Like this:

Update, lunchtime 20th July: we are now at the Nepal border having done 70km of this supposedly “longest downhill”. The first 40km were in fact a nightmare of ups and hard cycling on the downs into the continuing horrible headwind.

After that, though, the land dropped away and we plunged down switchbacks into a misty gorge, with massive cliffs rising up and waterfalls pouring off the faces over and next to us. Really spectacular. Smells and sounds and colours after all the barren wastes of Tibet. We are having a last pile of Chinese food before crossing the border. Crossing into Nepal also means our China-registered internet dongle won’t work, so you may not hear from us so regularly. As we write this, our food is arriving. My god! Long-grain rice…. excitement. And also we have spied Toblerone and Cadbury’s in the shops. At last, decent chocolate!!!

Hoping to get 40km or so under our belts after the border – roads and monsoon rains permitting. And hope to arrive Kathmandu tomorrow night, 21^st July.

So, after more than 7 weeks, it’s adieu to China. We’ll miss the great kindness and friendliness of so many of the people we have met, the food, the ice creams, the road quality and infrastructure generally (mobile phone reception pretty much everywhere, even the most remote places) and the natural environment, which is stunning. We won’t miss the noise and general lack of manners of the Chinese in crowds, the built environment (with a few exceptions, modern Chinese building is pretty uninspiring), the inability of people to think for themselves (minimal initiative), the lack of freedom and the altitude! We have had an amazing time in an amazing country.

Nepal beckons (about 50yards away)…