Our diet in Mongolia has become similar to that of local people with meat high on the ingredients list and few vegetables. As we find it hard to source fresh ingredients we are eating a lot more sugary junk food and as we did in Russia taking every opportunity we can to order food from any roadside cafe we pass. Using the staples of potatoes, carrots and onions in original ways has challenged our cooking skills but on this particular day a can of peas made all the difference to our evening meal. – Posted by Justin

On the all important food front, it has been thoroughly enjoyable to cross into Cambodia. An abundance of fresh fruit, what we call ‘pot-luck’ dinners (where you pick what you want to eat by seeing what is in each pot) and Cambodian-style icy desserts in all but the smallest towns means we’ve rarely gone hungry. If it wasn’t for the heat regularly robbing us of our appetites, I’d have some concern about the balance of calories eaten vs burnt. – Posted by Emma

With just 11 days spent cycling in one of the more remote corners of Vietnam, we missed all the big cities, so didn’t have a chance to sample a wide range of the country’s kitchen skills. From our brief investigation we can report that the tang of Vietnamese fish sauce was refreshing after the sometimes oil-laden dishes of China, but some days it was difficult to find a variety of vegetables to supplement a meat heavy diet. Despite a few serious food miscommunications (rice served with noodles? just noodles?), the rice bowls of Vietnam fuelled us with enough carbs for a hilly ride to the border. – Posted by Emma

When we arrived in China we were looking forward to a big change from our Mongolian diet and we weren’t disappointed. Most menus offer a bewildering array of options all of which we are unable to appreciate not being able to read more than a few basic Chinese characters. Our ordering tactics include pointing at dishes that other diners are eating, wandering into the kitchen and selecting from the food on display or using our trusty point and show phrasebook. The cooker is remaining idle as we eat mainly at roadside cafes for prices cheaper than we can buy raw ingredients. – Posted by Justin