FINALLY FINLAND: FINALLY
So, that was just about it.

After the extraordinary few days up at the country house, I came back to Helsinki with Paola and Maija and spent the next couple of days pottering around the city doing nothing in particular.


On one day, I did try to repay even a little of the Rydman's incredible kindness by whipping up an Indian meal for them and a few of their friends. It seemed to go down well, but it was the very least I could do.


And, then it hit me. The day after I cooked for them, I awoke in my hostel bed to find that I could barely move. My body, after nearly three hard months on the road had decided to shut down. I had a temperature, my eyes and nose were running and I ached all over. These things are, as you may imagine, rarely a good sign. So, I stayed in bed and watched Finland’s rather bizarre TV channels all day as I dipped in and out of a fever filled sleep.



By the next day, I was feeling somewhat recovered and certainly hungry enough o get out of bed, shower and make my way to the market square for a plate of fried sprats and some berries I had been eyeing hungrily on a previous wander.





I had a quiet and very pleasant supper with Paola that evening and went to bed early in anticpipation of a 4.30am wake up call for my cab to the airport.

It had, as you can read, been quite a journey. Japan, Hong Kong, China, Mongolia, Russia and Finland. Some memorable moments and some I would like to forget (oh the horror of those Chinese toilets) and some memorable people who I know I shall stay in touch with for a long time to come.

I had only a few days in London before I headed out on the next stage of EAT MY GLOBE to the USA and South America. But more of that later