But now that I have recovered and am back on British Summer Time, I’ve had the chance to work out a few statistics.

Over the past 6 weeks I have:

Traveled over 23,500 miles
Spent over 100 hours in planes, trains and buses
Visited 3 countries & 13 cities/towns/islands
Visited some of the best places in the world
Taken well over 2000 photos
Drank far too many airline drinks

For a 6 week trip – that is quite something!

The trip has been nothing short of amazing. Japan is certainly the highlight for me; there is nothing I won’t miss. The food, the people, the safety. It’s an amazing place and I’d recommend it to anybody.

There’s not much else I can say that I’ve not already said in my blog over the weeks of my trip. I’m pretty gutted to be home, I’d love to just keep traveling.

I hope that my blog has been enjoyable – and if you are going on/planning a trip yourself, I hope it’s been useful to you. I’m certainly happy to answer any questions you have about any of the places I have been.

Hopefully I will go away again soon; but for now at least, reality beckons.

I leave you with a rather appropriate Japanese quote…

I no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu – a frog in a well knows not the ocean

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

I love the cheapness of the place, how you can get nice food for so little. Yes, you may eat every meal and think that it’s going to make you ill but apparently this is rarely the case and I can’t say we had a bad meal…except one…which I will come back to.

Went to the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan on Tuesday (28th August) – was just as legendary as I had been led to believe. A huge beach, with loads of clubs all with sound rigs on the sand, blasting out dance music into the early hours. Excellent. It was a really great night. I’d reccomend the drink buckets that they sell…cheap and you get LOADS! We got a speed boat over which was a very well organised affair and got us there in no time. Unlike the dodgy wobbly boat taxis that are very slow and overcrowded…with no life jackets. I know which one i’d rather be on put it that way! Was a bit odd on the way back though…had to wade out a bit to get on the boat. Everybody was trying to get on and the boat was moving back…so by the time I got on I had waded to waist height! I must admit I was a little weary of the full moon party before we went over, i’d been speaking to a group of people in a club a few days before and they told me some real horror stories about capsizing ferries and other things which are probably best left unsaid! I’d definitely reccomend that any full mooners get a proper speedboat and don’t get the last one there or the last one back! The one we were on (see pics) only took the right amount of people and everybody had a life jacket, and it was very fast.

We got the early afternoon ferry from Koh Samui to Surat Thani, we had about 6 hours to kill before the train, so got some food and took refuge in the handy internet cafe at the train station. Had a good wander around, there was a huge street market. We had these great pancake things, with a green peanut filling…highly reccomended! Some really nice people round there too, chatting about our trip etc. Then we had more pancakes…this time with banana and chocolate. Yum!

After that it’s just been a case of winding down in preparation for the journey back to Bangkok. We opted for the night train again, only this time we went for first class. Second class was far cleaner to be honest but at least we could lock the door this time and still had good banter and yet more Beer Chang. In the morning, a guy was coming round serving (well, selling) breakfast.

Remember the bad meal I mentioned earlier? Enter the “American Breakfast.” What was advertised was Ham, Sausage, Fried Eggs and bread. What we got was leather, the scrap end of a sausage, rubber eggs and cardboard. All cold, all wrapped in clingfilm. Ooh and I forgot about the coffee. Well…I duno what that was but it sure wasn’t like any coffee I’d had before. OK so it was budget travel….we couldn’t exactly expect the standard of the Orient Express but there is a line and they crossed it! At least we can laugh about it though…and even that didn’t make us ill.

From there it was on to the airport where, after a high speed, lane weaving, hair raising taxi ride, with no seatbelts, we have quite a long wait for our flight back to Japan. We could have wandered around Bangkok but decided against it! We will have to wait a while before checking in but i’m sure we can amuse ourselves somehow. Gives me time to catch up on my journal too I suppose.

Some of you may be thinking that going to Japan, then to Thailand, and then back to Japan is a rather bizarre route to take. However, there is method in my madness! The initial idea of the trip was to spend a month in Japan, but Andy said how a return flight to Thailand was around £250 – so naturally, I had to go – and so extending my trip. The first week in Japan really let me get used to the place, so I am ready for my solo treks when I return.

See you back in Japan!

We arrived in Koh Samui and bartered with a taxi driver, saving over 50% on his original quoted price of 500bhat. Again we have scored for a cracking guesthouse in a great location. This one is called Embassy and we have air con, fridge, tv and DVD player. It’s right near the best beach and only about a 15 min walk from the bars.

Being so limited on time in Thailand, we can’t really go too far. Which is a shame really! We’ve spent quite alot of time on Chaweng beach, which is absolutely fantastic. The beaches here are the sort of things you would only ever see on TV and actually have to be seen to be believed – like a total tropical paradise island kind of place! Palm trees, white sand, crystal clear green water. Being one for all things with engines in I had a blast on a Jet Ski for the first time which was just over a £10 for 20 mins. Great fun, and i managed not to fall off.

Wandering round the markets at night bartering with the traders has been amusing and has resulted in some bargains. Nights out have been great too – lots of

The food is great here too. Some very nice restaurants around and they are cheap. OK, so perhaps they arn’t quite as cheap as the street vendors in Bangkok, but they are still cheap!

We’re off to a Full Moon party tonight and these are supposedly legendary so i’m sure that it will be a good way to finish off our time here. It’s in Koh Phangan so it’s another ferry trip! We have arranged a speedboat to take us there and back. Then after that it’s back on the night train to head up to Bangkok before we fly back to Japan.

More on that from Bangkok airport probably!

Hostel in Bangkok was great and was only about £8 a night which you certainly can’t grumble about. That was for a private room too! Location was pretty good too, right next to the SkyTrain which was cheap and made getting around easy. The name of the hostel is HI-Sukhumvit, and i’d reccomend it!

On making your way around the city you certainly come to realise that it’s a bit dirty and is a far cry from the safety of Japan, but having said that, it’s a really great place to visit. Lots of culture to take in – plenty of atmosphere and all that jazz. Plenty of decent food at outrageously cheap prices too from street vendors. If you are worried about risking that though, the sanctuary of Western establishments such as McDonalds etc are never too far away. No problems to report for us though! Last night we went for a meal with a beer and the total bill for the two of us was 140 baht. That’s just over £2. I can’t deny that I was a bit dubious at first but we woke up the next day feeling fine so that was that bridge crossed. I suppose it’s all to easy to believe all the horror stories about street vendors! You eat with a fork and spoon, which is a little strange at first! Personally I prefer chopsticks.

As you walk through the streets of Bangkok you use one hand to fan your face due to the heat (although its not as hot as Japan!) and with the other you get rid of the vast array of touts, taxis, tuk tuk drivers, market traders and other sellers of random trinkets. Want suit? Want taxi? Need tuk tuk? Had an amusing adventure on a tuk tuk as it happens (a tuk tuk is a 3 wheeler taxi…see photos…it’s easier than discribing!). 70 baht and the chap took us round for 2 hours to all the places we wanted to go. That’s just over £1. We were feeling generous though, so gave him a straight 100 baht. We had read about the smartly dressed men pretending to help you but then try to sell you stuff and this was a textbook example. We were ready for it though, and just said we didn’t want to stop at places. So we only went via one tailors (with a very rude man inside!), and then via a souvenier shop because the guy got a gas token for taking tourists there, and thats fair enough really. I think that’s one thing to definitely realise about Thailand…and the Lonely Planet sums it up well…you are more likely to be charmed out of your money than anything else; we never felt unsafe, and that’s important.

Tonight we wandered around the massive MBK shopping mall and picked up a few bargains. Then we went to the legendary Kao San Road, and picked up yet more bargains at the street market. Cracking street, full of like minded travellers!

Our time in Thailand is limited; only 10 days. So tomorrow we are heading down to Surat Thani on the night train – it takes 12 hours, but saves a nights accomodation! From there, we take a ferry over to Koh Samui.