Home at Last and time for bed

So it's hard to describe how nice it is to be out of hospital today and back home with Angie and Scarlett.

Now before we go any further please understand the scale of my misdemeanours, after putting Angie through a week of stress and worry, yesterday was her birthday and I failed to get even a card! Maybe I will be in the dog house for a little longer than originally expected.

So a big thank you to all my friends and family who have called and sent messages, I feel really guilty because other than a couple of dodgy days the whole adventure had been super brilliant and I in no way deserve any sympathy from anyone. Currently I am just a bit weary, but overall I expect to be back to 100% in a week or so.

Lets really hear it for Pembury and Maidstone Hospitals, fantastic teams, beautiful people who have given me a complete overhaul, flushed out the dodgy plumbing and set me up for a super quick recovery, with luck a small adjustment to my hand and I will be back to full function - if anyone wants to rush me to a pub I have been told to flush the kidneys copiously - so all clear there.

In some respects I am a little sad over having dropped out before Mongolia, I was looking forward to seeing that amazing country and hopefully making more friends, but it is what it is and it was fantastic as far as I got. Would I do it again? yes in an instant, even to the same outcome. The people I met and the friends I made were more than worth the difficulties and I think that I have learned a lot about myself and other cultures from the whole experience.

Max and his team are still making great progress, the Saxo has lost its sump guard and radiator fan courtesy of James hitting a big rock, but nice men with big hammers have got them back on the road and they are doing fine.

Here is a picture of James when I passed them in Russia, doing the walk of shame back to a policeman's hut, pulled over for nothing but did not stop fast enough and incurred an immediate demand for money in passport, I donated some miniature Jack Daniels bottles that did the trick!

I have so many stories to tell that I should write a book - I suspect that would be preferred or I will bore you to death even more than usual.

This is probably the last proper blog update, I will add some more photos and notes about some of the places I stayed but for now go find Max Chapman on Instagram or Facebook and you can enjoy an altogether more alcoholic road trip to Mongolia.

Thanks for the charity donations - Cool Earth and the Nava Kiram Orphanage are truly grateful for your support and will say prayers in thanks for you.

A slightly less fat man, minus a small motorcycle, is now wobbling off to bed!