A short holiday, just two weeks away from our busy lifes in the Netherlands. We start our adventure in Singapore and sweat our way through the jungle in Malaysia and up to the Camaron Highlands. It’s all about palm trees here! And a very happy ending…

It’s raining cats and dogs and the sound on our tent is kind of soothing, but I’ll probably think otherwise when we have to start cycling again tomorrow. It’s grey, misty and wet and it has been like this for days now. Too bad, well, I guess we have to come back one day!

We are cycling the Icefield Parkway and follow rivers, pass waterfalls and enjoy sunsets at amazing lakes. During the day we have a lot of rain, snow and even hail, but every now and then the clouds open up and we can enjoy the beautiful Canadian landscape.

We are way on time at the checkin desk at Schiphol, Amsterdam. A friendly stewardess tries to help us, but without luck. She urges us to go to desk number 16…

An important test for us: our first cycling trip after the unhappy ending in China. How will Elmar hold? Well, actually very good! He’s back! Happy to be cycling again and enjoying our freedom on the bicycle, together.

Sometimes the unexpected happens.., and sometimes it’s a little too much adventure to your liking. While walking around in Xiahe, Elmars knees suddenly swoll and started to hurt real badly. The pain even extended to his wrists and ankles… this story is a summery of what happened on our cycling adventure during a 3-month sabbatical.

I find myself deeply tucked away into my coat. My hat almost hiding my eyes, only the tip of my nose is visible and facing the cold air. In front of me is Elmar cycling exactly in the same way. The snow is blowing horizontally, straigth into our faces. I feel the flocks melt on my cheeks.

When we arrive in Xi’an Elmar isn’t feeling very well, he has a fever and the usual stomach problems. I know it’s not right, but seeing all these Western fastfood restaurants… we can’t help ourselves after eating that Stan food for two months!

Dust in my ears.
Dust in my nose.
Dust in my eyes.
We drink water out of a dust covered water bottle.
Dust on our chain.
Dust on our clothes.

It’s nine o’clock in the evening. We are sitting on a bench near the river, the sun has set and the sky is pitch black with millions of stars. We pull the blanket a bit tighter around us. Svetlana and her two daughters join us, to check if ‘it’s’ already visible. We have absolutely no clue what we are supposed to see, but it must be special. A few minutes later the girls start to jump up and down and point towards an opening between two rocks. A bright star shines exactly in the opening. Aha! Time to hit the sack and get warm!