United Kingdom

Day 365: Beijing, China 28/09/2012

OMG, we check out of the hotel for the last time this year. The last day of the trip has arrived, twelve months of sun, sea, sand, adventure, laughs, tears, exciting experiences, incredible food, new friends and one hell of a learning curve coming to an end, an experience that will never be forgotten and stories that will surely only get taller and taller as time goes on. Such mixed feelings on this - pride, sadness, happiness and a sense of achievement on so many counts. Even the last packing ceremony of the year - for so long the bane of my life - brings a tear to the eye.

We enjoy the Super 8 facilities for the day, go for a stroll and buy a few little bits for those few people back home we haven't got anything for. An average tea before we are back on the subway for the last time. Arrive at the airport at 8. Our flight is not until 2am. Long wait for check-in...time to replay the last 365 days over in our heads. Gemma gets a good four hours kip on a bench before we finally get to lose the bags and go through to the departures lounge.

Day 366: Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK 29/09/2012

A quick change at Doha effectively gives us our thirteenth country of the trip (though I don't think we'll count this one) and before too long we are back where it all started, London Heathrow, and in another mirror of the start of the trip we are greeted by someone holding up my name on a piece of paper. The taxi flies back home through the familiar environs of the M4 and a knock on the door from two world weary travellers could be perceived as a nice surprise by some. Shame my family don't think so...Everybody shocked, most of all us. Culture shock catches us out for the first time! Time for a well earned rest and a few beers. The Champers starts to flow and the realisation that we are back home finally starts to sink in. Which leaves us with one thought...

Some trekkers are good, some trekkers are bad, but some trekkers, some trekkers are unbelievable trekkers!

Well, two weeks shy of D-day and it turns out that T C Evans can get a visa...seems that the problems with America were all a myth, he could have gone all that time ago...though an Indian tourist visa is slightly different to the rest of things....

Normally, I would assume that this close in we would have everything sorted but then again assumption is the brother of all f**k ups..or is that mother?

Anyways, our visas, malaria pills, jabs. flights are all sorted, we are ready to go. Bar the bar at our leaving party (sure we will remember that!) it's a countdown. Neither of us are sure quite what to do, how to quite prepare for Delhi we are not quite sure. I have been pouring chilli powder on plates left out for weeks at a time but not quite sure this will quite completely gear us up for the ultimate port on India and the subcontinent. Quite.

Anyways, if you are reading this you will be at the leaving do so will speak to you then. If you're lucky.

Regards