Looking skinnier and sporting a grown-out beard and long hair, New Zealander Phil Blackwood touched down in Auckland on Friday, where he was met by his father and a media scrum.
“They could have put me in a 5-star hotel and it would have been as hard, but obviously it wasn’t a 5-star hotel,” Blackwood, 33, said of his time in Myanmar’s most notorious prison, Insein.
The video of his return was posted on New Zealand’s 3 News.
He hugged his father, Brian, and when asked how it felt to be home, said “really nice.”
He appeared to be in good spirits, giving a thumbs up to the camera and speaking about running a marathon.
“Just like to say thanks to everyone….a lot of thanking to do,” he said.
“Today is the first day of the rest of my life.”
In March last year, Blackwood was found guilty, along with two Burmese colleagues, of insulting religion after he posted a photo of a psychedelic Buddha wearing headphones on the Facebook page of the bar he managed in Yangon.
They were sentenced to two and a half years in prison but Blackwood was freed in a January 22 amnesty that included dozens of political prisoners. The fate of his former colleagues remains unclear.
After a delay, he left Myanmar on Thursday, flying through Bangkok to Auckland and on to his home in Wellington.
Watch the full video here.
