Old Colwyn adventurer Ash Dykes has reached his first major milestone in his third world-record attempt.

Aiming to walk the entire length of China's Yangtze River, a total of 4000 miles, Dykes set off in late August and has already reached 550 miles and his first city - Yushu.

In the first five weeks the extreme adventurer has already encountered -20 degree temperatures, snow blizzards, mountain passes over 5,000 meters, glacial river crossings, cliff faces, threats from wolves and bears and a dog attack.

Within the first three days Dykes film crew left the expedition and his Tibetan guide came down with a bad case of motion sickness and they had to temporarily abort the mission and get his guide off the mountains to receive medical attention.

After quickly finding another guide he re-started the expedition.

He has also been woken in the middle of the night on five occasions by police officials and detained twice, as they worried for his safety.

Ash said: "This is the true wild west of Asia, in all its beauty. The sheer scale and isolation of this vast landscape should not be underestimated, and it certainly makes you feel vulnerable and insignificant at times.

“It is tough and draining to say the least, but I enjoy what happens along the way, from the people I meet, the challenges I face, the scenes I witness, wildlife I encounter, stories I’m able to share, survival and all the rest of the magic that inevitably happens during the process.

“I feel fortunate to be able to help and hopefully motivate, inspire, educate and work with some of the biggest education authorities along the way, answering peoples’ questions and showcasing the true beauty of China - live time!

“I’ve faced so many difficulties and challenges, but I’m so damn excited to have arrived in Yushu. There was a part of me that found it difficult to visualise my arrival here, just because of the almost daily setbacks.

"The backpack has been extremely heavy at over 30kg and I’ve faced many mountain passes and harsh weather conditions, often averaging 18 to 20 miles per day.

"I’m slightly overwhelmed with how demanding it’s been, but feel it’s broken me in as hard and as fast as it possibly could, and I’m ready for the next chapter."

You can follow Dykes' journey along the Yangtze via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and track him live on his website - www.ashdykes.com.