Well this is the last entry now that we are back home in UK and adapting to the weather. But first we have to relate our visit to Bangkok on our way home.

We arrived in Bangkok at 19.30 and took a taxi to our hotel (they have a coupon system which works really well and is not expensive we took a luxury one at 1500Baht - £25) We ran into traffic and the driver told us it was because of the Bank Hoilday, they have a 4 day holiday starting from the Sunday for the Thai New Year, this is also the Water Festival. We were totally unaware of this, anyway we soon reached our hotel. The roads have improved no end since our last visit in 1998 and the Skyway Metro which was being built then is now in the process of being extended to the airport. The hotel was down a cul de sac near the Hyatt Regency and close to the shopping area, we found out it used to be offices and was converted about 5 years ago. It only has one restaurant which covered all types of meals and uses from breakfast, coffee shop , light lunches/teas to dinners. It also had a pool a request made by Thea so she could get a sun tan top up beofre the UK, all this for £50 per night.

Saturday after a lovely breakfast we went for a look round to try and find the places we knew. Much to the doormans surprise we decided to walk as on foot you see and familiarise yourself far better than out of a taxi window. It was very hot and quite humid but we made it to the main street. The hotel we stayed in before was the Intercon and was a single storey building, now its flattened and in its place is a Holiday Inn £90 p n room and a Presidencial Tower Block incorporating a new Intercon. The area in front of it we didn't recognise as there is two tiers of the skyway so we walked toward where the MBK centre was (big store sold everything in like markets with a food hall on the top). As we were walking along the so called pavement we noticed that there was a walk way under the Skyway and as we were getting very hot in the sun as soon as we could we climbed onto the walk way. There was a entrance to the Siam Centre (shopping centre) so we entered as we needed a dose of a/c. This place had everything, a complete floor of food from restaurants to snack bars to shops to designer outlets, we treated ourselves to a snack and noticed an Internet Cafe as well 60Bahts(£1) for an hour. We still wanted to find the MBK centre so we came out to the walkway and asked for directions. We got very hot again but found the centre, it was then that we found out that from the Siam Centre through a series of bridges and walk ways you could get to the MBK without going into the sun.

MBK had gone up market at the front end, still market stall type properties rather than shops but more room for people and less stalls, there are now 3 foodcourts one for restaurants, one where you pick what you want from stations but aimed at tourists (more space no jostling) and the original one at the top. Also down the far end of the centre was the small stalls all crammmed with goods and little room to move . We found some bargins but nowhere near the savings of 10years ago plus the people didn't want to bargain or were not bothered if you left without buying unlike before. Thea was becoming tired with the heat so we set off back to the hotel as I wanted to walk to see where we could get on the skyway walkway.

Next day everyone was saying Happy New Year but we decided to have the day by the pool and sort things out thus not getting wet. Thea had a bit of stomach trouble next day so it was the last day of the water festival before we ventured into town. We had everything wrapped in plastic and at first thought we had wasted our time. There was plenty of activity with the water in the main squares and by the fountains but the Centres refused entry to people with water guns. It was funny seeing Mum's with large water containers on their backs with the kids attached by pipes to their water guns. We were just in the cul de sac to the hotel when the security guards pounced and we both got soaked with hose pipes and buckets of water, just as well we could go into the hotel and change.

Before we left we had a tourists day, we had hoped to do the River Kwai trip but the special trains were not running due to the holiday and the tours by road we were advised would be difficult due to the traffic so we passed on that one.The one place we didn't see last time in Bangkok was the Grand Palace so we took a taxi at 8.30 to do the tour. As we entered the gates we were approached by a guide and he took us round the temple then the palace. He was an ex palace guard so knew his stuff plus he had an umbrella which he kept over Thea. The place was really crowded considering it was early and out of season. After this we took a drink at a local store and were then offered a tut tut ride for 20Bahts to the Marble Temple and then he would drop us at the pier head as we wanted to take a boat ride down the river. This turned out to be a trip to the places mentioned but also to a jewellery store, we looked but didn't buy and didn't take the 1 hour boat trip either so the tut tut man was not impressed. We did get dropped at the pier and took a long tail boat down to River City a shopping centre near the Sheraton we had been too before. It hadn't changed or improved but did offer a free shuttle trip further down the river to the skyway station so we took the shuttle.

As we were going down the river Thea said how black the sky was and just as we docked the heavens opened, they gave Thea a brolly to get to the undercover area of the jetty. We had to wait here as we had to go outside to reach the Skyway station. We took the skyway back to the Siam Centre to have lunch. In the evening after a discussion with a waitress about where to get cheap T shirts we took a taxi to the night market, after 2 hours wandering around and finding little bargins in immense heat and humidity we looked for a taxi back, some wanted 200Bahts it cost 35bahts to get there we found one for 40.

On our last day we paid for a late checkout as we didn't fly till 00.30. Thea spent the morning by the pool and came for some lunch about 1.30 when again the heavens opened. We did some late shopping and got a taxi to the airport well too early but we got checked in OK then found that the airport had few seats. The girls met us at Heathrow in typical English weather.

Looking back Bangkok was a nice place to relax and come to terms with what we had achieved and reflect on our journey. In 4 and a half months we had 1 day rained off, everywhere we went the weather was better than expected, we were in Adlelaide when it set the record for the longest consecutive days above 35 degrees. Newcastle the weather cleared for the 2 weeks we were there they had had rain almost every day before we arrived and again after we left. NZ had a good summer where as last year they never had one and so on. We didn't have a day sick or an upset stomach nor any issues with visa or hotels etc. We also managed to do most of what we set out to do except India where we were unable to geta visa on the road but this allowed us to go to Vietnam. We started off very well in Argentina where things went like clockwork and our agent had sorted everything down to the last detail except the bomb disposal unit outside the hotel. The falls were magnificent, the lakes crossing was awesome and we did horseback riding, the luxury bus was good in Chile, Easter Island was a living museum, Taihiti was expensive and we spent too long there due to flight cancellations but New Years Eve Party at the hotel was memorable. NZ fulfilled its promises with the Magic bus making it so easy to get around, OZ was a relief to see our friends getting back to full health, Sarawark was a surprise where as Sabah was not what we had expected, Vietnam was good to see before it changes too much but the cities are very populated and Bangkok had not lost any of its charm, but was not the bargain city it used to be. So now we must regather ourselves and come to terms with being back home. Thea was glad to see the girls again and will soon be into her social life, myself will find it more difficult to come to terms with the responsiblities I had forgotten for 4 months, but I have started with the school runs and must create a routine for home life, either way we have no regrets about the trip either in what we did or taking it and we achieved it within 5-10% of budget.

Hope you have enjoyed the journey with us and thanks for all the messages we have recieved.