The journey started with a delay on the Manchester flight, putting my connection in jeapordy. However, we made up time and arrived at Heathrow on schedule. As soon as I got on the plane I found that the trepidation that had been building up over the last few weeks disappeared - there was no going back! The 11 hour overnight flight was long, particularly as I only managed half an hour's sleep. Thankfully it was made more pleasant by the people I sat next to. On my left was Manfred, a Computer Science professor from Dusseldorf who is taking a break to do "research" on the Andaman coast islands before heading down to New Zealand for a couple of months. On my right was Angela, a business owner, slightly older than me (I think!), from Bucharest.
... read more