They have returned, Dan Handley and Dave Brooks are back in the Fens after their gruelling 13,500 mile trip to Japan in aid of Children in Need.
The Chatteris duo touched down in the UK on Friday, October 12 and was greeted by their family and friends at arrivals.
The pair left the Cambridgeshire town on Sunday, August 12 and were on the road for eight weeks before spending a week in Japan.
They travelled through more than 20 countries and documented their trip on their social media page, Chatteris2Tokyo.
Dan said: “It’s been nine weeks, it’s been absolutely amazing and we’ve seen some amazing people, brilliant places. We couldn’t have asked to meet better people.
“People we will probably never see ever again. They didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak their language but we managed to communicate and get by.”
They have raised almost £3,000 for their chosen charity through online donations. This newspaper raised £742 for the pair at our annual Fenland Business Awards.
John Elworthy, editor of this newspaper, presented Dan and Dave with the cheque at their home-coming party held at Dan’s family home in Chatteris.
Dan added: “It’s good to be back but I don’t know how long that will last. We’re now just getting back to reality and getting back to work and earn some more money.
“We went to Japan a couple of years ago on a business trip and we didn’t really see much, we just stayed in Tokyo and ever since then, we wanted to go back.”
The pair hinted at another road trip on social media saying “Japan, we will be back”. They also thanked their contact in Japan, Ko, for “putting up” with them for a week.
They said: “A big, big thank you to Ko for looking after us and showing us around Japan.
“He gave us a real insight in to the late night car culture and took us to all sorts of traditional Japanese restaurants. You’ve been an absolute hero.
“We expected a lot more trouble and a lot more difficulties along the way. We’ve been very lucky. It’s been amazing.
“We love Japan, we love road trips so we thought, why not? We’ll drive to Japan. It took us a year to plan. Eight weeks to get there and one week in Japan.”
To donate, visit: www.mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/chatteris2tokyo
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