This is a short article because getting a Vietnamese visa in Kunming, China is a simple affair. The most difficult part is finding the Vietnamese consulate. I applied on 24th October 2013, as a British citizen, for a 30 day single-entry tourist visa with rushed same-day service. The Vietnamese consulate sits inside Hongta Mansion inside Kai Wah International Hotel on…

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I could not have been more surprised by my experience of cycling in Iraq. All the time I felt safe, I learnt so much about the country and its people and was left speechless at the level of kindness and hospitality I saw on a daily basis. I travelled there in November 2012 so please check to make sure specific…

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I’ve never owned a GPS unit in my life, let alone a smartphone, but I can see their advantages. I’m often asked how I get directions on the road. The short answer is: in lots of ways using mainly low technology methods. Paper maps are my preference with a boy-scout compass round my neck. Here, using my own experience and…

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Obtaining the Chinese visa, especially if coming from the west or north, is known, justifiably, as a nightmare for independent travellers. Visa regulations are constantly changing so in all probability this article will soon be outdated (if it isn’t already). Hopefully it will give some useful insights though. On July 1st 2013 there were a number of changes to China’s…

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Overland travellers of all sorts – backpackers, hitch-hikers, cyclists and walkers – get stuck in Central Asia. Since July 1st 2013, China has tightened visa rules and rejection stories are starting to filter through. Since the presidential elections in Iran, many visa applications are stuck there too. So why not consider the largest country in the world, Russia, as your…

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- Whistle. Light as a feather and potentially extremely useful. I use it mainly as my ‘protection’ in the tent. If you get any unwanted attention from anybody you can scare them away with this. It may sound useless but it acts very much like a house alarm. Also good for keeping away wild animals that might bother you in…

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This article comes from someone bereft of any intuitive mechanical ability. It’s probably not worth reading if you’re good at bike mechanics. It probably is useful if you don’t really know what you’re doing. As far as the mechanical side of bicycle touring goes I didn’t know anything before I started. I barely knew how to fix a puncture. I’ve…

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I cycled the Pamir Highway in the middle of April 2013. This article is concerned mainly with the road from Khorog to Osh although I do make some reference to the valleys along the Afghan border, including the detour through Ishkashim. Research is key, fitness is important and luck will play a large part in whether you have a good…

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Many travellers scoff at the idea of business cards; the invasion of cooperatism into the rosy idealism of living free and easy. This article isn’t for them, although I hope they might be able to recognize some of the benefits. This is for the majority of travellers who haven’t even considered taking business cards. By ‘business card’ I mean a…

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One of the questions people most often ask me is: why travel by bicycle? I’ve changed my answer over time. In what will probably turn out to be the first in a string of attempts to convert you to cycle touring, here are my 8 top reasons for why travelling by pedal-power is the way forward. 1. See all the…

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