15/07/09 The wheels on the bus go round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round.

It’s been almost a week now since our teary goodbyes in Sihanokville, the morning after we scraped ourselves together and got the stupidly early bus to Bangkok bus as is always the case when taking a long distance bus that crosses a border... Things don’t always go to plan. Yet again one VIP ticket + Border crossing = cramped minivan the other side. Not that it bothers us much because we are used to it but it kind of set the tone for the long journey back to Kuala Lumpur.

We arrived in Bangkok not quite an hour after we were supposed to and quickly found a room down the Khao San road, from the very second we arrived Georgie’s agenda was taking over and that agenda was shopping. Faced with an imminent return to the UK she was dead set on spending what money we had left and some we didn’t on pretty things and who am I to deny a pretty lady of her trinkets.

We had a little stroll up the KSR before the journey caught up with me and I retired to the room leaving Georgie to shop until she dropped... Which wasn’t long.

The same happened the following two days except that Toby met up with us before he flew back home for one last Bangkok blow out... Only thing was there was no blow out, I think we have all been bang on it a little too long and short of a few social beers we did nothing but relax and enjoy the last moments of our time in Asia together. Bangkok took it out of us, Georgie has the stamina of an army where shopping is concerned and it was as much as Toby and I could do to keep up with her and by the time he left us it was clear we all needed a rest. 

We didn’t have the luxury of leaving from Bangkok airport our tickets out are for Kuala Lumpur which meant whatever way we looked at it, the cheapest option was a bus and a bus meant 24 hours, not all in one go but still a bit much even for us hardened travelers. The problem is that when you travel long distances on a bus it’s similar to a plane, you do everything in your power to pass the time as quickly as possible and it turns into a battle between you and the journey. Comfort becomes the primary concern and as the scenery passes it’s nothing more than a distraction from your book, every bump is an annoyance and every delay is infuriating... Don’t know if you can tell but what I’m getting at is that if we had our own transport (for instance a Honda 250 Baja) the journey becomes part of the trip, something to enjoy and experience instead of hassle and agro.

We hadn’t left ourselves enough time for a break so when we finally got on the bus we had to get some sleep... Thats where the trip to the Cambodian pharmacy comes in and we are out like lights... Well until that is a man a few seats away starts snoring with such ferocity that it sounds as if someone is actually sawing wood with a chainsaw on the bus, even a good dose of Vallium couldn’t block that out so drastic action was required. When we got aboard the VIP bus we were given a small pack lunch containing a few cakes, drinks and a couple of boiled sweets and seeing as we had eaten the cakes already the sweets became the tools of silence... We tried subtle measures to snap the man out of his chainsaw like slumber but that didn’t work so the sweets were hurled and several direct hits later the snoring was over, but as I’m sure anyone who has to deal with snoring knows - it will come again and soon... Ear plugs in and the Vallium did the rest.

We woke up this morning in Hat Yai once again and with a few hours to kill until our connection to KL we set off in search of strong coffee and breakfast, we found a lovely little family run Chinese cafe decorated with picture frames filled with old money from around the world, in one was an old note with Saddam Houssein on it!

Our bus to KL was as good as we could have wanted, luxurious and comfortable... And no snorers but it was long and there is nothing like one long bus journey to highlight how long the next on is. 

Finally we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, 27 hours after leaving Bangkok and to top it off Georgie had come over feeling rough... Really rough.

We had one final bus to catch from the centre of KL out to the airport where we had planned to sleep, but on the way to the airport bus Georgie started throwing up all over the shop. We had no time to hang about, although our flight wasn’t due to leave until the next morning it was an early one and we knew we would miss it if we stayed in the centre, so I took the two backpacks (now stuffed with goodies and weighing in close to 25kg each) and Georgie took the small ones. We made it to the airport and attempted to get a room at the only affordable hotel nearby - Tune, only to be turned away... A few other backpackers were also turned away, apparently they had no rooms but it really seemed like they just didn’t want a bunch of smelly hippies dirtying the place up. I humped the bags on once again and we hiked back to the airport (got to be close to a kilometre both ways) luckily Georgie had started to feel a bit better despite the blow that we couldn’t have a bed so as I type she is asleep on the softest seats we could find and I am WIRED on a few too many coffee’s... We have five more hours until the next monster journey twelve hour flight back to the UK and to be honest I cant wait... 

Don’t get me wrong I’m not moaning or ranting, I am merely relaying the events of the last few days and despite it all, the busses, the back ache, the sick, no sleep, no beds... It’s what it’s all about and I’d do it again in a heartbeat!