Back in China

I met Ling Ling at Bangkok airport for our flight back to Macao. I had arrived in Bangkok the previous evening after a long but quite comfortable bus ride from Trat, after leaving Koh Kood in the morning. This time I had booked a room at the epicenter of the Bangkok tourist industry, near Khao San road. Just to get a glimpse of what I tried to avoid earlier. I was right, it is best to stay away from this area, unless you want to spend your time in Bangkok among hordes of loud tourists hanging out at beer gardens and Western restaurants, showing off their freshly set tattoos. Quite a culture shock coming from the serene tranquility of Koh Kood. Hopefully it can hold on to the peace for several years to come, until it almost unavoidably will also be run over by the tourist flood.
Upon arrival in Macao in the early evening we immediately headed for the border, and entered mainland China within the hour. There was no more bus to Nanning, so I had to spend the night in Zhuhai, to catch a daytime bus the following day. Time to say goodbye to Ling Ling, my lovely travel companion.
After 3 days of traveling since departing from Koh Kood, I arrived in Nanning in cold and wet weather, and checked in at the same hotel as last time, just outside the East gate of Guangxi University. It was already too late to meet Xiao An, but the next 5 days were well spent in her presence.
Now I'm in Xiamen again, and it feels good to be home. I still have a week to get organized before re-registering at Xiamen University on the 14th, and then on Monday the 20th classes will start again.