Day 41, 53km: ( by Chris)

The first 30km was a reality check of China - dirt road busy with trucks and busses and thick with constant dust in the dry conditions. It was like being inside a vacuum cleaner and would have been impossible without our NHS surgical facemasks, although while wearing these and cycling up hill at 11,000ft we looked like dying fish as we gasped for breath.

 Thankfully, we turned off this heinous road up into a quite valley full of Tibetan farms with pigs and yaks grazing and wandering wherever they liked. The yaks walked with a 'posh' gait and made a sound you would expect a cow to make if you forced it to drink three bottles of gin. We followed the small quiet track up into the hills past grassy meadows and bushes and found a beautiful spot to camp in the small trees next to a babbling stream.