Hello everyone,

Sorry, so much to do, so little time! I will get there eventually.

So we left Siem Reap on 31st August. We took a taxi to the border which was still pretty cheap, we'd had enough of buses by then! We arrived in Poipet at the same time as a few bus loads of backpackers so we had to queue for a while to get through immigration checks but really it was all very simple again. As we walked through the border we noticed the abundance of casinos which are apparently there primarily for the Thais since gambling is illegal in Thailand. The town on the Thai side of the border is called Aranyaprathet. Again, to avoid the buses we caught a tuktuk to the train station where we bought a ticket to Bangkok for just 50 bahts (1 pound) which considering it is such a long journey is an absolute bargain. We got to see some beautiful countryside on the journey back to the city. Although the train took much longer than it was supposed to (as usual) we eventually arrived back in Bangkok. Me and Ryan both agreed that although it seemed pretty crazy when we first arrived there, it seemed relatively quiet and chilled out compared to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. We ended up staying in a guesthouse next to the two we stayed at during our first visit. It actually felt quite strange but nice to be back there. In the evening we went out for dinner and drinks down in Khaosan.

The next day we just spent relaxing in restaurants and shopping since our flight to Australia wasn't until the evening. We were pleased to buy a fake iPad camera adaptor from the market which meant we could finally upload photos! We felt really sad to be leaving Asia since we had had such a fantastic time and since it is so cheap, but we were also looking forward to the next stage of the journey. Early evening we got on our transfer bus to take us to the airport. It seemed to take forever since we were stuck in traffic for ages but eventually we got there. Unfortunately though it been delayed from around 11pm to 4.30am the next day. Luckily though we were taken to a fancy hotel where we were given a room and some free food so we were happy. Although on the way there we were stuck in traffic for ages again because the other bus taking people from the same flight was hit in the back by another car. After a very early get up, we left for the airport again. This time we actually managed to get on the plane and fly to Australia!

Lots of love,

Jo and Ryan xxx