HE SAID... I woke at 6am and caught up on my writing as I sat in my sleeping berth. We arrived in Bangkok at 8am and caught a taxi to our hotel. Bangkok is an enormous bustling city, and a taxi trip in peak hour morning traffic certainly confirms this. Our hotel room wasn’t quite ready, so we headed out for a fruit shake while we waited. We checked in around 9am and settled into our room. This was the last day of our northern trip, so we needed time to re-organise our packs. We headed out at 1pm to look for a place for lunch. We were interested in a place along Th Tanao, so we started walking in that general direction. Within a few minutes we found ourselves right in the middle of a ... read more

HE SAID... We arrived in Chiang Rai at 1pm, checked into our hotel, showered in hot water for the first time in three days, organised our dirty clothes and dropped 3.5 kilograms of washing at the local laundry. The afternoon heat was intense, so we headed back to the hotel with cold drinks to catch up on emails and writing. We were exhausted. Three days of trekking had taken their toll, and a shower, western toilet and soft mattress were incredible luxuries. It was difficult to consider leaving the comfort of our room for the searing heat outside. However, we had read that an interesting second-hand bookshop was close by, so we decided to venture out and have a look at 5pm. Ren picked up a Thai book by Chart Korbjitti titled “Time”. We also visited ... read more

HE SAID... We descended out of the Chiang Dao Mountains to Mae Sai on the Burmese border. We checked out the markets and picked up a bottle opener for the remaining cider. We then jumped back in the songthaew (small pickup truck/ute with seats in the tray) and continued our journey, stopping on the way for lunch at a roadside restaurant at midday. I had a yum pla duk sam rot (spicy catfish salad) and Ren had pad thai goong sod (rice noodles stir fried with prawns, shrimp, egg, bean sprouts, tofu, chillies, fish sauce and peanuts). The food was good, but in comparison to street stalls and local cafes, roadhouse food isn’t the best. After lunch we headed to a lookout over the Golden Triangle (where the Mekong River divides Thailand from Burma and Laos) ... read more

HE SAID... We boarded the train and settled into our seats which converted into bunk beds. We took stock of our travels to-date and caught up on our notes as the train slowly pulled out of Ayuthaya bound for Chiang Mai. This train was very comfortable! After having our beds made for us, I climbed in and went out like a light. I didn’t even have time to pull the blanket up before I was asleep. It had been a long, fantastic day. I slept well, although the air conditioning was a little cold (which I’d definitely prefer to having no air conditioning). I had dreams all night of being in earthquakes and trying to get out of houses as they shook from side to side - I absolutely love sleeping on trains! We woke at ... read more

HE SAID... The two hour bus trip from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi was fascinating! While I am always compelled to sit and absorb the countryside on bus and train travel, I could not pull myself away from the on-board entertainment. A large LCD screen at the front of the bus was playing Thai pop film clips, which were really mini musical soap operas. Each song ran for at least 15 minutes. The acting and background music were terrible and the plot in each song was repetitive - two lovers, man has affair with another woman, betrayed woman discovers affair by secretly flicking through man’s mobile phone, great fighting and wailing prevails. If I was visiting from another planet, I would conclude that the mobile phone was the maker and breaker of relationships (well, I suppose it is). ... read more