We said Sayonara Saigon on Saturday, 12 January. Not sure we'll be back. The amputees, the deformed, the beggars, the scooters, the poor, the noise, the dangers, the crowding, the grab for the dollar... It was very sad because we had half-hoped that Vietnam would be the place to start teaching. However, there is always Hanoi and friends were made there. Quaint, cooler, more Party politics (the street loudspeakers broadcast their propaganda for 20 minutes, about 4 times a day) and the police are more in evidence. I could teach in Hanoi but Janet just wants to be out of Vietnam.

So, here we are back in Bangkok. Nok Air have twice daily flights (or "frights" as the booking clerk explained) from Hanoi to Bangkok, at $45 for each person. Considering that Bangkok Air is charging $400 return to Siem Reap from Bangkok, which is about one-third the distance, it's a bargain.

Back home, I said to Janet. Yes, she said, back home. Everything is so familiar. People know us, we know the streets, the transport system, the best shops, the markets... We have breakfast under the trees with goldfish swimming underneath the tables. A lazy breakfast (where I have mentioned the price fluctuates daily). This morning, after reading the two excellent Bangkok papers, it was 10:30 before we rose from the table and decided to go into the city and perhaps buy a book.

Yesterday, Sunday, was apparently a holiday but nobody seemed to know why. At 10:45 am, the streets were largely deserted. The train stations were practically empty. Hardly anyone anywhere. The sky was blue, there was no pollution and it was even quite cool. This couldn't be Bangkok. But at the magnificent Siam Center, where 880 shops sell everything from Prada to Porsche, it was packed with those with money. Dozens of restaurants, the place buzzing with the sounds of happiness and food and people talking over each other's heads. True gourmet foods, apples for $5, so gorgeous they probably each had names. Movies in a dozen theatres (Janet saw Elizabeth with Kate Blanchett) but you stand when they play the King's anthem, otherwise you are asked to leave.

Here were the thousands missing from the streets and, as we watched and ate, bought books, browsed for colognes, we felt as much at home as we would in the Sunshine Coast. Bangkok, it is some great city!