Day 29: Sunny Gravesend - UK

Still feeling rubbish we again did not make best use of the breakfast buffet. We checked out and waited in reception for our 7.30am pick up to meet our bus that was leaving at 8am. We waited and waited until 8am came and went. We asked reception to call the company and they assured us that they were on their way and that the bus had not left yet.

At about 8.15am the small bus arrived to take us to the large bus. We climbed on to the very old large bus and waited as they attempted to fix the air con. They had no luck and so half hour later we departed on a substitute bus which was actually a bit nicer. We could not believe all this palaver on the only day that it is imperative we arrive at our destination on time, typical.

After approx 3 hours we arrived at the border of Thailand. We had to change buses and carry our luggage for 300m or so in the crazy heat. We passed through the border with no problems then had to wait while two mini vans arrived. We were crammed into the buses, with our luggage stacked up around our ears! This bus was air conditioned but we could hardly feel it especially with the heat streaming through the windows on us.

After a few wee stops we arrived in Khao San Road, Bangkok at around 5pm totally knackered. We went into the first pub we came across and had a cold drink and a bite to eat. We exchanged some money then booked a taxi to the airport. We had both visited here approx 9 years ago and could almost not recognise it. There seemed to be more westerners than locals. We hung around until the mini bus taxi at 7pm which took an hour to the airport.

We checked in our luggage and wasted the next 4 hours until our flight at 00.35am. After the long bus ride today the last thing we needed was a 12 hour flight. We actually managed to sleep the majority of the way which made it a little easier. We arrived at Heathrow at 7.30am and were home safe and sound shortly after.

AKA has come to an end and we are both back to work tomorrow. The trip has been a whirl wind adventure of Asia. We have explored and experienced an incredible amount in just one month. We are tired but have tonnes of amazing memories. We need a holiday to recover.