This leg I am going to continuously bump into old and new friends, after visiting Greg in Leicester, the next stop was Andy’s home in Rugby. I visited them in early September and promised his 2 daughters to come back and see them again when I am on the way back. Although it was a short visit for a day, I was glad to see they are learning well in schools. I also met Andy’s mum who is a calm and patient lady. It reminded me the time I was raised up by my grandmother!

From Rugby to Milton Keynes, I took the A5 instead of the horrible canal path, which turned out to be quicker and less annoying. If you haven’t rode on English canal way, I suggest you not to try it, they are narrow, not paved, full of thorns, rocks or mud, and even have stairs along the way that you have to lift up your bike to go through. Scottish ones are fine, but definitely not the English ones.

Thanks to my yogis friend Vanessa who introduced me another yoga teacher Jules who could host me in Milton Keynes. Once I enter her house, I felt so Shanti and peaceful, her garden is like a temple garden, and all the decoration in her house made me feel totally calm.

Jules and Patrick are absolutely friendly and we had great conversation about pursuing our dreams and doing good karma! We were happy sharing knowledge about Traditional medicine and yoga (especially Yin yoga). Really look forward to meeting this wonderful couple again.

Since I got a good deal of train ticket online traveling from Milton Keynes to London, I decided to skip that 100km and rest a bit more. I think I have been on my own schedule for too long, and it could be difficult to fit in a fixed itinerary. I gave myself 30 mins to cycle from Stony Stratford to Milton Keynes station, however that 9km was much longer than I expected. When I arrived the station, it was 5 mins late. I MISSED the train! Earlier this month I missed the ferry connecting Northern Ireland and Scotland, it happened again! The discounted ticket is a fixed one and I cannot change it to another timeslot. The advantage of being a foreigner is when you make a mistake, you can talk to the officers that “You don’t know, I am so so so sorry!”. I used my innocent tactic to beg the officers to let me get on the next one, usually if it is not a big deal, they will let you.

A bit embarrassed, but eventually I was allowed to board the next train. Hopefully next time I could have a better concept of time. Back to London, riding across the overcrowded streets to meet my friends in Tower Bridge, I was overwhelmed by how many people live there. Vania and Tabitha were my guests in Hong Kong 3 years ago when they traveled in Asia, I was happy to visit them again with Vania’s boyfriend Pedro.

Nice sunset at London Tower Bridge.

Catching up with them, exchanging travel stories, planning future journey… I am never bored to bump into fellow travelers all around the world! I always know that I am not alone in my travels, so many life lines cross again, influencing each other, and creating positive vibrations!

All the best to Vania and Pedro’s Southeast Asia trip, and Tabitha’s South America adventure! God knows where are we going to meet again…

I was planning to just jump on a train or bus to go directly from London to Barcelona, mainly because of last week terrible experience cycling in terrible weather, cold and hail falling, and numerous punctures. Contacted a driver from blablacar.com , he agreed to take me but eventually cancelled the trip. Then the bus replied me they won’t take bicycles. I asked for bike box in a bike shop, the owner convinced me I would enjoy France in November, and don’t worry too much about bad weather. All the signs pointed me back to my original plan to cycle through France. So, let’s see what my fate would bring me when I follow the flow of the wind. Like the London underground, going through the tunnel and you will arrive in the next station!

Leicester to Milton Keynes  85km

Milton Keynes to London  100km by train