pulsion-road-ends-drop-bar-bar-ends-black-prod18606/" target="_blank">Origin8</a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"> drop bar ends. This
setup, although clever in design, ended up being painful to ride with and
already got damaged on my first flight with the bike. Below are the reasons
& solutions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOklqHoGfmVqrg9s3QqJDGDhmVVwFEvNbfwg-XsL4s4hup5K4yLDTTHaa5-7OxxPmAAVWQfgTHNL-qsCQrHUb8hatuVLuAd8NSZ5SVb7aKyybFAfqXUphIVtiy-F5iwmjboW2RausomAkC/s1600/Caros+drop+bars.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOklqHoGfmVqrg9s3QqJDGDhmVVwFEvNbfwg-XsL4s4hup5K4yLDTTHaa5-7OxxPmAAVWQfgTHNL-qsCQrHUb8hatuVLuAd8NSZ5SVb7aKyybFAfqXUphIVtiy-F5iwmjboW2RausomAkC/s320/Caros+drop+bars.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">First of all, this setup was extremely wide, which
was great for handling & balancing the bike, however, it just wasn’t in any
way comfortable to ride long hours with. My palms & fingers suffered with
numbness and my shoulders from sharp pains. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Secondly, the Origin8 brake levers had a hard,
inverted-‘V’ shaped rubber grip, which was excruciatingly painful to ride with
– especially when having to apply the brakes for long rides down steep tracks.
As a solution to this SJS suggested I add some high density foam padding under
the rubber grip; yet this wasn’t easy, so I taped it around the top (as seen in
the image above.) This only worked for about 500km before the foam became
completely flattened. The soft parts between my thumb & forefinger were
always red & numb after short 50km rides with this grip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Thirdly, the drop ends were added at a right angle
to the straight handlebar, (rather than the usual smooth curve on normal drop
bars) and this hurt my wrists whilst riding in that position, no matter how far
I rotated the drop ends forward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleefWAtuKBCkAPqMPhmseoHfpczO-dpl-zPuyn1bgR-L6lMyIflYHc5oyVU5RvUv83bIzEXXzSUve59jHP2KZOEy2uo9O35SRmTXKk3uQFtxR_WkBwkEcWbit2zPWkzZkjJndyfv9R-0I/s1600/Caros+side+handlebar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleefWAtuKBCkAPqMPhmseoHfpczO-dpl-zPuyn1bgR-L6lMyIflYHc5oyVU5RvUv83bIzEXXzSUve59jHP2KZOEy2uo9O35SRmTXKk3uQFtxR_WkBwkEcWbit2zPWkzZkjJndyfv9R-0I/s320/Caros+side+handlebar.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Fourthly, the brake levers, chosen specifically for
touring, were too far to reach when in the dropped position as well as when in
the straight-handlebar position (see image above); so I wasn’t able to reach
them in time when I needed to brake immediately. Hence, why I installed an
additional brake lever on the straight handlebar after a few rides, which was
helpful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">And
finally, having a straight handlebar prevented the brake cables from being
installed under the handlebar tape, so the brake cables needed to extend out the
front of the brake levers! These were obviously quite delicate, and got bent on
my first flight with the bicycle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Below is an image of my current set up, which was a
combined solution, suggested by SJS Cycles, the </span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.bicycleworkshop.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bicycle Workshop</a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"> in London & my own research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcVCnlt4JebZSdj4l9aohXBm4Jwn4D9vC8qZpNhvom-osKKKny_070AWfzt_oZR5iFaC_ypS5w3KDtXhhIu8-__eh_fbDXpOVBAdXMmmuS5CG3kJUJ5W5A4APjEL3-hVUaLjZDdbYuvj2/s1600/Caros+drop+bars+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcVCnlt4JebZSdj4l9aohXBm4Jwn4D9vC8qZpNhvom-osKKKny_070AWfzt_oZR5iFaC_ypS5w3KDtXhhIu8-__eh_fbDXpOVBAdXMmmuS5CG3kJUJ5W5A4APjEL3-hVUaLjZDdbYuvj2/s320/Caros+drop+bars+new.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">In
December 2011 SJS Cycles informed me about the new </span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.gillesberthoud.fr/anglais/gazette/lire.php?identifiant=41&categorie=INFOMATION#ancre41">Rohloff shifter from Gilles Berhoud</a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"> for drop handlebars, which meant
that I could finally use a normal, narrower drop handlebar on my bike. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Whilst
having this installed by the Bicycle Workshop, they then introduced me to some shorter/reachable
& mega-comfortable touring brake levers by Cane Creek – which consequently required the
installation of </span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><a href="http://qbp.qbrandsdev.com/">QBP 'Travel Agents'</a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"> to each brake – allowing for an extra brake
extension, </span><span style="font-size: small;">(image below). This means that the cable
leaving the Travel Agent can be pulled twice as far but only half as
hard from where it enters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZdk7S4LPuVturc5O7Qz6N9Ok2j2UGJWSfQ5bWeoP95p_EBuOj2mF6qGCR2uWLPz_TvfvfOpiEV9mxN2EdNwe-PgsDZGPlrXSoY3nRi_cU-BHXOsynQ-wb4J3IZ5wCgOuZ0KZDg3WafTB/s1600/Travel+Agents.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZdk7S4LPuVturc5O7Qz6N9Ok2j2UGJWSfQ5bWeoP95p_EBuOj2mF6qGCR2uWLPz_TvfvfOpiEV9mxN2EdNwe-PgsDZGPlrXSoY3nRi_cU-BHXOsynQ-wb4J3IZ5wCgOuZ0KZDg3WafTB/s320/Travel+Agents.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">I also then discovered </span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/Detail/equiptape/handlebar%20tape/BG%20Bar%20Phat%20Tape">Specialized bar gel</a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"> which I
installed under my handlebar tape. This promised to reduce finger numbness by
50%.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">I have
ridden over 4000km with this set up; the GB shifter is great; despite its
larger size it is easy to grip (even in wet weather) and feels fine when resting
your hands over it whilst riding upright. My only concern is that the gear
cables are exposed to dirt and saltwater (when travelling by boat), so need to
be rinsed over with clean water occasionally. The new Cane Creek brake lever
grips are super comfortable, as is the Specialised handlebar gel. I don’t get
numb fingers or palms at all anymore, even after 150km day cycles; I also wear thicker
padded gloves for extra comfort. The brake levers are now within reach, and the
cables have been installed under the handlebar tape so are out of the way. The
brake travel agents are also very easy to adjust/tighten, as they come with a
tightening screw. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Sertx
just chose the easy option (see below photo) & is still happy riding with a straight
handlebar after 6000km. This handlebar setup is also obviously much better when cycling off-road; my drop handlebar was not really made for such trecks as the Ho Chi Minh trail, which we cycled on recently - but on roads I love it & the gel bars are super comfortable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrChARylGyzcrm05IjmcEgT9Gz87cIXKTXvlbzG6hnX6pk84o00Ex8WoCLZ7sfpnoevpDx3Y8rh4o4ZQv_TggFkt7SEpaMkz_j4NdtlQPvDmc2XVbPdk7h6GkJ_hiurCIteYxte2MLF1u/s1600/Sertxs+handlebar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrChARylGyzcrm05IjmcEgT9Gz87cIXKTXvlbzG6hnX6pk84o00Ex8WoCLZ7sfpnoevpDx3Y8rh4o4ZQv_TggFkt7SEpaMkz_j4NdtlQPvDmc2XVbPdk7h6GkJ_hiurCIteYxte2MLF1u/s320/Sertxs+handlebar.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">Any
comments or suggestions please share below!</span></div>
</div>Cycling Architectshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14311772772302370116noreply@blogger.com3