The five faces of Bongo, monkey traveller

5x5 My tiny travelling companion is worthy of his own column (and who knows, he might step up), and our trip halfway around the planet and back again was as much his journey of self-discovery as my own. Here are the five iconic Bongo shots that tell his story.

1 Outback Bongo Little legs don’t stand in the way of a good hike when his ‘horse’ (that’s me) is around. Here is, fresh-faced back in March at the Kata Tjuta hills in Australia.

2 Crouching monkey, hidden Clanger Even monkeys have their own travelling companions, and Bongo brought along Major Clanger, a voice of common sense who’s still happy to play along with his friend as we climbed the grand waterfalls of the Emerald Valley, near Huangshan in eastern China.

3 Tiny Monkey Gazing Over the Sea of Clouds With the Major lost in raptures at the view of China’s Yellow Mountain, Bongo was left alone to ponder his place in the world. On a clear day, one can truly see the far horizon, and it was here that Bongo began to realise he was no tiny monkey amidst a billion horses, but that he might lead the world from its present chaos to a new order where no child wants for a banana.

4 Bongo Khan We left China swiftly following a misunderstanding with Mr Jinping over the future direction of the CCP’s production plan, but Bongo was even more convinced that he could provide effective leadership to a receptive people. His encounter with the immense statue of Chingis Khan, erected outside the Mongolia capital Ulanbataar gave him renewed certainty and a new model of great leadership to follow.

5 Bongo, the people’s monkey An afternoon at the remarkable Cosmonaut Avenue in Moscow further broadened Bongo’s understanding of great leadership, as the immortal heroes of the Soviet revolution whispered to him of their magnificent champions: Lenin, Stalin, Krushchev. Perhaps Mr Putin would be more receptive…