I have now been walking home from Mongolia for more than 90 days. In that time, Leon McCarron - my partner on this expedition - and I have been awed by the beauty and power of nature, humbled by the kindness of strangers, and thrilled by the fun of exploring ancient lands. At the same time, we've regularly been cold, hungry, afraid, angry, alone and, most of all, exhausted.
As we walked along an empty road beside the Yellow River and traipsed through yet more mountains in Shanxi province in the past week, I've found myself starting to really miss not only my wife, but also Hong Kong. I think I have reached a point on the expedition where I'm starting to remember the things that I normally take for granted. They now seem like amazing gifts that I'll be very thankful for when I get back. What are these things?
1. My wife, Christine. Now, more than ever, I understand her love. Her sacrifice and support in letting me go on this expedition is amazing. Wow, I'm crazy to have left her for so long.
2. My bed. For the past three months, on only a handful of occasions have I known where I would be sleeping that night. I have slept in my tent on all kinds of terrain, shared a large communal bed with shepherds in a cave house, and stayed in all manner of cheap local road houses. It'll be good to be home and have a bed to sleep in every night.
3. Money. We carry contingency money, but rely on automated teller machines that accept foreign bank cards where we can get 2,000 yuan (HK$2,460) at a time to keep us going a few more weeks.
A couple of weeks ago, we realised we were running out of money but knew we'd reach a decent-sized town a couple of days later and probably would be able to withdraw some. However, when we got there, it turned out to be a small town with very local banks.
On the map we saw another town 50 kilometres away, so we hiked hard for a day and a half, but when we arrived, the same thing happened.