It was late afternoon as we wearily jogged into the village, high in the foothills of the mountain. We have been caught out by this sudden cold spell. Dressed in shorts, and thin windbreakers, our fingers swollen from the altitude and cold, wind stinging our faces we

After skillfull negotiations Pia, our interpreter, got me permission to spend some time in the local hotel kitchen. It has been a while since I have “felt the heat of the kitchen”. This is such a special place to me, a sanctuary and a place that only

In my preparation for this journey, I thought I was totally prepared, training my self to run 3 times a day with ease, day after day, my body was comfortable and mentally I was capable of pulling myself through it. Now nearly 2000 km into the run,

Shandon town, an industrial town in the dessert waste land, caught half way between its evolution into a modern day town and the time warp of ancient Chinese way of life. The streets bustle with small business, street hawkers, donkey drawn carts, the ever present three wheel

It was getting late; the evening chill was making its presence felt. Clad just in a running vest, I felt a small sense of concern creeping in as we crossed donga after donga in search of our pickup point, somewhere in the valleys ahead. The last rays

Change. Such a simple word but with such a vast spectrum of influence in its path. How the change of terrain has affected us. In the space of a few hundred meters from the incredible desert, down the plateau onto the river flood plain. Gone are the

Sand, gravel, mud, mountains, dongas, rivers and lakes and more. The run took us across some of the most revered and diverse landscapes imaginable. One always has an idea in your mind, and to this you plan and progress yourself. The problem that I came across was

Little villages linked by a dusty thread of road weaving in and out of the desert . The wall was rarely seen in this area as expansion and farming have taken its toll on the very sensitive mud structure. All that is left of the tail of

On entering the small farming towns we are always met with curious smiles and hidden questions? Who are they? Where do they come from? What are they doing? Some kids run from us, others just stand and stare. In the dusty paths the little ones play, grubby happy

Rest day, a thing of the past, we slowly worked our way out of the river basin and up towards the desert plateau. The scenery once again entrapped our imagination and the wall seemed to feed out of the earth ahead of us like a giant thread