"It is a lot of distance. Difficult to comprehend, especially coming from a country where you're never more than about seventy miles from the sea and can get to numerous other countries in a few hours." The lengths of bus rides had been eye-opening when he'd visited.

"Yes, I visited Chine a couple of years ago. There's a lot of interesting folklore and mythology there too. And I was hoping to grab some painkillers, and something for dinner is probably a good idea."