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China by boat and train

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Hitting the road: Beijing A few facts about the Great Wall of China. It can not be seen from space and it is not 20,000km long. It is, however, big and running along the ridge of a range of mountains, it is very steep. It is in China and therefore the steps are not designed to accommodate size 11 UK feet. Having perfected a sort of sideways traverse, it is everything else it is cracked up to be. Mutianyu is one of the longer restored sections, about 90 minutes’ drive from Central Beijing. Although only relatively short, this section can be seen rising and falling between its watchtowers, marching over the hills and mountains as far as the eye can see. It's still fairly early in the morning but is already humid and hot in the direct sunlight – there is no shade – so an hour spent climbing and descending between five or six towers is enough. The drive out from central Beijing reveals something of the vast scale of this city, and no doubt others. Just as it seems the buildings are sta...
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Sarawak to Sabah: Borneo, May '25

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The saying goes with age comes wisdom. Apparently it also comes with new balance issues and one of the best places not to find this out is during a hard uphill scrabble in dense equatorial jungle in 36°C, where half the exposed tree roots are footholds and the other half are trip hazards. And better not put a steadying hand down too quickly, as the local fauna includes sleeping pit vipers, invisibly waiting for the unwary. This is Bako National Park, on theh western tip of Borneo, home to probocsis monkeys (the one with the silly nose and their dicks always hanging out), silvered leaf monkeys and wild bearded pigs. Oh and pit vipers, but they can just sod off. The national bird of Borneo is the rhinoceros hornbill, but not here. We almost needn't have bothered with the hike as Jen, our guide, spotted a pair of probicsis in the mangrove swamp from the speedboat on the way over to the park entrance. Then, hearing a commotion in a nearby tree while enjoying a coffee before the hike, w...
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New Zealand 2025

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Three weeks on the road down under North to South: Auckland to Christchurch  We have just finished three weeks driving through New Zealand, from Auckland on the North Island, right down to Queenstown in the south. Previous long trips have afforded the opportunity to write notes and observations on the way, whether on trains, buses, planes or boats. This time, the travelling was pretty much all by car with some long driving days and no time for writing. Here therefore are a few recollections and bits of advice written at the end, when some of the immediacy and granularity of observation have necessarily diminished. Nonetheless, here goes  One of the most frequent comments we encountered when sharing our planned itinerary with friends who had already been was: "three weeks: that's anyhere near enough time", and that proves to have been correct. There are one or two places which, with hindsight, we could have dropped, but many more where it would have been good to stay longe...
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