'hong kong hiatus' Arrived in hong kong, and leave the intrepid group to travel on my own again. hong kong is pretty amazing, with the modern skyskcrapers and shopping, but is a very different asia from that of rural china. spend some time visiting the outer islands, and parts of the mainland. even get drawn into the frenzied shopping that is the city- but it's good just to wander about even if ur not buying. also get some quality photos of the skyline, and go u...

'cycling, calligraphy and cormorants' Move further south and east in the region of china we are in- and go to the town of yangshuo, which must have one of the most amazing settings in the world amoungst the limestone karst scenery and on the beautiful li river. i have a brilliant day mountain biking through the countryside on the narrow paths between the flooded rice fields, amoungst all the karst scenery. also climb a karst mountain in the area, learn some trad...

'terraces in the sky' Visit the spectacularly huge longji rice terraces- an amazing system of rice terraces that have been constructed high into the mountains, and get to do some amazing walks around the area. the terraces actually stretch above the clouds that gather amoungst the mountains- and the whole thing is like something out of 'lord of the rings'. stay in a village that virtually clings to the mountain side, and gives us the most amazing views of the ar...

'bus journeys and rural life' Cross into china, and spend several days moving east through the spectacular guagxi region of southern china, getting to see some amazing scenery and stay in really remote villages and locations with the group. stay in haushan, a beautiful rural area, in a spectacular valley setting- then move onto gullin, a famous city in the region that is situated amoungst huge limestone karst mountains that are typical of the area. we then move ...

'karst kayaking' Staying on the island of cat ba- which is off the coast of north vietnam- in the famous halong bay. the area is full of limestone karst scenery, which is really amazing. despite the really quite dodgey ferry crossing we have, i manage a pretty adventurous day when i do a few mile trek to a rural village, then climb 700m to the highest point on the island (for an amazing view), motorbike ride to a bay where i do a 2 hour kayak session through the...