and buses, taxis and bikes … so far we have tried a few different modes of transport.

Our last morning in Sihanoukville had us hiring bikes to ride to Otres beach the next beach further south. After a 30 minute ride (as we had to go inland to go over the headland) we arrived to a beautiful stretch of beach and had a swim, built a sandcastle, had another swim and a drink before riding back to our guesthouse for lunch.

We departed an hour later by bus back to Phnom Penh and to overnight one night at the same guesthouse we stayed on our first visit (our cheapest room yet at $14 for a triple a/c’d room). The next morning I returned to the Indian Embassy to collect our passports, then we all went exploring through the marvellous markets before flying back to Bangkok that afternoon.

The offering of food and burning of incense is one of the oldest and most common rituals of Buddhism and one we have seen in numerous Asian countries.  We have also observed the offering of food to Monks during alms rounds and also ritually offered to deities.  This deed acts as a reminder not to be greedy or selfish.

Similarly, the burning of Joss paper also known as ‘Ghost money ’are sheets of paper or paper crafts that are made into burnt offerings common in traditional Chinese religious practises and done on holidays, special occasions and also to ensure that the spirit of the deceased is well looked after in the afterlife.

What I hadn’t seen before was the contemporary ‘take’ on the Joss paper that included imitation credit cards, cardboard houses, cars and wads of fake cash (usually US$100 notes with ‘Abode of the dead’ in place of ‘United States of America’).  The markets had many stalls selling this Joss paper – even cardboard cut-outs of iphones proving that even in the afterlife you will still need your mobile!

Immi was especially interested in the houses and thought they would make a good dolls house!

Arriving into Bangkok we took a metered taxi to a hotel in the Pratunum area of Bangkok not far from Victory monument.  After Cambodia, the accommodation seemed expensive at $60 per night but the time of night we arrived we weren’t up for walking the street canvassing for more options.

The same nurse was waiting for us the next morning when we arrived at the Travel Clinic and we got straight into the routine of getting the prescription, taking it to be filled and then to the OPD.  Poor Phoebes had to lie down again, the thought of the needle was just too much!

Our third and last instalment of needles cost another $133 (which including $1.50 for some ear drops and ibuprofen for Phoebe as she had an earache from so much swimming). The grand total for all our vaccinations and the appointments with nurses and doctors came to $543.50 saving close to $2000 had we got them at home.

That afternoon I set about trying to book ourselves on the overnight train to Chiang Mai the following night, and with no agent able or willing to help me I had to make the trek by Skytrain and MRT across Bangkok to the main station in order to secure the tickets.  Whilst the 1^st class air-conditioned tickets had sold out 2^nd class a/c was still available on the 7.35pm train so I purchased the two top and two bottom bunks in one of the last ‘cabins’ and then made the trip back to the hotel – a two hour round trip of which the actual purchase of the tickets took 3 minutes. The overnight train for the four of us came to US$106.00

The next day we stayed in our room right up until the 12noon checkout, packing up and showering just before leaving and took a taxi to the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre. It provided a free, quiet and air-conditioned oasis in the middle of the bustling city where we spent the next 6 hours in the ‘kids section’ of the library.

We looked through some fantastic colourful kid’s books making up the stories to the pictures (as they were all in Thai).

We got through a few hours school work and after popping out separately for dinner, we grabbed a tuk tuk to the train station for our overnight train to Chiang Mai, departing on time at 7.35pm.

The 2^nd class sleeper wasn’t so bad at all and the girls immediately claimed the top two bunks and swung up and busied themselves ‘setting up’ their beds.

The squat toilets on the train however, are never very popular and Immi at first refused to go – waking me at 2am when she couldn’t put it off any longer. Better get used to it Immi – this is nothing compared to what India is going to be like!