Bangkok and Phuket

Here we are in Phuket, after many hours spent sleeping, recovering from the 15 hours flight to Bangkok and 12 hours bus ride to Phuket... Lovely to see colourful blooms all around, Thai smiles wherever we go and feel a gentle heat again.

Bangkok airport was as imposing as we had remembered but the ride out

less stressful than we anticipated (after John had a mini break down when he realised he had lost the speedometer... he should have given it to this Indian Man who had asked for it all these years ago...). Cycling on for a couple of hours on relatively "quiet" road - got lost a few times though, we eventually found Tamsin's house where we left the tandem. Tae, her boyfriend thankfully was there and put us on a boat (!) to ...somewhere where a very nice man, Dong, directed us to a bus (number 511) which took us to the Southern Bus Terminal. From there, a bumpy and uncomfortable (to my standards) 12 hours ride to Phuket.
We have now recovered from all this, drank a few cafe lattes :) and had many chats/meals on the beach/ serious discussions with John. Tomorrow, we'll catch bus from Phuket to Surat Thani and take the night train (18.22) to Bangkok where the REAL travel will start. No more lattes then...