After our failed attempt to leave Quetta and blowing another two bearings in the process we finally faced the reality that there was no chance of a permanent repair for Peggy.

Which forced us in to the terrible position of having to leave Peggy in Pakistan….for good. We had to say goodbye to our home of three years, our sanctuary and, its sad to say, but at that moment in time, any hope of completing our adventure across the globe. We were exhausted and broken, we were trapped and scared and we were done. Just like Peggy.

Going hazily though the motions of being escorted everywhere by the Police to arrange the papers to leave Peggy and to be allowed to leave Pakistan we began to notice signs, signs that made us begin to change our attitudes. We have, after all, spent the last three years saying our own version of Insh’Allah; Whatever happens, happens for a reason, and this was being proven in front of our eyes.

It shocked us to the core when we realized that we would be surrendering Peggy to the Pakistan Customs house EXACTLY 3 years to the day that we set off on our adventure.

3 years ago with Peggy’s brand new plates

3 years later. Peggy did us proud.

It got even more strange when upon opening the huge wizards ledger-like registry book, the Customs official told us that the last tourist vehicle to be surrendered was in 1987. The year Peggy was built. These coincidences and a handful of other unlikely events made the whole thing a little easier to deal with. It was like she was telling us, it was her time. At 27 years old, Peggy appropriately embraced ‘shahadat’ (Martyrdom) in Pakistan.

We unloaded Peggy’s contents and distributed what we couldn’t carry or post home among the eager staff at The Serena Hotel. Things that we take for granted, a pair of old shoes that Alex has worn 3 times but are no longer ‘fashionable’ were accepted with open armed hugs and slaps on the back. Blankets and bedding, pots and pans, clothes, gas tanks and food…3 years worth of meagre belongings to us was like a lottery win for some. It was sad to see everything go as it was all we had in the world at that point. It is incredible how much importance and value you place on ‘things’ when times are hard, but it was lovely to see the smiles on the faces of those who gave our ‘things’ new homes.

Thanks to Mahmood, the post office Master for all the help

We packed up everything we wanted to keep, yet couldn’t carry and spread the 120kg over 12 medium boxes which, under armed guard as always, we took to the post office where they would be sent back to England, evidently via a donkey with a hammer..Not much of it survived.

The whole experience of surrendering our travel partner and home of 3 years was horrific and it turns out it is extremely difficult to put the experience into words. So instead we compiled and edited some of the footage taken at the time.

Saying our goodbyes to our new family at the Serena Hotel we booked the next flight available to England and it left from Islamabad. We booked our flight from Quetta to Islamabad and realised our flight to England didn’t leave until the next day. Thankfully, Christina, a friend from the UN that we had met at the hotel, kindly invited us to stay at her house. Christina’s husband Dario also worked for the UN and after such an ordeal, their welcome and drinking far too much white wine, chatting way into the night was just what we needed.

Farewell Serena and thanks for everything

Thanks for protecting us on all of our errands guys!

Waving to Christina and Dario the next morning we left for our flight to England. Sad, but proud we remembered our lives with Peggy. She had done us proud. She had taken us to 56 countries and over 100,000km. We despondently wondered what was coming next for her, where she would end up, would she become a bus, someones home, or be taken to pieces and spread the length and breadth of Pakistan? Who knew.

Where would we end up? Could we carry on without our faithful companion Peggy? Where the signs telling us it was time for us to give up too?