Good experiences in Iran; tuna missiles in Australia

It was on August 22 last year that Mullingar man Laurence Mulligan and his cycling partner Kevin McHugh from Navan, set off on a 30,000 kilometre race around the world, their only means of transport being two mountain bikes.Completely self funded, the lads are contributing 100 percent of funds raised from the mammoth cycle - sponsored by Wheelworx - to the Irish Cancer Society.When we last heard from Laurence, the pair were in Istanbul and have since cycled through Turkey, Iran, UAE, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand (only a stopover), Chile, finally reaching Argentina - country number 22 on their list.All-in-all they had clocked up another 23,000 kms when Laurence contacted the Westmeath Examiner from the city of Mendoza, shortly after descending the Andes.With less than 50 days to go to their return to Ireland, Laurence talked of the various adventures they have encountered in the past few months.In Iran they discovered generosity like no other, but they faced big climbs in high temperatures, before entering India, which they described as simply "crazy", but according to Laurence, "a colourful and vibrant place with intriguing people".To read more see this week's edition of the Westmeath Examiner