Last week's section of our long walk from Mongolia to Hong Kong took us over the border from Inner Mongolia and into Shanxi province, where ridge-backed mountains roll across the landscape like huge breakers in an earthy sea.
My expedition partner Leon McCarron and I are relieved to finally end of the first of five legs of our 5,000-kilometre journey. My wife, Christine, joined us last Wednesday in Datong, where we are taking a week off over Christmas.
We were really looking forward to this rest. Our bodies and minds are tired from the strain of almost six weeks on the road. We've had to cope with extreme cold while walking an average of 30 kilometres a day, with all the gear we need to survive and thrive on our backs.
My previous major expeditions were on bicycles, which meant that all the weight was carried on wheels rather than my back, and I had gears to help me up steep hills. It was, therefore, no big deal to take lots of spare bits and pieces (like a 1kg copy of War and Peace I once carried for a whole year on the bike before getting round to reading it).
But on a walking expedition, you feel the weight of your pack with every step you take, pounding your feet and compressing your shoulders, hips and back. This weight greatly increases your chance of injury. So, it is imperative to try to cut gear down to the bare essentials.
However, because this is a winter expedition, and we're documenting the trip on decent cameras, it has so far proved very hard to travel trim. This is what I have in my rucksack:
For camping - a sleeping bag (good to minus 27 degrees Celsius), lightweight tent, petrol stove and two small pots, some food (1 1/2 days' worth) and a thermos of water. (Water freezes too fast to drink in normal bottles.)