1,200 miles

The flight to Singapore went off without a hitch. There weren't even any screaming babies! After a month in Indonesia Singapore was a nice change. Out hostel had AC, which is something we haven't experienced since we left for Indo. Tickets back to Bangkok were hovering around a hundred bucks, so after a little research we opted for the overland route using buses and trains to cover the over 1,200 miles back to Bangkok. We spent that night in Sing walking around the massive Marina Bay Sands Hotel/Casino/Hi-end Mall/Tourist Trap. There was some kind of program going on to bring in tourists that consisted of several different light and sound shows that were pretty neat. Singapore itself at night is quite amazing.

The next day we started are marathon back to BKK with a 5 hour bus ride to Kuala Lumpur. We planned to stay a couple days as its one of the cheaper and more pleasant of the bigger SE Asian cities. While there we went to see a movie and the massive and ultra-modern KLCC shopping center below the Petronas Towers (which used to be the tallest building in the world). We saw The Hunger Games in a completely packed theater of Malaysians. It was interesting in that multiple times the crowd would laugh profusely at something both Ashley and I didn't find funny at all. They also loved to talk to each other during the movie which drove us both nuts.

In KL we booked a 5 hour bus ticket to a town called Butterworth, where we would get on the train for a 24 hour over-night ride to Bangkok. Everything went smoothly for the most part. The train is an interesting way to travel. The bathrooms are small and cramped, and you can usually see right down the hole to the passing rail track underneath. They pump up the AC, and surprisingly we both froze our butts off. Once we crossed the border into Thailand, around 6pm, they hooked up a restaurant car and gave us the option to buy meals. The meal with a bit spendy for our standards, but man was it good. This is all served on a little fold out table between  seats that face each other. Around 9pm a guy came around and transformed all the lower seats into sleeping berths. Upper berths folded out of the ceiling and everything was filled with nice clean sheets. Ash and I had top berths as they are cheaper. It was nice to be able to get a good nights sleep while on the move.

We got into Bangkok around 11:30 this morning and arranged for a tuk-tuk to take us on an always harrowing ride through central Bangkok to our usual residence, Barn Thai. It has been interesting to cover these three separate countries in only 5 days. Surprisingly Thailand seems to be more polluted and trashed, as well as less wealthy, then Malaysia, and certainly Singapore. The traffic in BKK is on another level.

Well, thats it for now. We flight out or Bangkok for Seattle on the 5th of April. We get into Seattle the morning of the 6th, where we will meet my parents and start a 3 day sprint up the Cassiar. Should be a great way to end the trip!

Cheers
Garrett