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It was another very pleasant train journey back to Bangkok. We were on the train a lot earlier this time than on our way up to Chiang Mai, but this meant that we got to watch the sun set over the hills. We decided to try out the dining car for our dinner which proved to be a pleasant way to spend some of the evening. The beer was flowing, the atmosphere convivial and the food spicy - we were happy.

When we got back to Bangkok, we had a few things to do including finishing off the website for the Thai NGO that Drew has been working on. We were pleased that this coincided with the final week of the Australian Open. It was especially interesting for us as it was only a few weeks ago that we were passing the Rod Laver arena in Melbourne on the train. For Murray's final two big matches, we ventured out to a British pub and tried to calm our nerves with a few pints of micro-brewed bitter. Shame about the result, but the beer was tasty.

We were staying in a very nice, but rather expensive apartment this time, which meant we made more of an effort to stick within budget by having cheap meals. Luckily this is pretty easy in Bangkok. Some guide books suggest that the best food in the city is found in the somewhat shabby looking street-side stalls, and this seems to be how a lot of locals eat. We were lucky that right outside the front door of our 14 storey apartment building were several stalls offering a range of very tasty staples such as spicy chicken noodles.

Although we have enjoyed spending several weeks in Bangkok, and can say we were fond of the city from our first day there, we felt ready for a change when the time came to move on and head down South to start our next project. This saw us heading to Khao Lak, which is a couple of hours North of Phuket on the Andaman coast. We got an overnight bus from Bangkok - this wasn't a bad trip at all (we can't help but compare bus travel with our experiences in Nepal, after which this was serious luxury!) [EDIT:] we forgot to mention one small incident on our journey South; when we got off the coach and got our rucksacs out of the hold, Drew's rucksac was soaking wet. It turned out that the liquid was fish sauce, a bottle of which must have broken in somebody else's bag. We can still smell this on some of our things over a year later! [/EDIT]

The coast around Khao Lak was devastated by the tsunami in 2004. In Bang Niang where we're based is a large police boat which was carried around two kilometres inland, and has been left as a monument. The rebuilding of the area apparently took quite some time, and is still in progress. We're told the character of the place has changed, as small independent businesses lacked the wherewithal to start again, and investors with capital have bought up stretches of the beach front and built swanky resorts. It's no longer really a backpacker destination, although our fellow volunteers have been able to point us in the direction of inexpensive accommodation. No need for swimming pools here, as we're a 2 minute bike ride from the beach.

We're settling into a routine of getting up and doing a mini-triathlon; cycling down to the beach, jogging and then cooling off in the sea (which is actually incredibly warm!). Drew was very unlucky and was stung around the ankles by jellyfish the first two times he went into the sea - this is apparently a very rare occurrence. He can confirm that peeing on the stings does help, but requires good balance! As the beach faces out to the west, we have been enjoying sitting on the beach and watching incredible sunsets.

We've so far only had a couple of days at the new project, which is a small charity which represents the sizeable Burmese migrant community. Last night we were invited along to a celebration for the anniversary of a monastery which was like a small fair with lots of stalls and a couple of stages. This was the first time that the Burmese community had been invited to join in with the celebrations and the everyone was very excited about it.

Today we rode the bikes to some waterfalls nearby - the ride took us through rubber plantations, which is apparently where many of the Burmese migrants are employed here. In a few places we've visited we've come across fish spas which are paddling pools filled with small fish - tourists pay to emerge their feet and the fish nibble away removing dead skin. We seem to have found where these fish come from; when we went for a dip in the pools at the waterfall, we soon found that we were fish food! It was a lovely spot to cool off, and we'll probably go back.

We're here for about a month, and it seems like it's going to be a great place to spend what will probably be our last few weeks in Thailand.

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