The bus from Malaysia dumped Coby & I in Bangkok in the morning. I'd met Coby enroute and we got on famously. We took a room and whilst she showered I checked my flight ticket; I'd realized the time could be12.55pm and not 17.55pm; it was smudged. Do I cement the relationship with Coby or play safe with flight? I kissed her good-bye and rushed to the airport. The flight to Australia was 17.55pm and 1 hour late; this rubbed salt into the wound.

The flight from Australia landed me in Bangkok at 11pm; not a good time but I managed to get to Khoa San Road and get digs. I ventured to Kanchanburi to principally see the bridge over the river Kwai. Returned to Bangkok and met up with Claire, after exploring the city we took a bus to Malaysia.

Claire & I returned to Bangkok from Malaysia. We ventured north via Sukhothai, the old capital. A massage in Chang Mai then a trek around hill tribe villages. We stayed at the border town of Tha Ton; we slept under the bed when heavy machine gun fire started. A few weeks later some tourists we killed in Tha Ton by mortar fire. A long tail river taxi took us to Chang Rai. Using this as a base we visited several places including Sop Ruak; a place on the Mekong river considered the geographical centre of the Golden Triangle. We took the train from Chang Mai to Bangkok. Met Braz with many a tale to exchange. Goodbye to Claire and Braz & I flew to the Philippines.