The last day & 2 finishing lines

Day 77 .... Friday 16th October .... 102 km (22678 km total)

 

Staffordshire to Bangkok, 17 countries, 77 days, 22678km - Job Done!

:-)

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So it's the last day of my journey, a strange feeling pervaded as I packed the bike up for the last time.

For over 70 days my routine had been shower, breakfast, pack the bike, ride all day, stop in the evening, unpack the bike, shower, eat, sleep & repeat. My daily rhythm was all about to change,

I had set out in August, in part, to break out of my 'comfort zone', but the journy itself had become its own 'comfort zone'. There is something to be learned there about managing change, maybe I will write something later.

I had planned two finish lines for today, the first was the factory I set up & ran for a number of years in Pathumthani, the second, a good friends house in the village where I lived with my family.

I also planned to visit a freight forwarding company to arrange shipping the bike back to the UK, which was placed conveniently half way between the other two.

Ayuthya to Pathumthani is only about an hour, so it was a more leisurely start than normal so that I could arrive during their lunch break.

As I pulled into the factory yard, I thought I recognised a smiling face staring back at me from a banner on the wall opposite!

Nice touch - thanks everyone at PZCTH!

More photos in front of the main building & then I went for tasty lunch by the river with the management team.

Next stop was the logistics company to finilise arrangements for shipping my bike next week.

I have been talking to a number of companies over the past few weeks and was hoping to get the bike air freighted so that I could arrive at the same time and then ride it home. But it was just proving too complicated and costly - almost double the cost of sea freight.

Incidentaly for anyone who is interested, this seems to be a Bangkok issue, as if I had been in KL I could have air freighted to the UK for almost the same cost as sea freight. The problem for me was this would add a few more days travel time & cost to the journey (to get to KL) plus they insisted in having a Carnet before shipping, which would have cost me an additional £700 to get from the RAC in the UK. Thailand does not require Carnet's but has much higher prices - go figure!

Anyway I had chosen to go with the freight forwarding company who had been consistently most interested and helpful throughout my protracted discussions, but just wanted to see them in the flesh so to speak.

The pretty staff there of course wanted a picture with me and the bike, or was it the other way around?

On the way to my final destination, I decided to stop for a photo outside the gates of the excellent school that my two youngest kids spent their teenage years at whilst we were living in Thailand.

The security guard recognised me and kept trying to get me to go through the school gates & into the car park, 'why is this crazy farang taking photos in front of the school entrance?'

And then it was just a few hundred metres down the road to the village that we used to live in.

... And to the gates of the hosue where our good friends live, where another surprise was awaiting

and the Tiger was ushered in to be suitably decorated for a photo ...

Along with his somewhat weary owner.

After 77 days and 22678 km in the saddle, it was definately beer'oclock

So of course on this occasion there was only one approriate beer to start the evening with...

Tiger!

Cheers!!

:-)

The biggest journey i have ever undertaken is now complete!

For those of you who have enjoyed following the trip, the blog is not quite finished yet.

I will be covering the shipping process and arrival in the UK (in 7 weeks time). I also intend to write something about my thoughts & reflections as I slowly process everything I have seen & experienced over the past 2.5 months, including comments on equipment etc, so keep an eye out for that.

Finally for today though....

A very big thank you to all who have donated to ShelterBox.

If anyone still wants to, my JustGiving page will stay active for some time, or if you prefer to use another method, email or message me and we can work something out.

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Thank you all for listening

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