After the great dinner with the others, I had a good sleep and a lazy start this morning. Did some ‘office’ work. Will drive to the other hotel of the two from Indonesia and see if they have the bigger allan key I need for my foot pegs, Which I need to ‘loctide’ and tighten… Continue reading →

Today will be an interesting drive when I drive up to the lake and then cross a bridge which in some ways is a masterpiece of modern highway construction in a stunning landscape. Well let’s see. As I had time and it was early, I decided to take the longer but more interesting looking National… Continue reading →

Had a good sleep last night and packed now for the next  4 hours on the road. I had a brief encounter with a Thai couple who is also travelling in China, in a tour bus. The world is getting more interconnected. Looking at the weather forecast, I might hit some rain at the end… Continue reading →

This was maybe the most eventless day so far. When I started planning this China leg, I kept the last days a bit loose and easy, to have a buffer towards the end, in case I have a delay somewhere between. So, the trip today to Kuitan was only a bit over three hours on… Continue reading →

This was a fast drive today on the highway to Ürümqi, the capitol of the Xinjiang province, which is an Uyghur Autonomous Region, with a higher security protocol. Had one more security checkpoint on the highway, but again, all quick, a face photo (with helmet) and a photo of my passport and it was done.… Continue reading →

Another day with surprises. I set the alarm clock to 6am to get an early breakfast before getting on the highway towards Turpan again. Well, as I moved further west, sun rise and sunset is changing and so are business and opening hours. First observation, it was raining, second, the breakfast starts only at 8:00.… Continue reading →

Today was in many ways, one big surprise. When I did my research on the route, the desert runs to Hami and tomorrow to Turpan have always been described as one of the most challenging day routes on this trip, a long and endless desert run through heat and dry desert plateaus. I was advised… Continue reading →

Had a good sleep in an amazing comfortable bed and am enjoying a good breakfast now. Will use the day for some administrative work, booking hotels for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and work off some overdue emails. It’s time to shift my gear from warm to hot weather and to take out the camel bag from… Continue reading →

Today will be another 5 hour highway trip through the desert to Dunhuang. The weather this morning came with a comfortable temperature. Let’s see how it warms up over the day as I will descend further to lower altitudes into the flat Gobi desert. Here is a quick brief from my driving assistant: 🌅 MORNING… Continue reading →

Had another good sleep last night, clearly the air is getting dryer now. When I had to put on full gear yesterday to get over the freezing last pass and left the last colourful Tibetan prayer flag pole behind me, I’m now at the start of the Gobi desert and its Hexi corridor. Today will… Continue reading →

I got up early to prepare for a potential 10 hour drive. A (motorcycle driving) policeman I met yesterday, told me I can use the highways (Autobahn) even if it is not really allowed. I need to squeeze the bike through the toll stations (right most lanes) and so long as I stay within the… Continue reading →

I got up a bit earlier to check on the weather after it was raining last night, only to get greeted by sunshine. It is looking like a promising day. While it is only 300 km or so on national roads, the navigation system predicts a 6 hour drive. So better I get on the… Continue reading →

Had a good start of the day with a local breakfast and a Tibetan monk joining me and asking me all kinds of questions and invited me to visit another monastery. Unfortunately, his mandarin was not very clear, so the goggle translator had problems translating what he was saying and I had not downloaded the… Continue reading →

Today will be a bit shorter with 5 hours or so. Still on high altitudes but at least on straight, and wider roads with less traffic. Had a good night, with a bit of breakfast. I’m sure I will find something along the route. This was another great riding day, with the sun coming out… Continue reading →

Had good sleep and as the hotel offered no breakfast and I had at least 7 hours drive ahead, I started at 8:00, filled the tank full and joined the endless stream of trucks, and busses and cars and everything between. Average speed on those major roads is around 55 km/h. After another number of… Continue reading →

After a good night and good breakfast I said goodbye to the Holiday Inn staff and made my way out of the city. Well, even as it was as Sunday morning, it took me over an hour before I reached the outskirts of this megacity and after maybe another 10 minutes it becomes immediately very… Continue reading →

Today is a rest and inspection day in Chengdu, one of the many multiple million people cities in China with underground MRT systems, 8 lane crowded ring roads and wide avenues. I’m not sure, where the next proper (big bike) Honda Workshop is, so I take the chance for a round check up of the… Continue reading →

After a great sleep in a great resort it’s the last day to get to Chengdu where I will have a rest day tomorrow. It’s one of those places, where you could easily stay another day or more to relax and soak in the calm atmosphere. Here is the road book briefing of today. —… Continue reading →

After a good night, I departed earlier as the hotel also offered no breakfast and I was happy to use my deposit of Cookies with the coffee the hotel offered. To cut it short, this was maybe one of the best (or at least most interesting) riding days so far. Mainly for two reasons. First:… Continue reading →

Good morning from Xichang. Had a good sleep and I’m looking forward to today’s route. Here is what the road book briefing from last night tells me  Night-Before Brief — Day 11 | Wed 10 June 2026 —  Tomorrow’s RouteXichang → Meigu (Sichuan, China)– ️ 167 km | ⏱️ ~3h 46m– ️ Yi… Continue reading →

Good morning, today it’s Lugu Lake to Xichang, while it is only around 250 km, the navigation app predicts a 6 hour drive. Can only mean, small streets and traffic I guess. Lugu Lake and especially the hotel here is certainly one of those surprising gems. The hotel is for now the candidate or the… Continue reading →