The last day of our travelling! We started with a reasonably timed breakfast than off to the bus station for the bus ride to Singapore. The bus ride was fairly uneventful - Malaysia is quite well developed with good roads - the place is a little sterile when compared with other countries we had visited. We arrived in Singapore in mid-afternoon. If Malaysia is sterile, then Singapore is positively antiseptic. Apart from the odd giveaway, you could be in any west...

We were up early to get the bus to Malacca. It was about 500km and we were on a bus leaving at 9:00 - or so we thought. In fact we joined the bus in the centre of town before it set off via the bus station and then over the bridge to the Butterworth bus station. So we ended up a taxi ride and short ferry ride from our hotel! We eventually left at 10:45 and we felt cheated of about 2 hours sleep. The bus ride itself was very good. It was a luxury bus and the rout...

After lunch, we were off on the train from Bangkok to Butterworth in Malaysia where we would transfer to Penang. That meant a leisurely start to the day. After breakfast, Fran went to get her nails done and I went off to do some shopping. The train journey was OK - if a bit long. We got on at 14:45 with it due in Butterworth at 11:55 next day. We were in 2nd class - no separate first class compartments on the train - which was OK apart from the lights were kept ...

We were up early again for the 8:59 train. Time for a quick breakfast, check out and walk to the station. We had about a 4 ½ hour journey from Phitsanoluk to Ayutthaya. The train journey was pretty uneventful - couldn't see a lot as we were in an air conditioned carriage with filthy windows. We arrived at Ayutthaya, crossed by ferry to the town (it is on an island) and found a place to stay. Ayutthaya is another old capital - this time more recent. Th...

We left our hotel early to catch a fast bus over the border to Thailand. We were heading for Sokhothai and were uncertain if we could make it in a day. We were at the bus station for 7:45 and went through the preparations - a man inspected our passports and tagged our luggage. The journey to the border was quick and we were through the Thai side an hour after we left Vientiane - good going. The first part of our journey through Thailand was down to Kroh Kean - a...