FOR most parents a surprise visit from their grown-up children means dirty washing or a cash loan.

But Hannah Timms decided to surprise her parents in Winchester by returning home two months early from a year-long trip to Asia.

Hannah, of Roman Road, Twyford, returned home last weekend after cycling through Asia with boyfriend Philip Large, from Coventry.

The pair sold most of their possessions to fund the trip, including their phones, so they could not give her parents any warning of their impending arrival.

Hannah, 30, said: “A year ago in May we left Winchester with two second hand bicycles with no more than a dream to cycle from Turkey to China. We were complete novices who just wanted to challenge ourselves to do something on a year out.

“We loved it so much we continued all the way through south East Asia to Singapore.

The pair cycled through 13 countries covering 12,000km encountering a variety of weird and wonderful things along the way.

Hannah added: “It has been an amazing trip full of highs and lows - being chased down the motorway by packs of wild dogs in Turkey, waking up to fish being thrown at our tent in Georgia and making an appearance on Azerbaijani TV eating tuna in a roadside ditch were just some of the highlights.”

They flew to Paris from Asia and then caught a ferry to Portsmouth before getting on their bikes once again to ride to Twyford.

The pair also kept a blog of their exploits at spoontravel.blogspot.com.