“This…is…simply…breathtaking”, Matt gasped as he looked at the snow capped Kyrgyz mountains that surrounded us. Harriet was slumped over her handlebars and breathing heavily; she didn’t respond. For the first time in our trip we were cycling at over 2,500 metres. High-altitude thins the air and can cause extreme exhaustion and confusion. Matt reasoned that Harriet must be experiencing both because his well-timed double entendre didn’t get the response he thought it deserved.