For those concerned about the possible mistreatment of animals, rest assured that Foniyo has endured the trip from Beijing to Lanzhou quite well. I'll admit that I don't think that she enjoyed it. But she resigned herself to fate with as much dignity as a Beijing street dog can muster.

I removed the back seat from the GS and secured her travel crate over the tool compartment. This worked quite well, she was well protected from the wind and didn't interfere with my riding position. Foniyo weighs in at about 6 kg. At this small size, she really didn't affect the handling in any noticeable way. The only drawback was that the I could really hear the tools rattling away on particularly bumpy stretches. For most of the trip I kept her rain cover on. I think that this reduced some of the noise and made her feel more secure. I'm going to add some additional padding to her crate, however, before attempting the loop through Qinghai.

My internet connection here in Lanzhou is terrible, so I'll try to post pictures at a later date.

We are going to depart Lanzhou for Xining probably next week (August 8th). We will be in Qinghai for at least two weeks, looping through the south-central pasturelands. Any one in the area is welcome to join in.

Max