Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ethan Allen Hawley]

Anyone got any experience and advice about cycle touring and/or travelling by train or bus south/ north through Asia, from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and/or from Korea to Singapore?

Any idea how long any particular leg of the trip would take?
Would you know what the dangers and costs of the trip would be?
Any advice as to what's worth doing on the road and on the trip?
Any places to stay or bike shops to keep in mind for good support on the way?

I'm interested in going south in January and/or back northward in Feb. and am open to ideas, and company.

[rollo]

January it will be bitter cold. Probably 35 days for trip. You will have to take the back roads. There are road atlas's for China they are in Chinese though. Yo no hostels. Cheap hotels in small towns if you negotiate maybe 100 RMB a night or less. U.S $12.oo. Food is cheap but learn some mandarin so you can order. very safe crime wise, but the driving on the highways is insane. Would be wary of traveling at night. You might find a Chinese person up for this. Someone with some English a university student perhaps. Ther is some spectacular scenery in China. Rice paddies with farmers plowing with water buffalo along huge rivers lined with forests of giant bamboo.

[Ethan Allen Hawley]

Thanks for the reply already!

Is that 35 days for cycling from Shanghai to Hong Kong? I could believe anything because everyone travels at different speeds especially over different distances and I know it's a huge country, but I just want to be as clear as is possible. What time have you taken to do which roads of what distance on what kind of bike, and, how long ago? (China is changing really fast these days, both the cities and the roads between them, right?)

[coralreefer_1]

I got a couchsurfing request last year from a guy who was in the process of a similar trip. I will try to look up his info and pass it along. I'm sure he has many answers for your questions.

[ktkates87]

I hosted a couchsurfer about a month ago that is cycling around the world and she went across China. She said it was pretty tough slugging. If you check her website out http://thatemilychappell.com/ I'm sure there's contact info there and she loves to help out fellow cyclists that are planning their own journeys.