Hong Kong

Charlie's blog:​
Leaving Chengdu we hopped on a coach across the basin (where the driver was quite taken with us and asked us to sit up front with him, which actually consisted of 1 seat and a tiny cubby hole behind the gear stick where Lou sat!). All refreshed from our stay in Chengdu and coming down from the Tibetan plateau I was very much looking forward to some easier cycling... not a lot to ask, some nice flat roads, beautiful scenery. Well we got the beautiful scenery but it came at a hilly price. Welcome to rice field territory!
 
Straight away we were surrounded by rolling hills, they were short but incredibly steep. It had been a while since I'd had to get off my bike and push but these hills were on a whole other level! With every step it took all my strength not to roll backwards all the way down the hill!
 
Despite the absolutely beautiful scenery in rural China my spirits were low and I was absolutely hating the hills. It was constant for a few days and it really got to me, not going to lie, there were tears, and one day in particular was extremely tough and I really just didn't want to cycle anymore. The good thing about cycling in a pair is that on your bad days you have the other person to fall back on. Along with the hills, it was getting more and more difficult to find places to camp as every single spare patch of group is cultivated and used for growing crops. This particularly bad day we stopped in a village and started asking the locals is there was anywhere we could camp. We had been using Google Translate very successfully to communicate but in this village a lot of the locals couldn't read. Thanks to Lou we found this lovely family who offered to let us stay with them that night. The daughter worked in the next town and was so kind to us, they gave us food and the granddad was very pleased to point out the English subtitles they had on their TV:)
 
Cycle paths and highways
On the Biking to China Whatsapp group someone posted about an amazing 140km cycle path along a river from Chishui to Guizhou. Not sure what to expect, an actual paved red cycle lane was more than I could have hoped for! It was 140km of pure bliss, gorgeous cycling with a river on the right and bamboo forests on the left. We had two days of taking photos and speeding along not having to worry about cars or hills or getting lost :) We also had one of our more unusual camping spots, after cycling a couple of km with a local Chinese girl who caught us up on her bike (she was a teacher and cycled to and from work along this path and very much enjoyed taking selfish with us!) she showed us to a hotel and the very nice lady there let us set up our tent on the balcony overlooking the river! 
 
One of the most exciting things at this point of our trip was that our little GPS dot on Google maps and Hong Kong could actually fit on the same screen! After how far we had come it was so exciting to see us and our destination so close.
 
However China had a few other challenges to throw at us before we got to Hong Kong.
 
The first being the highway police. There are two types of roads on China, the well built, straight, flat highways and the low roads, which are more windy, going up and down hills, oh yes and they have the tendancy to not to be built yet.
 
Technically bikes aren't allowed on Chinese highways and there are toll booths at all the entrances. However it's not too difficult to sneak past them onto the road, just a friendly smile and and wave and we only got stopped by the toll booth workers once. We used the highways when we got fed up with the long hilly low roads and just needed some time cycling on the flat and racking up some miles. 
Although they are highways hardly any cars were on them and they have a huge hard shoulder to cycle on so we felt pretty safe on them (especially compared to the cars who speed down the low roads with no hard shoulder!) 
The only thing with the highways were that the tended to have a lot of tunnels, most of the time they were well lit and one way so it was fine but occasionally the lights would go out half way and we would be left with our little bike lights to navigate with. It was quite scary especially when the tunnel is 5km long!  
 
We had had varying success on the highways, although we got through the tolls alright we would usually be stopped at some point by the highway police, once we got on a highway the trick would be to cycle as far as possible before the highway patrol caught up, feigning ignorance that bikes werent allowed on these roads, tryibg to convince them to let us stay and inevitably being escorted to the next exit.
 
Sometime's we were caught the same morning, other times we would have a good couple of days on the highway, it varied.
 
We had been hopping on and off the highways pretty successfully for a few days when we were hit with one of the most frustrating, exhausting and tear filled days of the whole trip. 
 
We set off nice and early but hadn't been going 10 minutes before the police caught us, damn. But it was fine, we got off at the next exit only to realise that we would have to go in a huge circle literally back to the hotel in order to get to the low road!!! We arrived back exactly where we started at midday and was already crying tears of frustration. But it was only going to get worse.
 
We set off again only to find 7km later that the low road hadn't actually been built yet! It led to 20km of hell. Cycling through mud, rocks, hills and excavators digging up the path making it impossible to cycle. Having tp push my heavy bike though the mud was such hard going, I pretty much cried the whole way. After many many frustrating hours we made it to the next town just as it got dark and we treated ourselves to a hotel with free breakfast (where I filled my pockets with boiled eggs for the next few days!). 
 
We decided that we were far enough away from the last police crew to try our luck on the highway again. And the universe must have felt sorry for us as we found a hole in the fence to clamber through so we avoided the toll booths and got nearly 2 days on this highway!
 
By this point we were well on our way to Hong Kong with just one more big stop before we reached our final destination.
 
Oreo Pancakes for Breakfast:)
A few days later we cycled into the fascinating city of Guilin. This has been on our must see list since we started planning the trip and it defiantly lived up to expectations.
After checking in to a lovely hostel and enjoying one of the most delicious breakfasts of oreo pancakes and tea we spent a day exploring the river Li on a bamboo raft (which was neither bamboo or a raft!!). We also visited ShangriLa, fed a water buffalo and learnt about the local history.
 
It was absolutely beautiful and I really enjoyed the two days we had cycling around that area. However I didn't get to make the most of it as on thh way to Yangshou I was hit with my second migraine of the trip. Luckily we were only 7km from our bed for the night so after a rest for my vision to clear, we made it to Yangshou and i slept for the rest of the day and the night. It was a shame to miss Yangshui but my migraines really do knock me out.
 
Migraine passed, we left Yangshou and started on the final stretch, in one week we would be in Hong Kong! It was kinda hard to believe, after all this time Hong Kong was only a week away! 
 
We followed another gorgeous river path and started to feel a marked improvement in the temperature.  In just a couple of days we went from thermals, fleeces and coats to shorts and t-shirts! I was wary at first, not willing to take my layers off thinking that as soon as I did the weather would turn but it just got warmer and warmer. We didn't think we'd get to cycle in t-shirts again this trip, it was so nice to be finishing in the warm.
 
My other favourite thing, along with the warm weather, was that the bauhinia flowers were in bloom all along the roadsides. This is the national flower of Hong Kong and I have very vivid memories of the bauhinia tree in our garden in Hong Lok Yuen.

So we made it into the absolutely huge city of Guangdong. This place is massive, at least 200km across, and Hong Kong was on the other side. 
 
After a bit of googling and a chat with some cyclists going the other way we found out that the only way to get into Hong Kong is by metro or boat. You can't cross on the roads. We think this is because it used to be a British colony and so, unlike the rest of China, Hong Kong locals drive on the left. That did cause a bit of a problem for us, bikes aren’t allowed on the metro and we were yet to find a definitive answer about whether they could be put on a ferry, so how were we going to get our bikes into Hong Kong?
 
We decided to head for Macau anyway and hope that it would be a yes, especially if we told them our whole story and how close to our final destination we were. Fortunately that was not necessary and bikes are totally allowed on ferries. We did miss our appointed boat due to some unexpected stairs but the nice people switched us over to the next one.
And that was it, we were on our way to Hong Kong!
 
Now, I am not great with ferries and sea sickness so this was not my ideal entrance into the country I’ve not been in for 18 years. I arrived feeling very queasy and unsteady on my feet but after a couple of moments that was replaced by butterflies and excitedness. We were in Hong Kong! HONG KONG! Actual, real life, Hong Kong!
 
It had been 7 and a half months, 13 countries and 12,060km!
 
Once off the boat we cycled (on the left for the first time since we left England!) along the prom looking at the iconic skyline including our favourite building (the Bank of China obvs). It was December 22nd and all of the skyscrapers were lit up with Christmas messages and lights. It was so beautifulJ We made it to our hostel and settled in to plan our time in Hong Kong.
 
I only had a few days in Hong Kong before my flight home to see my boyfriend before he moves to America, so I tried to fit in as much as I could.  First on the list was to visit our old home in Hong Lok Yuen. The first step was to take the Star Ferry across to the main land. This was super exciting as the Star Ferry is one of my favourite memories from Hong Kong. It is this awesome green and white ferry that you take for 2 dollars across to Victoria Harbour. We did end up cycling up and down the prom like 6 times before we found the ferry port but it was totally worth it. The view of Hong Kong Island from the boat was beautiful and the ferry was just like I remembered.
 
After crossing the sea and managing to somehow blag getting our bikes on the metro we travelled to Sha Tin and I walked up to the Temple of 1000 Buddha's, one of the places I remember from my childhood, it brought back all the lovely memories:)
  
We then cycled along the coast to Tai Po and on to Hong Lok Yuen :)
 
We got into the gated community with surprising ease and it was just like I remembered. We visited our old primary school, and got to have a look around. It was literally exactly the same, it was so cool to see our old classrooms, the field where we used to play, the pillars where we practised handstands, the hall where we had Dramarama and they even had the same pointy cups by the water fountain J
 
Then we headed to find our house, after a little cycle around we found Hong Lok Road East and made our way to number 233. Then all of and sudden we were there! After leaving our home in Hartford we had arrived at our home in Hong Lok Yuen. It was really exciting but it had changed a lot, gone were the beautiful iron gates in exchange for a fancy steel door. But we could just about see the house through the gaps and the balcony where Dad, Lou and I got locked out one day and Dad had to climb down the drain pipe! 
 
After taking all the photos we headed to the park where we used to play and I sat on the 44 It rock :) To finish off an amazing day we met up for tea at the Country Club with Bethany, a friend from school! We hadn't seen her in 18 years but it still felt so comfortable chatting about life and what we do. It's crazy that you can share something so long ago and still be bonded by it. Another school friend, Nicola, joined us and brought along some photos of us all when we were 8 and reminisced about Mum's Making Club:)
 
The next day I went across the island to Stanley Market, another favourite memory, and spent the rest of my savings on souvenirs and shopping! I then met up Lou at Ocean Park, our favourite theme park! It had changed a lot, the butterfly house and mechanical T-Rex had gone but it was cool to take the cable car down the mountain and see the dolphin show.
  
Home Sweet Home
Then all of a sudden it was my last day. I packed everything up, weighed my bag, re-packed it, unpacked it, weighted it… this went on for way longer than I expected! But eventually I was ready, just in time to meet up with another school friend, Clara, for some awesome Hong Kong dim sum… it was SO good!
 
All too soon I was at Hong Kong International Airport ready to come home. 
                                       
I arrived in Manchester on Christmas morning and got big hugs from all my family and got to enjoy a delicious Christmas meal, including lots and lots of delicious gravy! And incredibly I made back to England in time to spend 2 wonderful days with my boyfriend before he set off on his own adventure in America.
  
I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Mum, Dad and Nikki who were so supportive and always there when we got into a pickle, or needed some motivation. It really means a lot:) And to all my friends and family who called, skyped and sent messages while I was away, I missed you all loads and it was so good to hear from you throughout the trip. Cant wait to see you all:)
And also to James, my man on the ground, for always being there, and putting up with me calling at all times of the day, being off the grid for weeks at a time and more than once crying down the phone to him. He never told me this trip was too dangerous or that I couldn't do it or that he didn't want me to go and that meant so much to me. And I am delighted to say that this wonderful man is now my fiancé :D There will be cycling, camping and exploring in our future and I cant wait!
 
Today is a year since we set off on this crazy adventure and it almost feels like it didn’t happen. To think about all of the things we have done it boggles the mind, finding the Monty Python tunnel in Holland, playing Star Wars Irish Snap with Aram in Austria, running away from mosquitoes in Serbia, meeting Nina and sleeping half a km away from an all night rave, cycling in 40 degree heat through Greece, drinking vodka on the Caspian Sea ferry, wild camping in Kazakhstan, high fiveing kids at 3000 meters in Kyrgyzstan, having water freeze inside our tent at night, cycling into China with a group of awsome cyclists, throwing up in a Chinese taxi, getting chased by dogs on the Tibetan Plateau, learning Chinese hand counting, and I’m sure I’ve already forgotten loads more but will try to make a note of the things that randomly pop into my head over the next few months. It’s all the little moments which may not mean much at the time but when I remember them make me smile.

So here is a little message to anyone who is maybe thinking of doing something a bit crazy, whether it is cycling half way around the world or going out of your comfort zone by trying something new definitely do it! You wont regret it, all the best things happen outside your comfort zone :)
 
But wait you say, what happened to your trusty steed Charlie the bike?!
I am delighted to say that his adventure continues! I stuck my Hong Kong sticker on the frame to join Tegan’s (slightly battered) South Africa sticker, and Kelly’s Iceland sticker and passed him on to a cool Canadian cyclist called Ali who took him to Thailand for a month of cycling and exploring the beautiful countryside. He is currently in Bangkok awaiting the next stage of his adventure, it would be really cool to find someone to continue his journey and make it the whole way around the world!
​
Charlie the bike had his quirks and definitely enjoyed falling over when it was least convenient but I got very attached to him and wouldn’t have any other bike:)

Lou's blog:
“Life is too brief and too rich to tiptoe through half-heartedly, rather than galloping at it with whooping excitement and ambition.”  Alastair Humphreys, There Are Other Rivers: On Foot Across India


A year ago today I set off in the hopes of finding something that would challenge me to the edge of my limits, I wanted to be thrown in the deep end and have to use everything I have to make it work. I wanted adventure. I wanted to finally do a big trip that I had dreamed of for years and I was so curious to return to Hong Kong, the place we grew up and hadn’t been back to in 18 years.  A year on and I finally feel like I gained all that and so much more, and all it took was 12,066 very slow kilometers.


On this adventure-anniversary I would like to share some final stories from the trip and the things that I’ll hold with me for the rest of my life.


Perspectives is Key
Having my friend Aram join us for Germany to Budapest and again across Kyrgyzstan was such a highlight. Through him I saw our journey with new eyes, and was re-energized with the ambition of what we were taking on. It was also pretty cool to see how much I had grown by the time we reached Kyrgyzstan. I remember the day we set off, I’d never been so unsure and nervous as on that first day pedalling away from home. I didn’t know if I could even make it through the next day never mind the half of the rest of the world which lay ahead. I remember passing a road cyclist about an hour in who asked if we were doing Lands End/John O’Groats, I grinned at the road (because I was too unsteady to look up at him and talk) and shouted back “Nope, we’re going to Hong Kong, and this is our first day!” Even as the words came out of my mouth they sounded ridiculous. At each next stage of the journey the nerves would come flooding back – when we crossed into Eastern Europe, the first time wildcamping, setting off into the unknown desert in Kazakhstan…But when Aram arrived the second time in Kyrgyzstan and told us of the snowy mountain passes we would have to cross, I realised for the first time that I wasn’t worried. By that point, after weeks in the desert, running out of water (twice), being chased by dogs, cycling more than 100km in a day, being offered hospitality, water and food by kind strangers in every country and becoming more connected with nature and the environment around us, I felt a kind of calm contentedness that we could take on whatever lay ahead just by taking it one day at a time. That assuredness and trust in my strength and abilities stayed with me through the Takalamakan desert in China and still lurks somewhere in me now.
So thank you to Aram for bringing fresh perspective, for jumping into lakes, for introducing us to brandy, cinnamon and apple juice, for cycling 60km for a sandwich on his second day of touring, for patiently describing cheese, for always being positive even after the 5th puncture in one day and for bailing out 12 cycletourers with no dollars in Sary-Tash.






“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”  Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
 One of the things I miss the most from cycle touring is the joy of spending all day, everyday outdoors and the connectedness which comes with that as certain things move to the front of your consciousness and others slip away. To be immersed in the landscapes we were slowly travelling through was really quite exciting and learning; my favourites were the length of the Danube in Serbia, the desert Steppe of Kazakhstan, the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and the high plateaus of Qinghai in China (I realise that covers a good 60% of the trip but it was all really quite spectacular). Moving at the pace of a heavily laden bicycle meant there was plenty of time take in all of our surroundings and to notice how a place may look a little desolate but is in-fact alive with movement, life and colour. I remember looking around at the endless, flat grasslands of the Steppe and noticing how the wind rippled across the fields of golden grass turning it darker brown in waves like brushing velvet the wrong way. There were wildflowers hidden in the grass and insects among the bushes which grew out of dry lake beds with soil cracked from the long days of sun. Annoyingly, all of these things which added so much richness to the journey are ridiculously difficult to capture in photos!
Now onto the weather – the weather affected everything! The rising of the sun was our alarm clock and when it touched the horizon was the signal to set up camp, the direction of the wind (ie constant headwind) would affect our mileage and the dropping temperature to -10 at night led to grumpy twins. When the temperature reached 40 degrees in the desert we were laid down with 7 litres of water each and when the time came to put my winter coat back in the bottom of my panniers I was so so so happy.




Part of a Community
There’s a glorious thing that happens when a cycle-tourer bumps into another cycle tourer on the road. The connection is instant and adds a lot of excitement to the day – partly because of the chance to talk to new people, partly to get important info on the road ahead but it is also partly reassuring to know that other people are on similar journeys.  I remember glancing up from my tea in Bulgaria and seeing a girl with a touring bike sat on a bench by the river, one shared watermelon later and a shared experience of terrible nights wildcamping and we had a new travel buddy all the way to Athens! Cycling with Nina was so much fun, I loved her positive energy and one of the highlights of the trip was getting a message from her saying she was coming back to join us for another week!
Each encounter is unique but every single one was so much fun, from sharing tea with 4 daring American ladies on a rainy morning along the Danube, to setting up a slackline between a tree and a lorry with a Frenchman in Bulgaria, and sharing tips about the road ahead in China with the kiwibums. Sometimes it was a small as getting a thumbs up from a motorcycle tourer halfway up a long mountain climb or glancing up to notice a solo cycler wrapped up against the cold on a busy highway in the Tien Shan mountains, I only had a moment to wave, but when I glanced back they were waving too. 


One of the highlights was being in Osh, Kyrgyzstan and hearing rumours that 10 other cyclists were going to be arriving in the small town of Sary-Tash in three days time….the same time we were planning to arrive! We rocked up and spent the next day on plastic chairs lined up by the side of the road in the sun, drinking terrible beer waiting to see who would arrive.  And sure enough the front wheel of a bike rounded a parked truck and who rolled into view but Chloe and Will from the Caspian Sea ferry! Josh had arrived earlier that morning and it was here we met Team Oufti and Tim and Jess who would cycle to Kashgar in China with us a few days later. It was a lot of fun to spend time with other tourers, swap stories of the road, relax and know that we didn't have to justify to each other a day spent on laptops rather than exploring the beautiful scenery! enjoy the beautiful scenery before a really enjoyable ride to the Chinese border. 


It is a small but increasingly growing community of people who choose to leave their lives, pack everything into panniers, learn how to maintain a bike and set off into the wild world to discover what’s in the blanker spaces on the map and joining that group is one of the best things I’ve ever done. Highly recommended.


  
The world is a much kinder, friendlier, more curious place than people imagine. Fact.
People are lovely and curious and kind and they proved that time and time again. From the families in Serbia, Greece and China who opened their homes and gave us a room for the night to the truck drivers who would pull over, jump out, proudly show us a bucket of fish they had just caught, take a selfie and insist we take a watermelon for the road. There were countless people who handed us a cold bottle of water or coke on the road and then drove off with just a nod and a smile. 
Strangers came to the rescue time and time again; one day in the desert we were running out of water and the next two chaihanas/teahouses were closed, I had drunk the water from a tin of sweetcorn and was rationing the last inch in my bottle to 1 sip every half hour when we came across a lorry parked in a lay-by. I went to ask the drivers if they had any spare water and not only did they fill all our bottles, they produced the juciest, most delicious melon for us to share, seconds later a car pulled up and, without even having to ask, a family gave us a packet of biscuits and some nut-snaps without a seconds hesitation.
One of the things I found hardest was learning to accept the kindness of strangers, at first it felt like we were imposing on them by accepting the invitation for chai or the offer of some free bread for the journey or a night in their homes. But I learnt that accepting help and kind offers is a way to learn more, become more connected and added a richness to the journey. In exchange we learnt to share stories, agree to a rounds of selfies and precariously balance small children on our bikes for more photos! J. 


  
Home Sweet Home
I haven’t written much about our arrival in Hong Kong, its hard to put into words something which I’ve dreamt about and visualised for so long. There was so much joy at being back there and walking through our old village and meeting old school friends and finding out that we actually had a lot in common! But there was also sadness that the trip was over which turned into the utter debacle of trying to pack my bike up for the flight which is a story for another time (lets just say that without the help of two kind Australians at the last minute CJ and I wouldn’t have made it back to the UK together!).


I’ve been home in the UK now since January and in these 4 months I’ve launched myself into more things than ever before. I’ve carried on cycle touring around the UK, got back into climbing and did my first trad lead climb and multi-pitch, I went to Snowdon in winter with gloriously adventurous strangers, timidly fell down slopes on a snowboard, joined a Medair course and made some inspirational new friends, started practising with watercolours, met someone to have adventures in the UK with, jumped in the sea in Cornwall, played rounders and have taken up yoga! 
UKtoHK has been such a big part of my life for so long it’s hard to plan a life for after it. In a whirlwind of job applications its hard to tell what is next, I hope to get a job abroad again, I hope to turn my adventures into paintings and I hope to plan many more bicycle adventures for the future….so far my list includes:

• Cycle the coast of Italy – super lightweight and simple
• Cycle Alaska to Ushuaia – a trip for a few years time
• Cycle the Karakorum – Inspired by the intrepid cyclers I met
• Cycle Iran – to complete the Silk Road path

 One things for sure though, I’ll treasure memories of the journey forever and will aim to live a life characterised by excitement, adventure and ambition.