A FARMER who spent almost two years cycling across the globe has described his return to Oxford as a moment he will never forget.

Dan Dispain set off from the city in June 2014 and has since cycled more than 2,000 miles through the luscious hills of Vietnam, the bustling streets of Tokyo and the blistering sun of Mexico.

But Mr Dispain, from Cowley, said he had never cycled more than a few miles before embarking on his escapade, causing him to have second thoughts the night before he headed off around the world.

The 42-year-old said: "I had always wanted to travel the world but had assumed I would have done it a conventional way like bus or plane.

"But one of my friends is a keen cyclist and he kept encouraging me to do some cycling, so a couple of months before I set off I just decided 'yeah why not?' and I bought myself a good bike to cycle around the world on.

"The night before I really thought to myself 'what are you doing?' because the idea of leaving everyone you know for two years was pretty daunting.

"But I've always been a bit of a loner who loves his own company so it was all fine in the end."

Despite his initial doubts, Mr Dispain said his journey went absolutely brilliantly and he was able to visit places such as Thailand, Germany, Laos, and Guatamala.

But that is not to say Mr Dispain did not find tackling the terrain and temperatures of some of the countries rather difficult.

He said: "The trip was absolutely fantastic and I saw some really beautiful parts of the world.

"One of the hardest parts of the trip was Kyrgyzstan because the mountains were 4,000 miles high in places and China was also quite tricky because it was so cold.

"At one point the temperatures dropped to minus 10 degrees."

Mr Dispain said he was really proud of his achievement but admitted he had not had much time to reflect on his success having only arrived back on Sunday, April 24.

He said: "Now that I'm back, I'm hoping to have some time in the next few weeks to really reflect on it and think about how much fun it was.

"I've already decided that I'm going to do it again at some point and I've even worked out a route.

"Coming back to my friends and family popping champagne and shouting my name and holding banners was absolutely amazing and it really was a moment I'll remember forever."