Cycling over; it was time to become regular tourists and visit some regular tourist attractions; here are are photo highlights:

Chengdu is famous for its Pandas so it was a compulsory visit to the breeding centre! So cute!

The Panda centre was also home to Red Pandas (think fox-cat mongrel with a giant bushy tail… so cute) and some Black Swans.

Wonky roofs in the Wushu Temple, Chengdu

Leshans Giant Buddah is carved into the cliff. At 71m tall, it is massive. Tim stands by one of it’s feet.

Sometimes, some of the old stuff in China is original! This bridge in an old fishing town is gorgeous!

Very few bicycles to be seen, the cycle lanes are full of electric scooters!

A street barber gives Tim a much needed trim. Not bad for one pound! The scooter also transported the waiting chair!

The Terracotta Army still stand waiting in their thousands.

In Beijing, friend of a friend Laifang (right) hosted us and friend Gareth (left) flew out to join the holiday.

The Great Wall without the crowds! Hiking gear required!

Soldiers keep a watchful eye in Tienanmen Square.

This night-time food market is not for the faint hearted! Seahorse dead. Scorpions still wriggling. 😦

Nightime skyscraper view the from the funky Vu Bar in Shanghai

And a close up of the ‘Oriental Pearl’ tower.

A Shanghai street scene with plenty of vendors and tuk-tuks, note the McDonalds top right – our saviour after months of spicy food and rehydrated noodles!

At the airport with bikes and bags packed ready to blast back to Blighty!

PS sorry this penultimate post a bit late – time flys when you’re relaxing!

On with the adventure; a night in a hotel in Xiewu (room: £8) and we were back on the road. In sunshine we crossed a mountain pass and rode downhill straight into Sichuan province. Unfortunately, on the county border, the road quality went steeply downhill too! After much bumping rattling and swerving of pot holes, we made it to Serchu Dzong, with its imposing monastery complex. Another night, another cheap hotel (no heating, no running water and a drop toilet…again). We cooked breakfast on the windowsill and spent the morning wandering around the massive monastery, poking our heads into the brightly coloured prayer halls and watching the monks scurry around on their daily business. For once there was an equal amount of starring going on, as the crimson cloaked monks seemed just as fascinated by us as we were by them.

Inside the prayer hall – Crimson robed Monks

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After resting for a couple of nights at a hotel in Qilian we were ready to start our ascent on to the Tibetan plateau. Unbeknown to us at the time, it was actually the last proper town that we were going to see for quite some time, so it was just as well we had a rest day (to recover from our previous bike pushing/trekking marathon) and get fully restocked – especially with porridge for breakfast as bread was no longer readily available. Unfortunately, the whole town was being dug up and rebuilt, and power cuts were frequent – in 2 days there was only 3 hours worth of electricity! It must have been a regular occurrence as the hotel instantly provided candles and the town hummed to the sound of power generators that ran outside every shop. This lack of electricity and thus lighting, might have been the reason why Tim found a plaster in his evening meal at a restaurant. It must be hard to tell the differences between finger and pork when chopping in the dark!

The bikes outside a cafe – after a ‘lucky-dip’ on the mandarin menu, we ended up with scrambled egg soup! Continue reading →