Bangkok and home
A business day for me today: two meetings and a site inspection before heading back to the UK in the early evening. I was lucky to see The Chilli Hostel - which is due to soft open in about 10 days time. They are well progressed with the preparations and have just some small snagging to do before they are ready to go-live.

My trip to the airport was by the new Airport Express Train - which opens commercially on 23rd August. Until then they are offering a free trial at limited times of the day - fortunately just when I needed to get it. From the centre of town to the lower ground floor of Suvarnabhumi takes approximately 15 minutes - sailing high above the almost stationery traffic on the parallel expressway. I would definitely recommend this as a credible option for getting to/from downtown Bangkok when the service is fully operational. I'm told that mid-October there will also be city-centre check-in facilities; great for dropping off your bags on your last day once you've checked out of the hotel.

And that was my trip - a fantastic experience which I will never forget. I was a little sceptical at first - as much as anything about my own ability to cope "off the beaten track" and I can honestly stay that I've met some amazing people - both Thai and "farang", stayed in some memorable places and had some wonderful experiences. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible.