Today would have been the day I arrived home. I would have memories and photos of sailing on Halong Bay, seeing Vietnam celebrate their victory over Malaysia by pouring into the streets and partying all night, riding on the back of a motorcycle through crazy traffic, watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat, doing all my Christmas shopping in Hong Kong (and possibly visiting Disneyland again)...

I'm not upset. Well, I am, but I know that I can do everything I missed another time. The world is easier to travel than I imagined. And I'm young and full of potential.

Right now I'm full of sweets and mince pies actually, but that's the great thing about coming home at this time of year: Christmas! I love Christmas. While I was in hospital in Bangkok I started proceedings by listening to Sleigh Ride on repeat (and had to close my curtains so that the others didn't think I'd completely lost the plot - crazy westerners do that sort of thing...) and it made it seem less like I was missing out on my trip. With the October Interlude and the SE Asia tour being my main focus, I also keep nearly forgetting about Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou and Taiwan. I did all of them and they were quite a big deal too!

I'm trying to do a questionnaire for myself about the entire tour now, so if you think of any good questions, send them to me!

Favourite Place: If you told me that, for the rest of my life, I had to live in one of the places I visited, it'd be Hong Kong. And I'd probably be quite happy.
Least Favourite Place: Not because they weren't interesting, but because I just wasn't very happy in them - Bangkok and Kathmandu.
Best Temple: Is Potala Palace counted? That's my answer. It's the Dali Lama's house, and the Pope's house is mostly a church... so, yeah. Answer concluded.
Funnest Activity: Leave my English alone... tough question... Getting to Everest (in hindsight anyway). Disneyland at Hallowe'en. Having my photos taken by everybody in China. Making new friends.
Name some new friends: Aaaam... The Qatar boys, Yen, Facundo and Isabelle, Danny, Zolo, the Tibet gang, Kerri and her mom, Jose, Kai, the Indochina gang, Sheryl - and by proxy, Chris! - and (some of) the nurses in Bumrungrad... That doesn't sound like many of them...
Most interesting mode of transport: Elephant. Or the boat made out of a bomb. The yak didn't actually bring me anywhere. Stupid yak.
Longest journey: A 15 hour bus journey from Everest to Nyalam in Tibet. Also the most uncomfortable, most unenjoyable, and most dangerous. :D
Most remote place: Offroading - unanticipated offroading - in the Himalaya region of Tibet.
Most crowded place: People's Place Subway Station in Shanghai. And that's saying something.
Best food: Harbour Grand Hotel, Hong Kong. Buffet breakfast/lunch/dinner. I'm hungry.
Worst food: Besides, like, everywhere else? :D Pak Beng's sloppy Indian. Most parts of Tibet. All of China. Especially KFC.
Friendliest People: The Lao. Sabaidee!!
Unfriendliest People: The Chinese soldiers.
Best value for money: Laos. They'd start cheap and get cheaper. Amazing.
Worst value for money: Dublin airport. And the rest of Ireland. Did you know that snotty Avoca shop beyond in dubalin is selling Mongolian made hats and scarves, starting at €36.50? If you went to Mongolia, bought a box of scarves and sold them off back here, you'd pay for your entire damn trip.
Funniest Moment: "He killed the kitchen" in Lijiang. Being more photogenic than a panda in Beijing. Andy bribing the guards with sweets in Vietnam.
Scariest Moment: Hanging off a cliff, in a bus, in Tibet. Being sent for surgery in Vietnam.
Saddest Moment: Realising I had to quit the tour. Seeing the psycho panda in Beijing. At the funerals in Kathmandu. Saying goodbye to my homies in Kathmandu and Hanoi, and Ying in Beijing.
Happiest Moment: EVEREST. Disneyland at Hallowe'en. Wandering around Hong Kong. Making it home and going to my own bed.
Favourite photo: Me at Everest. And me with Jack Skellington! But there are some lovely group ones from different places too.
Favourite souvenir: A stone from Everest. Shh! And my Jack Skellington cushion. These two questions produced rather similar answers, no?
Lessons learned: There are more Asians than any other group on the planet.
Most of the world lives in poverty.
At home, we pay way too much for everything, are way too greedy and complain about trivialities.
Vietnam is not the place to go for medical treatment.
Sticky rice is fun!
Most Chinese have never seen a westerner.
Begging is a problem that can be solved; most countries are just too lazy or selfish to do it.
It takes a long time to see most of China...
Bad drivers don't exist in most of Asia.
Beijing, Bangkok and Hong Kong all really have the same airport.
Dublin airport is the worst airport in the entire world.
Dublin airport staff are the worst staff in the entire world.
Squat toilets are easier to use than you'd imagine.
Toilet paper is a luxury.
Good sweets are a European speciality.
Nothing I eat now in the west can kill me.



Thank you all for sticking with me and for keeping in touch, by comment, email, text or phonecall. When I was down and out, it was comforting to hear from home, and when I was excited and raving about crazy places, it was great to have people to share it with. I really enjoyed my travels, nausea and hospital aside (and sure weren't they experiences in themselves?!), and there's still SO much more I want to see.

But not India. ;)