We were up at 6.45am to shower and finish packing for a long day of travelling. Edd was more interested in reading the British election news than packing his bag, but our tuk tukk arrived 10 minutes early and he then rushed to packed the last few bits. We made our way downstairs, but the took took driver had left, apparently he'd be back shortly.

He came back 5 minutes later and dropped us off at a backpackers hostel where lots of other westerners were sitting, waiting for the same bus. I went into the little store next door and bought a small packet of Ritz biscuits, a baguette and 3 Laughing Cow triangle cheeses, with a plastic knife. I went back outside and we waited for half an hour before the bus came to pick us all up.

The bus parked down the road and a Cambodian guy lead us to it; Edd sorted our bags out and I climbed into get us good seats: it was a free for all and I did not want us to get stuck with seats that had minimal leg room: I'd have a grumpy Ted on my hands.

After less than an hour, we stopped for a toilet break. Everyone looked around as if to say 'but I don't need the toilet?!' A few people got out to get something to eat, Edd and I sat on the bus and ate our cheese baguette and Ritz biscuits, most of the people stayed on the bus, it's not like we'd been travelling long that we needed to stretch our legs.

A Cambodian woman than climbed on the bus and announced that we all had to get off. Apparently they were going to 'clean it' in the 20 minutes that we were sat there. Liar liar pants on fire. The only way you'd get us off is if you picked us up and moved us. A couple more people got off, but the majority stayed on. No body with a broom got on to clean. We discussed whether the Cambodians thought that Westerners were stupid, we got lied to all the time; in fact, we assumed everyone was lying until we verified what they were saying using a forum or asking other westerners. Whatever.

We stopped again half an hour later because the driver needed to relieve himself. Instead of going behind a tree or out of sight of passengers, he took 5 steps off the bus, whipped it out and had a whizz in front of everyone. You really can't make this stuff up.

We stopped again to get petrol. Journeys in Asia would take significantly less time if they didn't stop so much! Time efficiency is not something anyone in these parts has a handle on.

We then stopped at Poi Pet border. The dodgiest border in all of Asia. I spotted some seriously unsavoury looking characters hanging around and kept an eye on what the driver was doing as nothing was announced and no one told us antying. A different Cambodian guy then got on the bus and was telling everyone that they needed to get their bags and get a red sticker to get on a bus on the other side of the border. I realised that they'd open the underneath of the bus and our bags were exposed to the unsavoury elements that hang around country border points. I immediately told Edd to get off and make sure our bags were okay - the bus driver minced around, not particularly interested in the welfare of his passengers belongings. Edd tried to get off as the Cambodian guy was making his speech, but it did not apply to us as we were taking the train in Thailand to Bangkok, so did not need a red sticker. The man then stood in Edd's way and would not let him pass. Edd tried to get around him the other way, but he moved again so he could not pass him. Edd then pushed him aside and got off: the guy was smaller than me, he didn't stand a remote chance and would not listen to Edd's protests that we were not going with the bus in Thailand, never mind the fact that our bags were unprotected, which was his main concern. The guy tried to push Edd back as he climbed down the stairs, but Edd didn't even notice. He asked me for my bus ticket as I got off, and I reiterated that we were not going with them to Bangkok, so his speech did not apply to us. He muttered in Cambodian and I climbed off behind Edd.

We got our bags, waited for a French girl that was doing the same route as us and then make our way to departures. This was a quick process and entailed our finger prints again (Cambodia is the only country I've ever been to where they associate visa's with fingerprints) and we walked through no mans land, across a bridge that was heavily guarded by armed officials, and into the Thai arrivals building. The locals sat in queues outside while tourists went into an air conditioned room. The whole process took half an hour, quickest border crossing we've ever done and a far cry from the 2 hour queue we were in the first time we came to Thailand. The lady that assisted me stamped me in and I then stood at the door waiting for Edd; she rushed back to me and took my passport off me again, talking to herself and shaking her head. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, so walked back to her desk. I'd got us a 2 entry visa in London that meant we could stay for 60 days, but enter twice for a month each time (overland visa's are 15 days on your second entry, so we had to get our in advance). We'd already been in Thailand just short of a month in March, so had to be out of there by the beginning of June.. but she changed my entry stamp to July. So we got an extra month free! Not that we were going to be using it, but it was a bit bizarre that the customs official was confused with my visa.

We all walked through the bag checking area, but the officials there were more concerned with their lunch. We walked past a building with the title: The 12th Irregular Regiment and all had a giggle.

Took took drivers were trying to scam us, so we walked up the road in the general direction of the train station. One of the drivers that were trying to charge us 100 Baht for a ride, came up behind us and agreed to our fee: 20 Baht per person, 60 Baht for a ride. We hopped in and it was a tight squeeze with 3 people and 3 back packs - the driver was not in any rush and stopped to pick up a local en route; he then also stopped to buy oil at a local store. In Asia, people are a by product of other more important transportation errands.

We finally got to the train station and had an hour to kill before the train left, so sat at a local restaurant for some lunch. We could have sat in the air conditioned room for 10 Baht each, but all decided to sit outside under a fan instead. I ordered spring rolls made of crab and pork (I know, it was meat, but the menu was in Thai, I wasn't in the mood for rice and am avoiding noodles at present due to digestive issues); Edd ordered a rice dish with pork and the French girl ordered fried noodles. Edd then went to a petrol station to buy sim cards for our phones.

We finished eating and the French girl and I went to buy train tickets. He joined us at the ticketing desk and we got onto the 3rd class train to Bangkok, we were starting at one end of the line and ending at the other end of it. Total journey time: 7 hours. No aircon. This was going to be fun.

I sat and blogged, read my book and then attempted to nap in awkward positions. Edd spent most of his time taking photos of things and hanging out of the door, as it was apparently on his bucket list (be still my fragile nerves). I then had the bright idea to put our back packs on top of each other and then lay across them with my feet next to Edd. This turned out to be an ingenious idea and I stayed there for the rest of the journey.

We got off just after 8pm and said goodbye to the French girl. Edd and I then made our way out of the station, buying more money for our phone's on the way, and stood in the queue for the taxis.

We got into a green and yellow taxi, which took us straight to Koh San Road; we'd forgotten ho intoxicating the energy in the air is; it's almost tangible. We made our way to the Wild Orchid, knowing exactly where we were going, and checked in.

A shower and a change of clothes later, we were on our way back to the madness: we needed food. We found a vendor that sold Pad Thai and ordered 1 pork and 1 seafood. I was ravenously hungry, but didn't eat half of my food: there was far too much of it! We ate in a quieter street off of Koh San, so that we didn't get bothered by people selling things and could eat in relative peace and quiet.

We then made our way into the hear of the madness and bumped into the 2 Swedish guys we'd met in Siem Reap (the one's we'd shared a taxi with into the city). We sat down at their table and ordered a Mai Tai cocktail, in a bucket, but to share. People were milling past the pub and standing around on the sides, it was heaving with people and there was no where to sit: we'd nabbed the last 2 seats. There is something enchanting about music and how it brings people together, YMCA came on and even the people that were walking past the pub, stopped to dance to the song! It was hilarious to watch and as soon as the song ended, they carried on walking like it was an impromptu flash mob that was over.

We were quite tired from 13 hours of travelling and said good night and good bye to the Swedes. We made our way back to the hotel and walked up the 10 flights of stairs to the 5th floor. The benefit of being that high up is that you escape all the street noise, the downside however is that you have to climb 10 flights of stairs. Tough choice.

We jumped into bed, pleased that we were in familiar surroundings having been here 2 months earlier, and went straight to sleep. We had a full nights sleep in a few days and both fell asleep almost immediately.