(Ha! Brief? This thing turned into a bloody essay!) No sooner had I finished my solo walk across Iran, was I dissecting and critiquing my performance. Had I achieved my stated goals?

1. Walk, solo, from the north of Iran on the Caspian Sea to its southerly border on the Persian Gulf. Tick.
2. To attempt to reveal a country that is seen in the west only through the narrow lens of the media. Harder to qualify but I think I can give this one a tick as well.

Sitting in my $10 hotel in Bushehr, showered, with a full belly my mind started to work overtime. What could I have done differently? Could I have done better? Was it really so hard? A frustrating time to be sure.

I began thinking of an expedition in the Middle East region while floating down the flat, wide expanse of the Amazon River. A lot of time to think when manning the oars or just lying on the raft. In one town I managed to print out a map of the area. Where could I go? Afghanistan? Perhaps, but a bit dicey. Pakistan was high on the list until the North-West Frontier Province began kicking off in a big way. Iraq? Again, not so good. Smack in the middle of these decidedly tricky areas was the Islamic Republic of Iran. But wasn't this place also dangerous? The government, state sponsors of terrorism and the people US flag burning extremists? Worth a look perhaps.

The Expedition Amazonas successfully completed, it was time to get serious about the next journey. I researched all I could on Iran - books, journals, the internet, documentaries, as much as I could lay my hands on. The more I learnt, the more I realised that the country was getting a bum deal. Sure, the guys in charge of running the place and shooting their mouths off may be a bunch of gooses, but the ordinary citizens? I was not so sure. What did they think? I could definitely empathise with some degree of anger towards the west. What, with Britain taking a majority of the country's oil revenue for so many years and the US busy overthrowing the government in the CIA's first coup. But was it so heartfelt that the whole country deserved to be branded part of Dubya's Axis of Evil? Military action a possible solution?

More books, route planning, emails to contacts in Iran, checking out visa options, getting in touch with my sponsors to run the idea past them. Before I knew it my proposed departure of September 2009 had come and gone. October as well. Strewth, it's almost winter. Not ideal for a crossing of one of the most mountainous countries on earth but I could not bear to postpone for another 8 months of so. November it was. I sweated on my visa following the upheaval of the June elections last year. Finally it came through. I spent far too many hours perfecting my expedition "mini-site" (an excuse to build the site inside my already existing one, cheaper too). Sponsors on board, training done (well a couple of summits of Kili in the month leading up) and away I went.

For all the research I had done, flying into Tehran was interesting to say the least. What would they do? Turn me around? Interrogate me? Put me in jail as a western spy? Ummm...no...enjoy your visit sir more like it. Immediately any preconceptions I had of Iran were blown out the door. I did not know exactly what to expect but I knew it was not the same place shown to us by CNN, Fox and to a lesser extent BBC.

Over the next 2 months I crossed a country and stayed with people who were so far from the caricature so often painted in the west that it is hard to imagine. Tehran, for starters reminded me a lot of London - big, busy, peoples lives stuck on fast forward, with possibly just the traffic being slightly worse (and the metro or underground much better!).

Staying with people in so many different towns and villages was the real highlight. As darkness fell of an evening I would be busy scoping out potential camp sites, hidden from view and sheltered from the biting wind. 30mins later I would be sat in someones living room, in a mosque, a village hall or in the back of a shop with a glass of tea or plate of food in my hand with my host busy preparing my bed for the evening. The neighbours would all crowd in and the questioning would start. Where are you from? Where are you going? Where have you come from? Why did you come to Iran? Do you like Iran? What do you think of the government? Are you married? All asked with genuine interest, not for small talk and their hospitality not influenced in any way by my answers. I tried to capture all this with photos and in my journal. Taking footage was a little more difficult. Sometimes it just did not feel right. Like pulling the camcorder out at a family dinner and shoving it in everyones face. Perhaps I should have been more bold.

My longest day of walking saw me cover 47km. I would average between 30-35km a day. Between 4-5km an hour. There were no pleasant surprises at the end of a day when checking my distance covered. In a kayak or raft at times you get a good hurry along by the river. Not so walking beside a highway or through the mountains. I tried hard not to turn the expedition into a race to cover as much ground as I could in a day. Towards the end, after Yasuj, with 300km to go to the Persian Gulf, I failed a little in this. My body was starting to break down and my mind was not far behind. Solo does funny things to a man. For all the beautiful people I met and for all their genuine care about my well-being, I still felt alone on my quest. All the nice food they fed me and cozy blankets they provided would not get me to the Persian Gulf with any more expediency or ease. At times it did feel never ending. The constant stares on a bad day started to get to me and quite rudely I would tell off those who were guilty. It was after these same people smiled broadly and offered me tea and cake that I would feel like a right fool. Fortunately this happened rarely (my tantrums I mean).

I took as many photos as I could. I am no gun photographer but thanks to Sony I had the best lightweight DSLR money can buy and a HD camcorder to match. Pointing and shooting scored me some real gems. Towards the end of a hard day or in an isolated spot with some hardened looking blokes around I was less inclined to get them out and start shooting. Again, in hindsight perhaps I could have done more. Perhaps.

In the end I am very happy with the expedition overall. What started as something so small, a seed of an idea in the middle of the Amazon River, grew and grew until it almost had a mind and will of its own. I set the wheels in motion and before I realised there was no stopping it. The next thing I knew I was crossing snow covered mountains and hot, dry plateau in a country a few years ago I had never envisaged wanting to visit. I was walking across the Islamic Republic of Iran! Not long after and I am back typing this in my apartment in Central London. I put in some damn hard work to make this expedition come to life and it paid off. Success! So many expeditions end in failure. Injury, weather, illness, governments, lack of will or just plain bad luck. I faced all these obstacles and maybe with a little luck on my side I got through them all. I would like to think however it was good planning, execution and determination that contributed the most to seeing me through.

Last year in front of a packed auditorium at the RGS headquarters in Kensington I was asked what was next for me after the Amazon. I flashed up a new slide with a map of Iran in the center and proudly proclaimed that I aimed to walk across the entire country. There were more than a few murmurs and whispers through the audience. With a less than convincing reply I managed to quietly retort, "I'll do it". Ha! I barely believed it myself. Now, to have done it and to think back to this moment makes me so happy. Yeh hah!

I would love to thank everyone who helped me make the whole thing happen. What a list. I will surely miss people and there were so many who helped indirectly but were still so important. Where to begin? In Iran my life was made a whole lot easier thanks to my good friend Mohammad Hajabolfath. He had me stay at his apartment whenever I was in Tehran, gave me full access to his office and generally just made sure I was looked after. I cannot thank him enough. The Alpine Club of Iran acted as my hosts in the country helping me get my visa and providing me with letters of introduction. They also put me in touch with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage whose team were fantastic. I must particularly thank Mr. Shakir who managed to get me a visa extension in Qom in less than 2 hours and introduced me to some other fantastic people including Doc and Mr. Olfati. Mr Shabaneh and Dr. Abaci were 2 tough, old blokes who made sure my time in Borujen was thoroughly enjoyable. Aaarghhh....so many, I am so sorry to miss people out. My good mate Behrouz in Tehran came to visit me in Esfahan and stayed in regular touch via phone throughout my journey just to make sure I was ok. Team Bala, my crazy uni mates in Mahmoud Abad kept me smiling for a good many days. Mr Karim and his family in Borazjan gave me a place to sleep and shower after a week in the mountains. Everyone in between has my my sincere and heartfelt thanks. The truck driver who threw me an orange, the Iraqi guy who gave me some tea and biscuits by the side of the highway right when I needed it, the young guys who shouted me a kebab lunch on the way to Nur Abab and gave me stick about Australia losing to Iran in the football all those years ago, Mr. Asari and his awesome old man who brought me in from the cold in Sisakht. The list is endless.

Back in the UK the list is also long. All my sponsors - Rab, Suunto, Meindl, Sony and Zeal Optics. I can truthfully report that every piece of kit supplied by these guys was perfect! Their support of my endeavours has been brilliant and I look forward to going on many more journeys with them.

I asked many questions of Al Humphreys and got some great contacts from Rob Murray-John of Sky2Sea International. Thanks guys.

Most importantly, my long suffering girlfriend put up with me being a virtual hermit for many months, pretty much hard wired into my Mac and the internet to make this expedition a reality.

I definitely missed out people who deserve to get a mention and for this I apologise. As I remember I will put up a word of thanks.

I will still be throwing up bits and pieces here and there from the expedition, hopefully some video asap. I will also go through some of my kit that proved vital to the journey (and some that did not!).

Thanks for following the journey and keep an eye out for more coming out of the expedition and the inevitable, WHAT'S NEXT?