Many people mock the internet and the need for internet access whilst travelling. They have a point I suppose. Do we really need to be in contact on Facebook, by email, reading the news etc constantly. Always in contact with home takes away the edge from travelling. But on the other hand information is vital for travelling. We need train times and prices, hotel booking, maps, weather information, activities in an area and so many other things. This is a recent phenomenon, just a decade ago people would have gone out and seen the world armed with little more than a Lonely Planet guide. You go where it says, stay either where it recommends or nearby and see the sights it recommends. Vague bus and train information is provided as are some basic maps. Is that more fun or less than what we have now? I don’t know, I like information. I need good information to make a good decision. Maybe this is just me. If I turn up in a random town or village and have to spend the night in a dump, that would be annoying, others might find that fun or an experience and make the most of it. We had very bad internet access in China, especially in Qingdao when we had to decide where to go on Japan. We were arriving in Shimonoseki in the south of Japan and had to plan a route. I found an amazing looking island off the south of Japan. It had hiking trails, ancient forests, beaches with turtles laying eggs. It looked perfect from the little we could find out. We just managed to stay connected long enough to book a hotel on the island of Yakushima. We arrived in Japan and bought the train tickets to Kagoshima, ready to board the ferry to the island the next morning. With good internet we started to plan our stay in more detail. This was when we found out the size of the island, far larger than we’d thought it was. We also found out how few buses there are. So taking a bus was out of the question (first bus gets us at the start of a hike at 10:40am and the last bus is around 3pm). Taxis would burn our cash too fast plus couldn’t come and pick us up (middle of nowhere, no English). Everything we read said you need a car. Even the turtles would probably need an overnight stay at the other side of the island (or pay an absolute fortune for a guide and transport). In addition four days of torrential rain was heading...

Today was our 200th day on the road! We arrived in Lhasa, Tibet around 6pm after spending all day on a bus driving from Gyantse through the most amazing scenery. We crossed a pass which was 5,000m above sea level and climbed the hill next to the road to get incredible views of the lake in the valley. In the next valley we drove alongside the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which is called the Brahmaputra River further downstream. This is one of the major rivers of Asia! Overall we had a great day, lots of driving but amazing scenery, interesting things to see and do and visiting some famous places. Today roughly sums up the trip as a whole. This is probably the midpoint of the trip. When we left home back on November last year our estimate was 400 days of travelling. So in the first half of the trip we’ve seen Moscow, some of China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Nepal, Tibet. The second half will hopefully be more of China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. We’ve covered 18,000 miles so far and only flown to and from the Philippines and once in Vietnam to save time. Hopefully we can keep the flying to a minimum in the future too. I hope you all enjoy reading about this trip and will continue following us for the next 200 days. We’ll try to keep the content interesting and informative (which the odd post or two hasn’t been) and will aim to get great photos of the places we visit. Enjoy! Andrew & Annemarie Posted from Lhasa, Xizang (Tibet),...

Today we have been backpacking for 6 months! It doesn’t feel like 6 months and still it feels totally normal to go from city to city, hotel to hotel, constantly on the move. No work, no responsibilities, no need to do anything. Everything is our choice. Of the last 6 months, 2 have been spent in Nepal. We spent 5 weeks in Thailand and thought that was a long time, tomorrow will mark 9 weeks in Nepal! In fact, we’ve spent 39 days in the mountains trekking. That’s more time spent trekking than the total time we’ve spent in any other country. We did north to south of Vietnam in only 3 weeks. The main parts of the Philippines in 25 days and Cambodia in only 8 days. So, I guess that means we’ve enjoyed our time in Nepal? The answer is mainly yes. There are many things in Nepal which we have disliked, but the trekking makes up for that and more. The mountain scenery has been stunning. We have set new records for ourselves, highest altitude on solid ground, 5,416m above sea level, highest altitude for sleeping, 4,540m above sea level, longest walk we’ve completed, 19 straight days. In a few weeks we’ll hit the midpoint of the journey, so, what lies ahead? Where next? In a few days we go back to Kathmandu and organise a one way trip from Kathmandu to Lhasa in Tibet, hopefully via Everest Base Camp (on the north side in China). This is tricky because the restrictions on travel in Tibet are numerous, but we should be able to get the visa with enough patience (and money). After Tibet we’ll take a 44 hour train journey to Chengdu in China to see the pandas and then spend a few weeks in southern China heading for Hong Kong. Hong Kong will be expensive so our stay there will be short and hopefully we can get back into China and travel north along the pacific coast. Then it’s a ferry to South Korea, then another ferry to Japan where we’ll hopefully have a good time travelling the length and breadth of the country (plus some trekking in the Japanese Alps). After Japan things are a little hazy but the general idea is to fly to Malaysia and head south onto Borneo, then into Indonesia, maybe a quick spot of sightseeing in Australia (but leave the travelling for another time) and get into New Zealand for more trekking before Christmas. The next 7 months looks just as busy and packed as the last 6 months! The countries will also be getting more developed, richer...

At the end of December, 3 months ago, we were given a piece of advice by a couple who had travelled around the world many years ago. They said that at some point we would have to take a break, in effect a holiday from travelling. They said that if we didn’t take a break would we get tired and bored of travelling. Well, we have now reached that point. We have been travelling for five full months (152 days) and we’ve covered over 17,000 miles in that time. In the last month we have spent 20 days trekking in Nepal and that has really taken our energy away. We have had lazy days and the odd day here and there where we have done nothing but even then we have had our next move on our minds. But this time we plan a true break; 7 days in Pokhara doing nothing but relaxing. We are too tired to contemplate the next trek, at this point in time we’re almost ready to leave Nepal, we don’t feel like any more trekking. That is probably just weariness kicking in and a rest should get us ready for the next trek and back into the right frame of mind. As I look back over the last few months it has been rather busy. We’ve been in Nepal one month and completed two treks totalling 20 days, most of the time between the treks was planning or buying equipment for the treks. Before Nepal, in the Philippines, we were usually occupied, the rice terraces included plenty of walking, lots to see and a few hair raising bus journeys. Before the Philippines we had 5 weeks in Thailand, most of which was a constant sightseeing trip with little rest. So far 2014 seems to have flown by… Posted from Pokhara, Western Region,...