20 days since we first entered Sichuan, a province which has proved both rewarding and extremely challenging. Our last two days in the province proved not to break this pattern as we get hit with everything the province had left to throw at us, both good and bad!

Riding from Chengdu to Chongqing, getting kicked off the highway twice in the name of safety... Rain, mud, and construction on the National Roads sure sound safer to me! (end sarcasm)

Not quite done with the dirt roads and construction but a definite improvement over the past few days! Only two more days before getting to Chengdu but before that we stay overnight with a Tibetan family.

Head crouched down, visor so covered in dust that it was impossible to see through anymore, shoulders sore from days of keeping the bike upright through potholes, over cliff side landslides, and around trucks determined not to deviate from their path. This was more or less the scene a couple of days into our western Sichuan excursion.

We start entering some exceptionally scenic areas of China including one of China's most popular tourist destinations, Jiuzhaigou National Park. Not an easy road to get there though passing over a mountain pass and navigating around endless landslides.

We are forced to earn our ascent to Everest Base Camp. Nearly two full days each way of dirt track start to take its toll on both of us and the bike, but nearly a month since visiting the lowest inland place on earth we make it to the 5,220m camp!

I make a solo and complicated visa run from Kashgar to Kyrgyzstan to fulfill a requirement of my tourist visa. Two full days involving under construction roads, highway bribery, Kyrgzstan truck stops, and sleeping over night at a local police barracks make for an interesting experience to be able to legally stay in China.

We met our competition for the world record today and it wasn't so bad as it may have at first seemed. Some creepy desert roads as we make our way to the most westerly point of our trip in Kashgar.

We leave Urumqi after a day off for our last maintenance stop before Tibet. We take a risk on a road to avoid backtracking 200km that led us on a beautiful but precarious climb up 4,600m mountain pass.

Starting to make our way south now as we leave the periphery that had treated us so well thus far. Bring on the trucks, rain, dust, and construction!