A 2 day stopover in Hong Kong with a stinking cold. This place is dangerous for the budget traveller - not just because accommodation is so expensive (unless you opt for a 4 quid a night hovel like me) but the shopping is pretty damn good as well. Apart from that, Hong Kong is the manic place you would expect - with the nice touches of rural areas you wouldn't expect, a lovely view of the city lit up of an evening, and the most active OAP's you will ever see...

Ahoy there maties from the crows nest in Lhasa. The rag tag, against all odds, made it round China with no guide book and only the ability to say xiexie (Thank you) - which was used for both thanking a waitress for food and shouting after petty thieves when they had stolen your wallet. So after a trip to see some giant pandas in Chengdu (gee mom - they're so cute - can I have me one), we flew to Lhasa in Tibet. Lhasa is the dream. The Tibetans are a lively b...

Hello my lovelies, ca va? I write to you from Chengdu, where we find ourselves going to see some Giant Pandas in the morning, and have a flight to Tibet booked for the day after. We are making a bee line for the mountains pronto after the longest 6 days of my life in China. The banter has been flowing quicker than the Yangtze but the funds are leaking quicker than oil from the Exxon Valdez. This is probably in no small part thanks to the return of lather to ...

Hello kids - what have I been up to? Thanks for asking! After a few days rest eating copious amounts of egg and chips (pointing at a picture of it Torremolinos 1989 stylee) we hit the trail again.... This one was a beast - hanging off 2000 feet crags after some lovely directions from a non English speaking shepherd....camping at 4800 metres and waking up to icicles and frost in the tent...... and reaching a new high - Rush Peak at 5100 metres. Fom this ...