And the best moments were...

Unbelievable, but true, our year long journey around half the globe has come to an end (or at least a longer break as we are still denying to resume a 'normal life'). On a cold Tuesday night, our train from Budapest arrived at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof where a surprise delegation welcomed us back.

As you can imagine, it's pretty hard for us to come up with a 'final statement' other than "It's been the best decision we've ever made", but here is a snapshot of the most memorable Bordertrekkers moments. Of course, we are looking very much forward to sharing these and many other stories with every single one of you. Have a read and feel free to comment:

Memorable people moments:

• 'Waterfall surprise': While on a scooter tour on Bali, we came across some steps leading to a holy waterfall where hundreds of Balinese took a bath and prayed. We were the only tourists amongst Balinese worshipers.
  
• 'T is a giant moments': compared to locals in Japan, T was a giant. What a surprise for a European man of 1,77m height.


• 'G&T feeding': on most of our public transport trips, we were fed by locals, a banana or samosa in the bus, some sweets in the train. Definitely, we must have looked very hungry.


• 'Kung Fu hero T': T was called on stage at a Kung Fu show in Seoul, Korea and manage well after overcoming his first shock.

• 'Meeting friends': It was great to meet and travel with friends and family in Japan, China, Nepal, India and Jordan.
  

The smartest scams and tricks:

• '1 Egyptian pound to 10 pound instant swap': We gave a cheeky taxi driver in Hurghada, Egypt, a 10 pound bank note for our cab fare. He took the money and quickly showed us a 1 pound note claiming he only received this one. Of course, this trick did not work with us...


• 'Fake bank notes at money exchange in Jodhpur, India': After receiving some fake bank notes at this money exchange, we could manage to pay a dinner bill with the fake notes and the problem was gone. Not nice from us, but we did it the Indian way, first step of adaptation...


• 'Your hotel is closed/burned down/does not exist': Frequent trick of taxi or rickshaw drivers everywhere trying to lead us to a different hostel and pocket in some commission. Used in Aswan, Egypt. Did not work either...


• 'Double speed odometer in Delhi, India': A clever driver manipulated his odometer. Nice try, but we checked the route on google maps and so the taxi driver got in trouble and did not get paid his "extra miles".


• 'Taxi mafia tricks in Almaty, Kazakhstan': At 4 am, T tried to catch a cab into town from the airport. It was tricky as everyone wanted to have 20 USD for a 1USD trip. After heavy discussion the taxi mafia agreed to 10 USD and T could check into a dodgy hotel to catch some sleep.

• 'Nice room scam, Gorakhpur, India': We got shown 2 rooms, 1 pricey and nice, one cheap and aweful. After complaints from our end, the hotel surprisingly had a nice and cheap room. What a surprise...

Best nature encounters:

• 'Ras Mohammed National Park euphoria, Egypt': 3 turtles, 1 shark within 5 minutes of snorkeling.

• Turtle spotting in fantastic coral waters on the Andaman Islands, India + Gili Air, Indonesia and Ras Mohammed, Sinai.


• 'The 5000 m mountain challenge, Langtang Valley Nepal': We managed to climb a 5000 m high mountain. We made it despite extreme snow, no clear path, icecold wind, and signs of altitude sickness. Although quite tough, it made us very proud to have been up there.


• 'Rhino spotting in Chitwan NP, Nepal': Being 5 m away from a wild, fat, old rhino was a thrilling experience, especially as the ranger already pointed out our escape route towards the river ("run zig zag, and drop something to irritate the rhino...")


• 'God's pebble playground': Marveling at the mysterious boulder landscape in Hampi, India.


• 'Feeding camels and goats in the remote Gobi desert': our tour leader stopped in the middle of nowhere to open a covered well and to let us feed soft cute cashmere goats. Very soft fur indeed.
  


• 'Kamikochi hike in the snow': we decided to go hiking in the Japanese Alps before the season opened and had to wade through knee high snow, we almost got lost as most road signs were hidden under snow and written in Japanese, but eventually found the right way.


• 'Wadi Rum': marveling at massive rock formations in a desert. Imagine Monument Valley landscape times ten in Jordan.


• 'Witnessing 2 solar eclipses in 1 year': First a total one on Emei Shan in China (though covered in heavy fog, which created a quite mystic atmosphere), then a partial eclipse in India.

Funny moments:

• 'Muscle pain intense': after walking down the inside of only 2 pyramids in Egypt, we had intense muscle pain for several days at funny spots like our bums.


• 'Full body scrub in Japanese Onsen': after scrubbing ourselves from ear to toe nail, we survived dipping in 70 degree hot water and being watched by curious old locals.


• 'Nepali hospital care': After T fell into a hole on a high Nepal mountain (no alcohol involved!), he had to see a doctor. He was looked at by 3 doctors and 2 nurses in what he described as a "garage with hospital beds inside" and was released with the words: "all good, we will leave it like that". 'It' was a skin flap which was then cut off at the international clinic in Kathmandu 2 days later...

Accommodation moments:

• 'Belgrad Station is not too bad for one night': after our train from Sofia missed its connection in Belgrad, we had to stay put in our sleeping carriage on track 1 for one night.


• 'First Mongolia night': We were driven to our "apartment" in the middle of the night, stopped at a socialist apartment block and were led to flat where a massive Mongolian only dressed in underpants opened the door and welcomed us friendly.


• 'Double storey villa on Gili Air, Indonesia': we were lucky to secure a brand new lovely 2 storey house with a rooftop equipped with hammocks, day beds and mosquito net. And all of this for $10, what a bargain.


• 'Everything is tiny in Japan, even our room': in Tokyo, our room was as long as T and as wide as G's arm span. No problem, as the mattress was rolled away in the morning.


• 'Hyatt of all ger camps, Mongolia': After having spent already 2 nights camping in the open desert, we managed to secure a bed in a ger camp with shared hot water showers and water closets, what a luxury!