Thailand! I arrived in Bangkok but headed straight out of the city. Emma is a volunteer in a town called Sangkhla Buri in the far west of the country, right on the border of Burma. It's 6-8 hours from Bangkok by bus and it was too late to get all the way there in the same day so I stopped for the night at a town called Kanchana Buri. This is where the film "Bridge on the River Kwai" is set, telling the story of the British PoW who built it. Kanchana Buri is a beautiful town right on the river with picturesque little bamboo huts poking out into the river. The bridge itself is quite small and is actually different from the one in the film - the movie was made in Sri Lanka. The place I stayed, Froggies, was fantastically cheap - just over a pound a night for a spotlessly clean single room on the river. Brilliant.

The following morning I set out for Sangkhla Buri, 3-4 hours by minibus on narrow windy roads with spectacular views of the lake abd mountains. The town is in a spectacular location right on a massive lake. As it is so near the Burmese border, there is a large ethnic mix. The town has a famous bridge across the lake, the longest wooden bridge in Thailand. There's a great little hawker stall at one end of the bridge where we ate delicious noodle soup and admired the view (through the rain). I was staying at P Guesthouse in a single room overlooking the lake. It was such a beautiful, peaceful place. There wasn't a huge amount to do in the town but I had a fantastic time relaxing and soaking up the restful atmosphere. Emma lives in a shared house with other volunteers (a teacher and a nurse) just down the road from the guesthouse. It was rainy season there and it rained torrentially most afternoons which was a good excuse to sit at one of the many fantastic restaurants with a beer. What a fabulous routine! :) I met lots of other volunteers Emma knows and they were all fascinating and very friendly. I loved being around so many people with such varied experiences and interests in development work. It was great to see first hand the experiences they have living in such a remote town. They were all very happy there and I could see why.

As Emma was heading to Bangkok on Tuesday for a meeting with potential buyers I decided to head off to Singapore, my final destination. We had an epic bus journey to Bangkok (badly timing our arrival into the city so we hit rush hour... wow it took a long time). We had one night there before my flight so we headed straight for Kao San Road, the legendary traveller hotspot. We found a decent hotel and headed straight out to the market. I was able to buy some presents and pick up a few cheap clothes (fisherman pants! awesome!) before going to a bar for a few beers. It was pouring with rain the whole evening so we stayed put in the one place (wet season in the city is distinctly less cool than wet season in a rural place). We eventually called it a night at 3 and I got a couple of hours kip before having to get up for my flight. I had a brilliant time in Thailand and I'll definitely be back for longer. A special thank you to Emma for looking after me so brilliantly and making me so welcome.

Next stop: Singapore.