Finally…I have some time to work on this.

As I am about 10 days from departure, cramming the Chinese into my brain and my stuff into panniers, I keep researching deeper and deeper into Central Asia. NOW, I have fallen in love with the Pamirs.

I’ve prepared a lot for this second go around EXCEPT for my route. I have a general direction and major city stops…but I’m really throwing the planned route at the window.

Tentatively: Kunming, Shangri-La, Chengdu, Xining, Xinjiang…from there, it depends on the Visas.

My passport is at the Kazakhstan Embassy awaiting a “yae” or “nae”. Will know Friday….

I washed my passport and I had been planning to leave in 2 weeks in 1 day. Why do these things happen when I really can’t afford this mess?

View 8900km in a larger map

I’m leaving Shanghai with my bike in 3 weeks. At least 10 hours of Chinese classes a week until then…I’ve gotten over a grammar hump! To top that off I can read and “type” now too. Yae for me.

Photos from the tour will be up soon.

We left Taipei on Feb 28th and completed the route on March 11th.  It was wet, windy, and heck of fun.

Upon our return that weekend, the devastating disaster hit Japan.  Being in Taiwan, a Japanese friendly country (unlike another very unsympathetic place) we watched the news unfold right before our eyes.  There are at least 10 Japanese news stations and we would stop in the street, or subway, and just look in horror at the tv.  By Tuesday I couldn’t watch anymore.  What I saw on those was horrific.

Jason moves back to the US on the 30th, I am staying with some friends in Gubei, working non stop…saving every single rmb to get on the road by the end of the month.

My latest publication of photos can be seen here.

http://www.forbeschina.com/review/201103/0007860.shtml

A too long of a day, too much rain, too much cold, too much wind, and we rode in the dark (with rain) for nearly 3 hours. Not smart but we just wanted to get this over with. I hate being wet…it’s one thing I really really hate. When I’m touring solo I always sit out the rain if I can. There’s nothing like soggy feet and and wind/wet chilled digits.

Oh, speaking of digits (fingers)…the night before Jason and I flew back to China he gave me an engagement ring. After 6 years, living in 2 countries, a few thousand kilometers riding…we decided to commit to “Team Awesome”.

Morning preparation for religious ceremonies.

Keys

Taibei

My FAVORITE breakfast joint in Taiwan! We eat there almost every day.

View at a Nightmarket.

Window box

Lanterns

Asia likes their old trees

Taiwanese "Ice"...my favorite "food" in Taiwan

Clean, orderly, and dignified PUBLIC bathrooms in the subway. Get a hint China!

We’ve almost made it back to Taipei. Making our days as long as possible because, frankly, we are both a little tired of the crappy weather and look forward to the luxuries of Taipei. Although our destination had a pretty good night market…we got this tuna burrito of sorts and I also gobbled down a bag of popcorn.

Woken up at 6 by fireworks and a spiritual parade of some sorts.

Rice

Old Town

Art Deco, my favorite.

Graveyard overgrown with banana trees.

Spring Festival decorations at a temple.

The West Coast of Taiwan has a lot more going on than the East Coast, although I prefer the solitude and beauty of the Eastern shore.

Buy your prayer alter to Buddha on the side of the road.

I want a try'cle.

A fort from the Japanese occupation.

Field work.

My favorite part of touring...the eating!

Coconut Graveyard

Pigeon Home

The day is coming to an end and we can't find anywhere to stay.

It's very difficult finding accomodations in Taiwan. I think one reason it being that the country is so small that you can drive the island in 2 days. The hotels are generally over priced and sometimes you have to call a phone number to find the place and talk to the laoban. For this place, we drove well into the night. We were really racing for sunlight towards the end and found ourselves in a crab shucking village without a hotel around. Our first attempt here, Bodi Bear, we declined because of the price. We drove an additonal 5 Km to another weird hotel that was sold out. So we went back to Bodi, where Jason and I had a little run in with each other...don't ride at night folks. Luckily our bikes were okay, and so were we. It turned out that we got the second to last room at Bodi Bear.

Our own private garage that I would of been completely content just sleeping in one of these for the night. weird hotels.

Weird music played when you opened the door and a lot of porn on the t.v.

Oh, you can just believe my happiness on seeing this. Stoked!

PUPPY LOVE!!!!!

Puppies are plentiful in Taiwan…random little adorable pups. We actually travel with cans of dog food just for this reason. Jason had to use his hands to scoop and lost his cycling gloves in the process. My first visit in 2007, to Taiwan, we took a short trip to Kending and Jason and I walked the streets at night feeding the pups hot dogs and then I found the cans of dog food at 7-11’s.

It began with 1.

...and 1 more...

...3 more...

...with a total of 7 pups. Of course some duplicate photos.