Zippy Joined Us

‘I complained because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet,’ comes to mind after one of our stays along the backroads of Shangrila. Remember the fun we had with the video detailing the trip across the road, down the stairs and over the bridge to the outhouse? This time we stayed at a “hotel” with no toilet–at all.

The Tibetan women we stayed with earlier were not in business, but this hotel was running an accommodation where the toilet was a five minute walk along the road to where the fence ended and the hillside dropped down through some trees for privacy. One really had to watch one’s step and keep eyes from wandering should another villager be occupying a nearby tree. Even open space here has a purpose. On the bright side, Zippy was able to stay with us for a change, rather than with a baby pig or in the meat locker.

The lone light bulb flickered and faltered in sync with whatever was going on in the family living area next door. We didn’t charge our computer or cameras that night!

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.