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Monday, August 27

Jeremy and Nicole dropped me off at the airport in Beijing at 6 am. I read a book, I bought something to eat and and I listened to music, in the privacy of my ' Bose noise cancelling headphones ' while I waited for my 4 pm (4 am EST) flight to arrive. The wait was quite relaxing.

Then there was the security check in Beijing, a 12 hour flight to San Francisco, US customs clearance and security check, a 2 1/2 hour layover in San Francisco, a 5 hour flight back to Toronto, a 20 minute tarmac delay in Toronto because a plane was still at our gate, Canadian customs clearance, baggage retrieval and then the 1 1/2 hour ride back home ( thanks for the ride bro! ). I arrived back home at 1 am EST on Tuesday, slept for 4 hours, got up at 6 am and arrived at work before 8 am. I have successfully switched back to EST without the affects of jet lag!

As Jeremy told me, " We have gone where no Hamm has gone before ".

I want to thank Jeremy and Nicole for an awesome adventure. They were wonderful hosts.

We went over 10000 km ( ~ 6300 miles ) and saw a lot of sights. Jeremy did most of the driving and Nicole did the rest. They did an excellent job of driving in the disorganized symphony of driving chaos...no 2 situations are ever the same when you drive in China. If you think someone is going to do something, like pull out in front of you, he already has!

It should be noted that all of the major roads have tolls on them and these are one of the few things in China, that are expensive. I am sure that we spend over $500 in road tolls on our trip.

My trip to China was a wonderful experience and I would recommend it to others. If you are adventurous, there is a lot to be seen and done and you can work out your itinerary, preferably with someone who speaks the language. If not, take a tour. Its more expensive, but you will have most of the luxuries of home and you will have the benefits of having someone take care of the details. If you are thinking of doing a tour, I am sure that Jeremy and Nicole could help out.

So after all of the unusual foods, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Great Wall, the Water Terraces, the beautiful mountains, the red rock canyon, the Tibetan villages, the skywalk, the tombs, the caves, the animals, the people, etc, my journey has come to an end.

BUT WHERE ONE JOURNEY ENDS, ANOTHER ONE BEGINS ! ...... in 2 weeks, Northern Saskatchewan