Sitting at a “Cafe Ritazza” in Kuala Lumpur, waiting for a coffee and snack and thinking about our “long way home” so far. From hostels to resorts, chicken-filled buses to cold-war Russian-built trains that felt like we were aboard Mir, it’s been an adventure — but nothing, perhaps, to the next …

Our 15 day Thai VISAs expire today, so we’re getting out of the country. After more than a week at the Banburee Resort on Koh Samui, the idea of travelling again was actually a little exciting, whilst the idea of dealing with the logistics again — trains, accomodation, border-crossings — was just …

Early morning this morning, too early by far: our travel alarm (very useful thanks Dayna) exploded in an electronic tintinbulation at 6:02am precisely, shattering our slumber into little shards of activity. We showered (well, Dee showered — I had one last night instead, always be prepared. And …

We arrived in Bangkok with big hopes: our hotel, The White Orchid, looked great in the photos, with a jacuzzi, spa and massage room and a roof-top restaurant overlooking the city from the 12th floor. We were tired, smelly (nowhere to wash on an overnight train) and ready to just melt into a …

One sad monkey, just before we got on the bus to Vientiane. Poor little guy! (We gave him a banana while the owner wasn’t looking.)

So we’ve made it to Bangkok: we got a tuk-tuk to the train station, just past the Laos-Thai Friendship Bridge, and were happy to find there were first-class tickets left — not too expensive, and after the “hard sleeper” in China and “chicken bus” in Laos we weren’t in the mood to find out what …