Sixty One Degrees

The end, for now...

Prague, Czech Republic

The famous Charles Bridge at 9am is almost deserted. I watch the watercolour sellers set up their stalls and see the mist on the river. Prague is peaceful.

At 11am I'm back at the bridge and it's mayhem. The tour bus groups have all woken up and are crowding every laneway from the castle to the old town square. Hawkers of every description are foisting all sorts of improbable rubbish on the crowd, who lap it up with glee. It's almost impossible to cross the bridge.

And it's only April.

This is the end of my trip. The last place that I haven't visited before. Later in the day I'm at the train station, catching an express train to Berlin, to spend a few days with an old friend. Sitting alone in my compartment as the train pulls out I know it's time to finish. Sixteen months and countless buses, trains and towns later.

But I'm already looking forward to starting again. Back to Asia. Back to the Middle East. Samarkand and Kashgar, Angkor Wat and Persepolis, Istanbul and Beijing. Crowded buses and crowded bazaars. The throng of people everywhere, the smell of cinnamon and incense. The assault on all the senses. The teeming mass. The life.

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To everyone who joined me on the trip via these little notes I hope I could give you at least a small taste of what I experienced. But it's not quite all. I've got seventy rolls of film to develop and scan so hopefully there'll be one or two interesting shots there. I'll send a few around just as soon as I find a place to live.

Somewhere...