Burmese Rice Paddy Guacamole
Myanmar is awash with avocados. Every market and almost every fruit stall we passed had pyramids of the dark crinkly skin, holding ripe green avocado cream within them. It is not typically a fruit I associate with South East Asia, so when we discovered them for the first time in the market in KyaingTong, not […]
Set Our Hearts Alight in KyaingTong
Another border, a new country. From Mae Sae into Tachileik, from Thailand into Myanmar. I remember the bead of sweat trickling down my spine, further plastering my t-shirt to my backpack. Our excitement at crossing the bridge. Stories of a region which had just opened, previously banned to the outside world. And we were going […]
China…Through The Funnel
China is the fourth in our series – “…Through the Funnel”. You can read our previous one on Uzbekistan here. It is a way for us to share 12 aspects that stood out to us in our experience of the country and its people. Did we miss something that stood out to you in China? #1 Spitting is the […]
Along the Tea Horse Trade Route in Shaxi 沙溪
“冬日暖阳 – winter days with warm sun.” – Chinese saying The white sun burns my skin against the brisk air. It is early morning in Shaxi. All is quiet save for the sound of a set of old wooden wheels rolling over lose stones. It smells clean in that winter weather kind of way. I […]
Lunch at a Tibetan “Castle” in Daocheng 稻城
The autumn leaves crackle as they are crushed under the wheels of our bicycles. The rest of them hold onto their tall trees for as long as possible, not willing to let go and fall into their long winter graves. We let out short puffs of breath, cycling the 10 km to the red grasslands […]
Slurp n’ Gobble – the Noodles & Dumplings of North-West China 西北
“民以食为天 – food is the peoples’ heaven – hunger breeds discontentment“ – Chinese Proverb China lives for food. Life here revolves around food. After the culinary barrenness of Central Asia, China is a continuous feast, for the eyes, for the nose, for our palates. If you crave something in China, it is rare you will have […]
Taking Stock: 200 Days on the Road
We have made it. 200 days on the road. 4800 hours of travelling, exploring and living in 16 countries. More than 12000 km of rocky roads, smooths highways, dirt paths and wooden bridges. We have slept in about 97 different beds, some soft, some hard, some bedbug-free, others outside under the stars. We have ridden […]
Village Retreat in Jiaju 甲居
The driver drops us off at the entrance to the village. We are on foot from here on. The dust puffs out from under our steps as we walk towards the sloping hills, terrace upon terrace of fields descend steeply towards the deep canyon below. The Tibetan architecture pops out from the green background, little […]
What lies behind the gorge in Langmusi
Nature, always inartistic, takes pleasure in creating the impossible. – Jerome K. Jerome I can no longer tell if the white smoke is from my own breath or the million chimneys that surround us. Billowing fumes fight against the frosty air and warm patches of wet grass seem to be steaming from the ground up. […]
Underground Tibetan Amdo Dumplings
These are not momos. The well-known Tibetan and Nepalese dumplings go very well with images of high Himalayan mountains and icy winds, hot succulent gems to warm your soul from the inside out. These dumplings however go by a different name; these little bursts of juicy meat wrapped in pockets of dough accomplish the job […]
