Reflecting on our first three months/ five countries

We're spending a whole week here in Georgetown (Malaysia) enjoying the multiculturalism of the place and psyching ourselves up for the next and final leg of our journey (two whole months in Indonesia and a very long bike ride from Medan to Bali). We've also been reflecting on our first three months/ five countries and the highlights so far.

In Beijing we were bowled over by the effort that had gone into making the city 'perfect' for the Olympics. Detractors may say it was a bit of a white-wash (and indeed ugly or half-built buildings had been hidden behind giant billboards), but we found Beijing an impressively confident, thoroughly modern and of course bike-friendly city with sights that took our breath away: the warriors at Xi'an, the Great Wall, sixteen acrobats balancing on a bicycle, oh and that Opening Ceremony (which we watched on tv like you did!).

The food in Beijing was completely stunning and we didn't have to try hard to find the very different cuisines of at least ten Chinese regions.

In both Vietnam and Cambodia over 70% of the population are rural and poor. This makes for a visually stimulating but intense cycling experience; we found ourselves the star attraction in an endless parade of village life for six or more hours a day!

Our overriding impression of Vietnam was of the (sometimes overwhelming) friendly, generous and family-oriented people. Most accounts talk of scams and rip-offs, but this was categorically not our experience when away from the main tourist sites. Highlights included a week cycling along the inland Ho Chi Minh highway in the north of the country (an exceedingly poor rural area) during which time we did not see another foreigner, Saigon (a place well on its way up), and a week spent crossing the lush and prosperous Mekong delta area in the far south west of the country.

Generally speaking the food in Vietnam did not live up to our high expectations (set in Hackney of course!), though we did develop an addiction to their delicious coffee, which is served in an individual filter perched on top of a glass of sweetened condensed milk!

In Cambodia rural people do not have electricity or running water, yet their attractive stilt houses are sturdy and they appeared to us to have a better quality of life than the urban poor, who's rather grim lives must be hard to bear when surrounded by the new urban rich and the many western expats and tourists.

Angkor Wat defies all superlatives, though it was hard to square this 12th - 14th century Cambodian achievement with the state of the country now; the legacy of the Khmer Rouge is palpable everywhere. Overall we were left slightly disturbed by Cambodia and were relieved to escape its astonishingly bad roads for Thailand.

Crossing national borders overland is a fascinating experience because differences are noticeable instantly. Bangkok felt like another world after Cambodia, and overall Thailand felt rather like a holiday within a holiday. The highlight was a four-day 'live-aboard' diving trip to the uninhabited Similan Islands.

Cycling in Thailand was very different: whilst the roads and drivers were excellent the lack of cyclists meant we were often chased by dogs. The cooler last hour or so of daylight (which had been our favourite time in Vietnam and Cambodia) became our most feared time of day!

Here in Georgetown (Malaysia) we've been like proper tourists and visited Chinese temples, beautifully preserved clan houses and mansions and ramshackle shophouses, mosques, Hindu temples and many remnants of the British colonial era. We've sampled Indian, Chinese, Malay and 'Nyonya' food and visited botanical gardens and a tropical fruit farm.

In both Thailand and Malaysia we've enjoyed a break from constant attention from locals. Being less developed we expect Indonesia to be more like Vietnam and Cambodia in this regard.

We're looking forward to getting back into a daily cycling routine through Sumatra and Java (which are mountainous, in contrast to our flattish routes through Vietnam and Cambodia), before finishing up with another little 'holiday' (and some more diving) in Bali at Christmas. Indonesia is predominantly a Muslim country and Hannah can speak some of the language, factors we think may make a difference to our day to day experience.

Overall we're struck that the countries we've visited have been more different than similar. We've also enjoyed the contrast between our cycling days (which we love but which do feel rather like 'workdays') and our rest days (which feel like 'weekends'). We're loving the feeling of extreme physical fitness, and though we haven't lost much weight we reckon we're a bit firmer all round! And finally, though we miss our friends a lot it has been lovely to have such a chunk of time together by ourselves.

As well as our friends and families we also miss:

• Red wine
• Zoe's cooking
• Clothes in general but specifically jeans and other cotton things
• Mountain biking/ my other bike (HD)

Whilst we can't claim to have reached any profound spiritual conclusions we have enjoyed having the mental space to develop some ideas. I'm pleased to report we've finally accepted the received wisdom that it's important to:

• Drink plenty of water
• Let your body rest
• Stretch
• Cover your head in the sun
• Carry a hankie
  

One conclusion we have reached is that most our trips will probably be by bicycle from now on; neither of us can bear to be at the mercy of public transport (see image above of the inside of a Thai bus) and other people's schedules!

We've cycled 3600kms so far, and (touch wood) no punctures yet.