Hat Yai, a one night stop over, connecting our bus from (the nearest mainland port to) Koh Lipe, to another that’ll take us into Malaysia, is purely getting a mention for blog map accuracy. Otherwise it’d look like we’d had a boat ride very much longer than an hour and a half, maybe even entering Malaysia secretly and illegally. And there’d be no need to do that, as we get a free ninety day tourist pass, being a fellow member of the Commonwealth. I’m rambling. Pretty rubbish place, to be honest, by previously high Thai standards, so no regrets about staying just the one night. Wifi, however, was roughly nine times cheaper than it had been on Koh Lipe, so we took the opportunity to catch up with parents on Skype, update podcasts, and upload photos to cyberspace safety.

A small handful of things worth mentioning, however. We bumped into, and briefly chatted to, a Canadian couple who we’d shared a bus with in North-East Laos, about two and a half months earlier. Small world, the backpacking one! Nice people, actually, so not sure why I can’t remember their names and why we didn’t chat for longer, but there you go. Liverpool earned an astonishing point away at the Emirates, in a drama filled match that our guesthouse was fortunately playing, what with the lack of bars in Hat Yai (possibly due to now being in predominantly Muslim territory). Carragher out cold for several minutes following a head collision, leading to about ten minutes of injury time, the last of which, with the last kick of the game no less, contained Liverpool’s equaliser. Brilliant stuff. And there was a bee pollen shop right across the road from our guesthouse. Why on earth have you just told us that, you might, quite reasonably, be asking? Well, having learnt of the incredible nutritional benefits of the stuff whilst up on the farm near Chiang Dao (blog entry for which I’m going to finish writing and upload soon, honest!), Paula had bought a jar of it in Chiang Mai. Only she was just running out. Hence, she had just been emailing the farm we were about to stay on for a week in Malaysia, to see if, on the off chance, there were any bee farms in the area, that we could visit beforehand, and possibly pick up some more pollen from. And then we noticed the sign for bee pollen, from out of the window of our guesthouse. Honestly, what are the chances? How many bee pollen shops do you know of? How many bee pollen shops are there in the world? In fact, how many shops that happen to sell bee pollen have a sign declaring so outside? I think the answer to the first question is “miniscule” and the answer to the other questions is “very, very, very few”. Fate working its magic again, it seems!

So that’s all, no major events or adventure in Hat Yai. But without any stories of its own, as well as being our last stop in the country, perhaps it’s a good point at which to summarise our thoughts on Thailand. Which are fully agreed upon on this occasion, as Paula and I would both, without a moment’s hesitation, conclude that it’s a phenomenal country! I was apprehensive beforehand, knowing how well trodden all paths would be, how many tourists we’d be travelling alongside, and therefore expecting development and the visiting masses to be at the expense of original, genuine Thai culture and natural land and seascapes. But all concerns quickly disappeared, and we‘ve loved our time in Thailand from beginning to end. Easily the friendliest people we’ve had the pleasure of encountering, we haven’t felt as genuinely welcome anywhere else. Maybe it’s due to the history of the country, not ever having been colonised by or at war the West, but we’ve definitely felt a sense of being equals. Unlike many other South-East Asian countries, particularly those developing more slowly, where behind the friendliness we’ve often still felt a perception of Westerners being a different breed, to be looked up to, be wary of, or to envy. Or maybe it’s because Thais feel such pride in their country that we’re seen as such, or even as less fortunate, which would be understandable, as Thailand is without question the most beautiful country we’ve visited. Absolutely stunning, and it can’t be fair that one, single country owns so many places of outstanding beauty. And I’m sure there are more superlatives, such as tastiest food, comfiest transport, etc, but when people and place are both at the top of the tree, nothing else is really needed to justify Thailand’s position as our favourite travelling destination. We’d move here, if friends and family would come too. Is that OK? Will everyone come and live in Thailand? Starting with just one or two then, maybe, will anyone come and live in Thailand?...