We have arrived back in France, currently ensconced in the comfort of the family home. This means we did it: we did the whole thing without using a single aircraft, all the way out to Japan and back along the Silk Roads. It can be done, and on the whole if time allows I can heartily recommend it as a great slow way to meet all sorts of interesting people, and experience the places visited 'for real' while all the while not trashing the environment too badly.
Thank you so much to all who hosted us, all the wonderful people we met along the way, and all our friends and family who gave us nothing but support and encouragement all the way through. It was one hell of a ride.
I'm sure more articles will appear as the dust settles and I begin to make sense of some of the things we have seen and experienced. Its all still a swirl in my head and I have few of the answers I was hoping for yet, and even more questions. But one thing I do know now is that we are all the same, the world over. Invariably kind and warm-hearted by nature, we allow ourselves to become scared of each other, and closed in, by listening to the fear peddled by our governments and the media they control. Divide and conquer is the classic strategy that will only continue to work for as long as we allow it. Here's to opening our hearts, minds and arms, loving our neighbours, and thereby dis-empowering those that seek to control us.
France. Germany. Czech Republic. Poland. Lithuania. Latvia. Estonia. Russia. Mongolia. Russia again. Japan. Korea. China. Hong Kong. Macau. China again. Laos. Thailand. Laos again. Thailand again. Laos yet again. China yet again. Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan. Iran. Turkey. Greece. Italy. France again. And soon, grey, sodden, neurotic England again.
