27th November - Bangkok, 13°N 100°E

It’s great to return to the Atlanta Hotel (pronounced Atlantaaaa) after 12 years. Nothing much has changed - it’s still difficult to find - there’s a sign outside that says nobody finds it by accident. The main difference we see is a strong policy against sex tourism. Craig from Thailand (see Luang Prabang) described the hotel as ‘legendary’ which is a nicer word than ‘notorious’ as the hotel could have been described in the 70’s. The subject then of numerous drug busts, it has since cleaned up its act significantly and also has the only original 1950s foyer in Bangkok. We stay in room used by Terry Ward when he wrote an article on the hotel for the Los Angeles Times and there is a copy of the article on the wall of our room.

We ventured out for a drink and ended up in one of Bangkok's seedier streets. There are a lot of older western men with young Thai women. Some of these may be long term relationships but we suspect the majority are not. We are offered a Rolex watch at a very good price by a street seller and have to spend a long time explaining that we don't want a watch - not even a Rolex, not even for £10. Karen leaves Phil in a street bar at the mercy of street sellers while she goes over the road for a pedicure (the success of the first pedicure suggests that this may become a common occurrence). She returns with slightly tacky (as in 'not quite dry') toenails to find Phil has successfully managed not to buy any watches or any other goods or services in her absence.

11th December - Bangkok

We get the speedboat back to the mainland rather than a bumpy taxi ride then the slow ferry. The speedboat delivers groceries as well as people and the drivers specialize in spraying people on the beach with water as they leave with the outboard motors half raised.

We get a much better bus driver on the way back to Bangkok. We’re staying at the Atlantaaa again but this time we get a room without any special history. We had passed an M&S on the way in and Karen developed a sudden yearning for some new pants when we saw it so we seek out the nearest one and get some. Karen had planned to have another pedicure at the same place as last time but the woman has the temerity to be busy - how dare she! We try some other places but they all send us back to the original woman who appears to be the only person in Bangkok who can paint toenails.

The check-in for our flight to Mumbai closes 75 minutes before departure. If you haven’t checked in by then you lose your flight and your money. We have an early night to avoid any problems and are woken several times in the night by small earth tremors - not as big as Tokyo but still noticeable.