Awaking at 4:45am, I silence the alarm quickly but make no move to get up. We’ve both had a restless night in our too warm hotel room with a fan that only works at the fastest, noisiest and most sleep-disturbing speed. I’m already exhausted by the thought of starting the day at this hour, let alone heading out on a sightseeing binge. “Maybe we shouldn’t go today?” I trial the words on Justin. He’s quick to agree and rolls over to go back to sleep, but I lie awake in the stifling heat and reconsider. If I give in today then I’ll have this same internal battle another morning. The words are formed before my brain can compile a counter argument. “Maybe we should?” – Posted by Emma

A month of forests, cities and trains was followed by a month of mountains and rivers as we travelled from Sochi to Moscow, Moscow to Perm and Novosibirsk to the Mongolian border. While we’ve pedalled more kilometres through Russia than any other country so far, we’ve barely scraped the surface and this has given us a real sense of the vastness of the world’s largest country. – Posted by Emma

We purposely slowed down in Laos, giving ourselves almost two months to cycle less than 2000km through the country. From steep climbs in the north to heat waves in the south, our cycling wasn’t without challenges, but extended breaks in Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Pakse and Don Det ensured that days off the bike outnumbered days cycling for the first time in our trip. Among our most treasured memories are the children of Laos who enthusiastically waved and shouted sabaidee whenever they spotted us cycling by, some almost falling over in the process. While we saw little wildlife in what was once the land of a million elephants we were still won over by Laos’ lazy charms. – Posted by Emma

We had only a basic idea of what we would find in China, with a change in diet after our cycling in Mongolia one of our highest priorities. After spending almost three months cycle touring in China we barely scraped the surface of the incredibly diverse and complicated country. We experienced some of the worst roads and most challenging terrain of our journey so far, but we also experienced and learnt about a number of distinct cultures. We experienced firsthand the environmental challenges China faces while cycling on traffic and smog choked roads but also bathed in the unspoilt beauty of national forest parks and the mountain landscapes of the Tibetan plateau. – Posted by Justin