Kuala Lumpur to Melaka
High Point : Japanese toilets with built in water jets
Low Point : Throwing up throughout the night again
No Point : The Rubik’s Cube
Shave of the day : Barham’s beard is off !
Surprise of the day : picking up stage 2 Ben’s mum from Kuala Lumpur airport.
Slightly uncomfortable sleeping arrangement : sharing a bed with Seve
High Point : Arriving in Satun
Low Point : Every second before arriving arriving in Satun
Dish of the day : Chicken Pad Thai in the bathroom room sink
Chat of the day : Pathetic little noises
Number of different attempted seating positions : 42
We have a rota for everything on this trip. The ability to think is chipped away to an such extent where one must rely on checklists, rotas and schedules to function on complete exhaustion. My turn to write the blog is bordering on pointless as I spent the entire day in a puke fuelled mess.
Khao Yai National Park to Kanchanaburi
High Point : checking out an awesome waterfall
Low Point : Ting Tong Wrongness
Pointless seating arrangement of the day : Michelle sat behind the driver even though her legs are too short to fully appreciate the only seat with extra leg room
No Point : Lyndsey/Michelle owning bags too big for them to carry
Big Tune of the Day : Heavy Weight Champion of the World : Reverend and The Makers
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Location : Lake Fu Xian to Yuangyang
Low Point : On the day that China launched a lunar probe into space (Chang’e 2), the stage 3 crew had bigger fish to fry : to fully circumnavigate the island in the middle of Lake Xian in a rubber dingy (Challenger 4). This would test our team ethic, physical endurance and mental strength. With confidence high the first hurdle was just to hire the boat. As per normal in China, it takes at least 9 people far too long to perform a task that would warrant just 1 person in normal money. The usual, “no no no no maybe maybe no no no maybe yes” fun and games kicked off until we finally got the sign off for launch. Dominate !!! Let’s take this island doooown
After 73 days on the road, Ross and I were in need of a bit of a steam, rub down and a couple of hours relaxing. Our guide Sun Ji found a place near where we were staying. Quite a grand looking building, professional looking staff and cheap as chips. Ideal we thought.
High Point: Today was really an incredible day and we got the real taste of modern China in a couple of ways. The Panda research centre and breeding base at Chengdu was totally brilliant and this was followed up by a wonderful lunch at Sun Ji’s parents house in Qing Shen.
Low Point: Our waist lines!
So we finally got a rest day. Our first one since Ullan Bator in Mongolia. I planned to sleep for England. No distractions, bosh out a cheeky 16 hours of sleep and maybe watch some tele. I have however lost my ability to sleep on demand. Very frustrating as it feels like I have been hit by a freight train at the moment. The sleep deprivation and road has upped the general feeling of shabbiness amongst the crew. Weary heads make it hard to appreciate the whole experience so today was key on recharging out batteries.
Location : Xian
Some people are scared of the dark, others of spiders. Now take Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor of the unified China in 221 bc). The great man was terrified of the vanquished spirits awaiting him in the afterlife, terrified to such a degree that his panic lead to the construction of one of the most insane spectacles in the world. To protect him from the nasties, he instructed a complete life size army to be built next to his tomb to look over him in death. Along with his tomb, it took 700,000 workers 38 years to complete. Certainly put’s the moaning about the millennium dome into context. Some fast facts for you : the 3 pits that have been found include 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses. All life size. All different. Crazy stuff indeed.
Location : From Beijing to Datong. China.
High Point : The Great Wall of China. Not only did it impress, it made 5 boys with normally far too much chat become almost speechless. The mere magnitude and scale of this colossal beast blows the mind. Some quick stats for you : Built over 2000 years ago. 8862.8km long (well that’s how long China say it is). It wiggles a lot and goes over bumps. Read more →
Location : Zamyn-Uud to Erlian
High Point : With well over a year of research and hard graft behind it, we had always thought that of all the borders we are crossing, the Mongolian / China border was the “big one”. It could not have gone any better. Incredible. We met our Mongolia fixer the night before to go through the game plan and paperwork. The crew were up early to give Martha a good old clean as she was caked in wet sand and muck after all the fun in the Gobi desert. We headed off at 10am and were quickly through the Mongolia side with only one complication. With Panoramic Journeys on the end of the phone to our fixer Ulzi, the missing paperwork was soon dismissed and we cracked on into no man’s land. Read more →
