By now most of you who read this will know that we are home. We attempted to keep it a secret and surprise our nearest and dearest and it almost worked to perfection. The reaction on people's faces was well worth keeping our mouths shut :)

As for Thailand.. Well, let's just say we weren't too gutted about leaving. After seeing the amazing countries we did, Thailand just didn't compare - and let's face it, the islands in the South would have been predictable and not worthy of hanging around for 3 weeks, as originally planned.

The 29th April, the day I turned 22, was one of these days that I was sworn to secrecy. We were actually in Singapore for it. Accommodation was pretty dire and the reputation of Singapore being expensive was very accurate, making it near impossible to upgrade to a fancy room for less than $150 a night. Even though this night was our last night travelling too, we weren't sure whether at such a late stage stumping up this kind of cash would be worthwhile.. so we stuck to our pokey hostel for the two nights. My birthday was nice - we went to the famous Raffles Hotel where the 'Singapore Sling' was invented. Although, at a price of $27 per cocktail we called it quits after just the one each :) We spent time shopping (which Singaporeans love) and in the evening went to Clarke Quay for a somewhat average River cruise, and then to dinner at a posh place followed by drinks and ice-cream.

Singapore seemed like a entertainment complex for the rich. It was amazing at first to walk around, people watch, visit some different areas but the novelty wore off quickly. It was pretty surreal knowing this was our last night before flying back to London the following morning.

Ketan and I didn't really get much sleep that night - we chatted about the highs and lows of the trip, how it exceeded our expectations and generally how it will be *impossible* to forget such an experience. The 14 hour plane journey back to London Heathrow was a sad day.

I'm normally fluid with my thoughts when it comes to writing this blog but at the moment I am actually 'speechless'. Eight months later the dream comes to an end, but what a fulfilling and satisfying end it is.

Thank you all for taking the time to read it and sharing it with me x