Hello from Lhasa, Tibet. 7th September. We arrived about five days ago via Air China from Chengdu and we have been busy sampling the sights and sounds. Lhasa is no longer the Shangri-La as it has been described in the past but nevertheless it is a great city on top of the world. At 3,400m you do struggle for breath a little and one beer is more than enough. Dehydration is the biggest battle - lots of water! Walking upstairs should be avoided if at all ...

30th August 2004 We are now at 3400m in the small village of Langmusi, bordering the Sichuan and Gansu provinces. It is mainly Tibetan in people and culture with a lot of Buddhist Monasterys nestled in amongst the mountains. Beautiful scenery with vast grasslands full of wild flowers. Today Rob had us dress up in the Tibetan garb for a bit of fun, but I believe it was so he could make a spectacle of himself, running down the hill with his sword unhilted...

25th August Ni Hao from Beijing. Yes we have arrived and finished the first leg of our journey and have fallen right into Part Two. The final train journey from UB to Beijing was probably the best section. The scenery was brilliant as we passed through the Mongolian Steppe grassland into the Gobi desert. For miles you wouldn't see anything apart from the odd Ger tent and roaming camel. We went through border control which as usual was a long slow proces...

19AUGUST04 Hello!!!! We have survived Mongolia so far. We had an agonising 9 hours getting through the Russian and Mongolia customs on the train. Locked up with no toilets and feeling the heat, as the windows don't open enough. But finally we made it into Ulaan Baatar which is a city with nothing much going for it. Great dinosaur fossils though! We visited the old winter palace that is a bit run down and rustic, still a great taste of what is to co...

19AUGUST04 Hello!!!! We have survived Mongolia so far. We had an agonising 9 hours getting through the Russian and Mongolia customs on the train. Locked up with no toilets and feeling the heat, as the windows don't open enough. But finally we made it into Ulaan Baatar which is a city with nothing much going for it. Great dinosaur fossils though! We visited the old winter palace that is a bit run down and rustic, still a great taste of what is to co...