It looks like guru John Hoyle found a fix. If you need a website, see his link at the left. He’s a fixer.

Despite jet lag we got Zippy put together with a couple of problems that were solved with a little patience and some muscle. Lucky was particularly helpful, supervising and giving encouragement. We went riding around town today, and it is crazier than Beijing, more like Baku, Azerbaijan. We attract quite a bit of attention on the tandem, something they appear to have never seen.

We were starving on arrival and went wandering for food around our backpacker hotel, which serves mainly Western food to the less adventurous youth. We saw a hutong (alley) and it reminded us that the best food we found in Beijing was in hutongs. We saw an inviting pile of vegetables and were drawn by a cute girl working the street in front of her family’s three table fandian. We pointed at some noodles and green beans.  They brought us paper cups of  boiling water, for sterilization, and I ordered a beer for us. Both no name dishes were wonderfully spiced (dried juniper berries in the green bean dish)  and the heavily hopped Chinese beer was  just as good, and cold, as I remembered it. Total cost for dinner and beer, $2.19

From Claire: I’m hoping our taxi ride from the airport was the most adventure we’ll have on this trip. Sure, Bob was having fun in the front seat–he had a seat belt. Zippy and I clung together for dear life in the back seat of the van. For the driver to have hit a bicyclist on our way from the airport would have been very bad karma all around.

It is odd how the very distinct smells (all except one) are somehow comforting because now they’re familiar from our first trip. Mostly food, but also some incense and lots of other unknowns. And my ears perk up to the language, trying to pick out recognizable words. Already, I’ve found there is an accent to deal with, so that’s why, once again I’m not picking up much of what people are saying. I feel a lot more relaxed this time, we got a good night’s sleep last night and Zippy is back in one piece.

Bob: While Claire was in a grocery today, reacquainting herself with the joys of shopping when none of the packaging is readable, I stayed with Zippy and had a conversation with a Chinese man. He was middle aged, a bit soft looking, in white t-shirt, black shorts, black socks and black shoes. He asked for a light for his cigarette. I think he was testing me, because he immediately produced a lighter when I indicated I didn’t smoke.  Odd to shrug my shoulders in apology for not smoking! Then he asked my age. I knew because it happened so often on our Silk Road Crossing in China. We each drew out our ages on a bench, and used finger counting.  He was 53, and showed shock that I am 65. Then he wanted to see how hard my legs are, a reaction to Zippy as usual, and even went so far as to make me flex my arms for him, and he slowly traced my large veins down my biceps and forearm. I suspect he doesn’t have such good circulation. He complained about the pollution (bad) in Chengdu, between deep draws on his cigarette. He was just curious about me, and not shy about it; Chinese seem to be so shy that they pretend not to see you, or get very personal. All this was sign language, helped along by Claire when she arrived.

Then we had an exciting ride back to the bingwan. Now it’s time for dinner. What unknown dish will we have tonight? I’m ready for that pejo!

Zippy shrink wrapped and ready for China. The wheels are in two other boxes, along with tools and sharp objects, a third bag will carry tent and sleeping bag for the high mountains. We’ll carry cameras and the computer in carry on. We hope all of this gets to Chengdu at the same time we do, unlike our first experience with China and air travel.

The packing is always such an epic. But since these trips are usually Zippy’s ideas, we can’t very well leave him behind.

One more day to get things done.

The High Road to Shangri-la

We leave September 1 for Chengdu, Sichuan, China to begin a tandem bicycle tour of SW China and SE Asia. We begin in Chengdu, Sichuan, where the earthquakes killed thousands last year. We will visit some pandas and probably visit our first important Buddha statue before heading into high country where the Himalayas transition from the Tibetan plateau, giving birth to all the great rivers of SE Asia. After a long crossing into Yunnan, we will drop into the sub tropics of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and end probably in Bangkok, one of our favorite cities.

We are feverishly making preparations: Zippy, our 38,000 mile Cannondale mountain tandem. He’s our precocious teenager. Though still strong, he always requires a complete rebuild from the frame up, because the places he takes us are hundreds or thousands of miles from a modern bike shop. We like him to start out without the creaks and grinding noises he will acquire after rain and grit take their inevitable toll. Claire sewed patches on holes and weak spots of our 38,000 mile Cannondale panniers (no they are not sponsoring us). We are far to sentimental to buy a new bicycle or panniers; we’ve come a long way together. I’ve been gathering all the tools necessary to fix almost anything that might go wrong in a few thousand miles, though as I learned on our Silk Road Crossing, I can’t carry replacement parts for every eventuality.

Claire is working on her Chinese, and I will, as usual, smile and use various vigorous hand signals attempt communication. The airlines are making it more and more difficult to travel with bicycles, let alone a tandem, so after painstakingly rebuilding him, I have taken him apart, down to the smallest package possible, and it still exceeds the maximum size, but is underweight. We are hoping for compassion from the agents.

There will be more preparation pictures, and another message from Lucky the rescued Panda who is going back to China with us.

There will be many more posts along the way than there were for the Silk Road Crossing; we’re taking a netbook so you can travel with us. Be sure and bookmark this site and check it often. We appreciate your good wishes.

We are not the anti-social hedonists many associate with the name Bohemians. Anyone who has followed our adventures knows we don’t avoid challenge or discomfort. We get our high by pushing our bodies and minds in pursuit of creative living, travel, and intimate connection with the World and it’s peoples. That is the New in New Bohemians.

Many people searching for our site found instead a folk rock band, Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians, since they had the .com long before we conceived of a web presence. They’re a laid back group with a great sound and meaningful lyrics you can actually understand. They have an interesting, and long, history, that I may explore in a future post.

With the help of John Hoyle at The Small Webmaster, we have manged to get our site second only to Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians, and are gaining an ever increasing following. We will keep the content fresh and, sometimes at least, exciting. You will find travel narratives from all over the world, and close to home, by tandem bicycle, sailboat, motorhome, Asian trains, an aging Soviet era airliner, and one Lada. There are in excess of 300,000 words and who knows how many pictures, with more to come: Tandem, An American Love Story, Around Australia by Tandem and Cruising the South Pacific with Captain Bligh. Start off with photos of these places on our travel portfolio.

Many people have responded to our newest blogger, Lucky the stuffed panda we rescued. He is coming to life, and will join us on our next adventure, when we ride our tandem, Zippy from Sichuan to Yunnan, China, and into Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. We think his blogs will be an interesting view of his country of origin. He may decide to stay. Who knows? We will be posting our own blogs and perhaps some videos.

We leave in early September for Chengdu, where the recent devastating earthquakes killed thousands. We’ll take Lucky to see his namesakes at the giant panda breeding center. From there we’ll attempt to pedal up over the Tibetan plateau, in search of Shangri-La, and beyond.

We’ll give you another heads-up before we leave. For now, check out our Silk Road Crossing page. It is an exciting preview of the challenges and rewards of independent travel in Asia.

Life it good. Share your thoughts on what your read, and tell us about your adventures.