🚀 go-pugleaf

Simon Wilson <siwilson@nodamnspamn.hotmail.com> wrote:
> Doing a little bit more research in my upcoming big adventure, I tried
> to have a look at a map to see the exact route we'd be taking.
>
> Google doesn't work in Tibet/China very well, I think due to political
> reasons.

One thing I keep seeing pop up, if you have a reasonably
fast/dependable home internet connection, is setting up some sort
of personal VPN that lets you use your home internet when abroad. A
number of people have mentioned that this seems to work most of the
time despite the "Great Firewall", since you're not connecting to a
known VPN service. YMMV.

> After searching a bit I found mapy.com (formerly mapy.cz) and I was able
> to find most of the places listed in our schedule.
>
> So this is where we are going, more or less:
>
> https://mapy.com/en/zakladni?planovani-trasy&dimh39c3010717a162abd9af80&x‡.8796662&y).0065390&z=7
>
> I hadn't thought about it that much but for some reason imagined all the
> places we were visiting would be on the way to Everest, rather than
> riding a long way past and then back again. But this makes a lot more
> sense from a getting acclimatised point of view.

Looks like a great adventure. I used to think I was in good enough
health to do some sort of high altitude trip, but nowadays, I'm less
confident of that.

I'm eagerly awaiting a trip report...

On 31/05/2025 20:38, Mark Olson wrote:
> Simon Wilson <siwilson@nodamnspamn.hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Doing a little bit more research in my upcoming big adventure, I tried
>> to have a look at a map to see the exact route we'd be taking.
>>
>> Google doesn't work in Tibet/China very well, I think due to political
>> reasons.
>
> One thing I keep seeing pop up, if you have a reasonably
> fast/dependable home internet connection, is setting up some sort
> of personal VPN that lets you use your home internet when abroad. A
> number of people have mentioned that this seems to work most of the
> time despite the "Great Firewall", since you're not connecting to a
> known VPN service. YMMV.
>
>> After searching a bit I found mapy.com (formerly mapy.cz) and I was able
>> to find most of the places listed in our schedule.
>>
>> So this is where we are going, more or less:
>>
>> https://mapy.com/en/zakladni?planovani-trasy&dimh39c3010717a162abd9af80&x‡.8796662&y).0065390&z=7
>>
>> I hadn't thought about it that much but for some reason imagined all the
>> places we were visiting would be on the way to Everest, rather than
>> riding a long way past and then back again. But this makes a lot more
>> sense from a getting acclimatised point of view.
>
> Looks like a great adventure. I used to think I was in good enough
> health to do some sort of high altitude trip, but nowadays, I'm less
> confident of that.
>
> I'm eagerly awaiting a trip report...
>

I'll try.

I'm fairly sure using any VPN in China is a big no-no. I guess the
chances of getting found out are pretty low, but not zero. I'm seriously
considering not even bothering with a sim card, and just use the
opportunity to disconnect (except maybe WiFi now and then). Last time I
did that was in Cuba and it was great.

--
/Simon

Simon Wilson <siwilson@nodamnspamn.hotmail.com> wrote:

> I'm fairly sure using any VPN in China is a big no-no. I guess the
> chances of getting found out are pretty low, but not zero. I'm seriously
> considering not even bothering with a sim card, and just use the
> opportunity to disconnect (except maybe WiFi now and then). Last time I
> did that was in Cuba and it was great.

I wasn't aware VPN use in China was against the rules, just that it
was usually blocked, but what do I know.

I'm afraid I would be too worried about not having a connection in
an emergency to "raw dog it" that way, but "nothing wrong with a bit
of danger, biker boy".

Maybe this?:
https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/30217/

(If you land on en-US, switch to a european location, PN 010-D0084-00)

I have only ever used offline iGo or Garmin maps on the road.


--
=o&o

Bruce <07.013@scorecrow.com> wrote:
> On 01/06/2025 16:45, H wrote:
>> Maybe this?:
>> https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/30217/
>>
>> (If you land on en-US, switch to a european location, PN 010-D0084-00)
>>
>> I have only ever used offline iGo or Garmin maps on the road.
>
> Here WeGo <https://www.here.com/products/wego> has offline maps for China.

Putting my oar in for OpenStreetMap, no idea how detailed their maps
are for the area(s) you're going to but they've worked well for me
in the past on Garmin devices in Iceland and elsewhere in Europe.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/

On 01/06/2025 16:45, H wrote:
> Maybe this?:
> https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/30217/
>
> (If you land on en-US, switch to a european location, PN 010-D0084-00)
>
> I have only ever used offline iGo or Garmin maps on the road.

Here WeGo <https://www.here.com/products/wego> has offline maps for China.

--
Bruce Horrocks
FJR1300AS

> Putting my oar in for OpenStreetMap

Just remembered my phone with /e/OS comes with the free (as in beer)
https://www.magicearth.com/
that I use on occasion.

It uses offline maps from OSM, and has selectable maps for China, the
full one being '3GB'. Tibet is 70MB.

On OSM in general:
Some areas are less detailed, and it looks like China is one, but better
than google map.
Many names are only shown/recorded in local script, but:
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_internationalization
gives some options.


--
=o&o

On 02/06/2025 15:16, H wrote:
>> Putting my oar in for OpenStreetMap
>
> Just remembered my phone with /e/OS comes with the free (as in beer)
> https://www.magicearth.com/
> that I use on occasion.
>
> It uses offline maps from OSM, and has selectable maps for China, the
> full one being '3GB'. Tibet is 70MB.
>
> On OSM in general:
> Some areas are less detailed, and it looks like China is one, but better
> than google map.
> Many names are only shown/recorded in local script, but:
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_internationalization
> gives some options.
>
>

I'm pretty sure Mapy.com also uses OSM

--
/Simon

On 31/05/2025 20:38, Mark Olson wrote:
> Simon Wilson <siwilson@nodamnspamn.hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Doing a little bit more research in my upcoming big adventure, I tried
>> to have a look at a map to see the exact route we'd be taking.
>>
>> Google doesn't work in Tibet/China very well, I think due to political
>> reasons.
>
> One thing I keep seeing pop up, if you have a reasonably
> fast/dependable home internet connection, is setting up some sort

I have a Ubiqity DR now with a "teleport" VPN back t my server.
I wish I had that back when I was globe trotting



--
Bruce Porter
"The internet is a huge and diverse community but mainly friendly"
http://ytc1.blogspot.co.uk/
There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/