This trip would never have happened had it not been for the massive amount of support we got from people at every stage. We are eternally indebted to each and every one of them. First and foremost we would like to thank Bob: without him this dream would never have become a reality. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thanks also to the rest of our families—Pip, Nick, Dod, Fi Fi and Zed—for putting up with us, supporting us and listening to us until they never want to hear the word ‘tuk tuk’ again.
A very special mention goes to Anuwat and Dow, who not only built us the queen of tuk tuks but also treated us like sisters and looked out for us all the way. They were always there when we needed them and never short of Coke, cigarettes and laughter. Thanks also to all Anuwat’s mechanics who dedicated so much time to building Ting Tong.
Next in line are our sponsors. Of the multitudes of individuals and companies that we wrote to asking for money, equipment, flights, websites, books, these are the kind people who came up trumps: Brian, our wonderful website guru at www.indrum.com; Hannah at Skype, PID, Brighton Square; Joanna, Grace and Christine at Thelma & Louise; Activair; Liftshare; Imperial Hotels; Stuart at Travelfish; Mike and Vanda at Toniks languages; Ultraseal; Paul and Jason at Nomad; Cellhire; Silva; Whitby & co; Matt at Sqare peg;Toby;Alice McLaughlin; Ben Johnson and PDC. For more information about all our sponsors, please visit our website www.tuktotheroad.co.uk.
We’d also like to thank the following, in no particular order: Cath Hibberd, Aidan Warner, Paul Farmer and the rest of the team at Mind for their belief and support throughout; David and Gwendolyn Fall; Jack—the best guide in China; Lifeng at the CSITS; Shane Winser at the RGS; Dan, Bobby and Pete at ITV Anglia; Sam and Bea Rutherford; Mike and Gemma Steen; Catherine Inglehearn and Yulia Kaufman at the British embassy in Almaty; Peter Wickenden and Linda Duffield at the British embassy in Prague; Evgenia Salagdinova and the Kazakh Feminist League; Daniel and Susi; Scott Wallace; Richard Batson at the EDP;Trisha Goddard; Chaz—editor extraordinaire; Hugh Sinclair; Simon W-S; Neil Cranston; Julian and Bob at GFS; Al; the Wycombe girls; Rudy, Oleg and Ivan—our boys in Yekaterinburg; Jenna, Kate and all the Cosmo crew; Duncan at Dragoman; Jo Winchester;Tom and Nik at www.gapyear.com; Hannah and André; Bert; Mark Edgar; Lou, Jang and the team at Visualeyez, Bangkok; Stephen Fry and Jo Cocker; Sir Elton John; Melvyn Bragg; David Manson; Heather and the Clares at The Friday Project; Mark at RDF; Maxat; the Armed Technician; Stan, Heid Honcho and all the other Tuk to the Road blogging faithfuls; Russ Malkin; Uncle Nobby and Kim from Intrepid Expeditions; the Bantam Trust; Sue and La La; Olly Hicks; Pestos; Jim, Sandi and Norman at The Stable Gallery; Sally, Lara, Kaye and Patsy for looking after the ferrets; and all those people out there who supported us and Mind and have helped us get so close to our £50 000 target.
Finally, thanks to all those strangers out there who went out of their way to help us when we were on the road: the family who gave us petrol in the steppes, the truckers who bought us lunch, the people who showed us the way, the mechanics who wouldn’t take our money, the border guards who made our days, and the Tartars who gave us free veggies. Big tuk tuk love to you all.
Love,
Jo, Ants and Ting Tong xxx