Bye Bye Asia!

Well, that was a fab 5months in Asia - we never thought we would get the chance to spend so long here (we still have to pinch ourselves most days to remember where we are!!).

It has been amazing - we’ve seen and done so many new things and met so many people - here are a few of the highlights which come to mind:-

* Trekking to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal (No.1);
* Spending the night in the desert in India;
* Going to Darjeeling after hearing so much about it;
* Seeing the Taj Mahal;
* Spotting Rhinos’ on safari;
* Having a bath with an elephant;
* Taking a dawn boat trip on the Ganges in Varanasi;
* Having a tropical Thai island all to ourselves;
* “Tubing” in Laos
* Taking a speedboat up the Mekong;
* Relaxing at the 5* Tokyo Park Hotel;
* Trying Caviar for the first time;
* Geisha “spotting” in Kyoto;
* Climbing the Great Wall of China;
* Seeing the Terracotta Warriors;
* Going to a Baseball match;
* Peering into a live volcano (only Graham on this one);
* Watching Thai boxing;
* Admiring the breath taking scenery at Guliogcun….and I’m sure there’s more….

But we are now very much ready for the next part of our trip - bring on 3 months in Australia and New Zealand (we’re counting the days!) and we're really looking forward to some western home comforts, such as:-

* toilets that flush;
* staying in a house;
* driving a car (and no doubt arguing over maps);
* using forks and knifes (that'll be weird);
* wearing make up (only I am looking forward to this);
* using English grammar and full sentences;
* eating ice lollies that don't have sweetcorn in them??;
* decent chocolate;
* fatty western comfort food (I would die for a plate of mince and tatties);
* decent TV (in English) - to name but a few.

And of course there are a few things we will be glad to have a break from for a while too:-
* squat toilets;
* spitting;
* karaoke;
* being stared at (all day);
* car horns;
* being stared at all day;
* bed bugs (we won‘t miss those itchy little blighters);
* being lunch for 100’s of Mossies (although think there are plenty of other things ready to eat us in Oz);
* one too many temples…….

But we do hope to get a chance to come back to Asia again one day - there’s still so much to see - we could easily spend another 6 months in India, 6 months in Japan, 6 months in China, visit Tibet & Mongolia….…think that probably comes to another 2 years!!….if only……