AN INTREPID explorer will be swapping roast turkey for noodles this year when he celebrates Christmas Day thousands of miles from his Wolverley home.

Hamada Shather, of Lowe Lane, will be sampling the yuletide spirit in Kunming City in China, after already cycling more than 8,000 miles on his solo mission to see the world.

The former Heathfield School pupil has only had his bike and tent for company for much of the exhausting journey that has seen him cross 16 country borders since leaving Wyre Forest in August.

Mr Shather, communicating via e-mail with the Shuttle/Times & News, said he was hoping to befriend some locals, in the capital city of the Yunnan province, to celebrate with on the big day.

He was not holding out much hope of finding roast turkey with all the trimmings on any menus but said he was looking forward to tucking into some traditional Chinese cuisine on Christmas Day.

The 26-year-old, a computer programmer before turning global traveller, described the trek as "the most amazing, crazy, exciting, scary and lonely thing" he had ever done in his life.

He explained: "I wanted a challenge, I wanted adventure and I wanted to explore some of the places that I had read so much about. The bike ride was an attempt to recreate something of journeys from the past - a step away from the fast way we live today.

"I have been at the mercy of mother nature too many times to count, battled with insane traffic, been very lonely at times but all the hard times fade when I think about the friends I have made and all the things I have learned along the way."

Mr Shather has kept in contact with his family, including parents, May and Nabil, and friends, via the worldwide web and e-mail.

His passport has already been stamped in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan before reaching China.

He is having to keep up a frantic pace of cycling 80 miles day in a bid to stay one step ahead of the rapidly closing winter weather.

He will be on the road on New Year's Eve to ensure the cold mountain conditions, which have dipped to minus 15 degrees C, and visa time limits do not stop his ride to the warmer climes of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand on the way to his final destination of Sydney.

The globetrotter highlights the unforgiving and barren conditions in Kazakhstan, where he was initially held at gunpoint at border control because of a mix-up, as being the most difficult he has encountered so far.

He added: "There is normally a surprise around every corner. I mad an error with my route across the Carpathian mountains in Romania and I ended up half cycling, half dragging my bike up a 50 mile dirt track.

"By the time I realised what lay ahead it was too late to turn back and the Beware of the Bear' signs painted onto the rock walls made sure I kept a good pace.

"Later that night I camped in some woods and herd of something, I have no idea what, came stampeding past my tent. I thought I was dreaming at the time until they started knocking into the side of it."

"I also had my bike stolen in Uzbekistan. The police were brilliant and the local captain rounded up all the available officers to go and look for it.

"It turned out two boys on a donkey and cart that had come past my tent in the middle of the night had taken it, "he added.

Mr Shather's exploits have also made him an expert when it comes to finding a spot to pitch his tent each night to catch some much-needed rest.

He explained: "At the end of each day, about an hour before sunset, I start scouting for a safe, hidden, quiet and hopefully beautiful place pitch the tent.

"I have had some absolutely stunning camp spots in the mountains of Romania and Turkey. I have also had some horrible ones next to motorways, on industrial wastleands and in mosquito infested swamps.

"Sometimes near cities or very populated areas I have to be a bit more creative to find a hidden spot. I have slept in old barns, half built houses and even crawled in a drainage sewer, which was dry, to sleep."

To send Christmas and New Year messages to Hamada use the message board at the bottom of this story. You can also find out more about the trip on his dedicated weblog at www.kidderminstertothecaspianbybike.blogspot.com