Ash Dykes - Walking the Yangtze from Source to Sea

The Endurance Asia Podcast

A true modern day adventurer, Welshman Ash Dykes has gone from backpacking around SE Asia, teaching scuba diving and fighting Muay Thai, to setting three World Records as the first person to walk solo and unsupported across Mongolia (2014), the length of Madagascar (2016) and, in 2019, 4,000 miles along the Yangtze from source to sea. He’s the author of the book ‘Mission Possible: A Decade of Living Dangerously’ and you can catch his new documentary ‘Walking the Yangtze with Ash Dykes’ on Nat Geo Asia (trailer here).

Ash embodies everything we love at Endurance Asia - setting big goals, working hard to make them happen, not listening to the naysayers, making the accomplishments about much more than himself - and having fun along the way. He’s humble, driven and a real inspiration. Something tells us there are plenty more adventures in him yet (he only just turned 30!).

In our chat with Ash, we talk about:

• His back story, from cycling the length of Vietnam on a $10 bike, to dodging border guards in the Himalayas

• How he comes up with the concepts for his adventures

• Keeping a positive mindset and the Law of Attraction

• How he breaks down a big goal

• His training

• What he’s learned about himself along the way

• The causes he supports, including the Red Cross, Lemur Conseration Network and Malaria No More

• The under-reported air pollution problem in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaator

• Lessons in lockdown and how he stays motivated when alone for so long

• Inspiring books, including The Secret, You Are a Badass, Homo Sapiens and Riding the Dragon’s Back, about the race to be the first to kayak the Upper Yangtze

• David Attenborough’s documentary, A Life on Our Planet

And at one point Ash mentions Caster Troy. That was the name of his horse in the early days of the Yangtze expedition - and an inspired callback to 1997 movie classic, Face/Off!

You can hear more of Ash on the Joe Rogan podcast, Episode #1410.

Hosted by Ultra Endurance enthusiasts Scott Pugh and Ric Stockfis.