I feel like my three months in Southeast Asia symbolically came to a close the moment I stopped a lone Cambodian school boy riding home on his bicycle and placed my camouflage trekking hat on his head.

I crossed paths with him while cycling back from my second full day touring the ruins and temple complexes of Angkor. Reaching Angkor Wat was the finale of my trip; and a grand one it was.

Before flying home, I would have one day and two nights in Bangkok. My only priority in the city was a Japanese Encephalitis booster from the Red Cross immunization clinic. This would give me 10 more years of protection for a disease that is found across Asia, from India to Japan. I knew I’d better take advantage of the cheap immunization while I had the chance.

Retracing my steps

The rest of the day I spent on a path retracing my steps from three months earlier. That might sound foolish to waste a day seeing things I’d already seen. But is it? Walking the streets, especially through Chinatown, I was likely to see something different and exciting even if following a previous route. Plus it makes me feel as if I know a place more intimately if I revisit certain cafes or street stalls: makes me feel more like a temporary resident than a visitor.

In Chinatown I searched for the alleyway beverage cart and found it. It wasn’t easy to navigate my way there, past seemingly endless produce and seafood stands, men selling amulets, and shops selling wares. I ordered an ice coffee with milk and sat with the Chinese men at the outdoor table. I followed that with a few plates of dim sum from a restaurant, then continued to wander through the side-street markets in sensory overload. There is a recurring theme of me and Chinatowns around the world. I find everything Chinese fascinating. What then, I often ask myself, am I doing in Southeast Asia?

The last evening in Bangkok

At about 10pm I was sitting in a barbershop waiting to get a shave. This is a practice I do whenever I arrive in a new country or before flying. Looking clean cut makes the security process in airports go much more smoothly.

As I was waiting in the chair, I saw my two new American friends from yesterday’s bus ride. They were outside, walking past the barbershop, on their way to the hostel. I jumped out of my chair, asked them if they wanted a shave, and  they decided to join me.

After getting the smoothest shave I can remember, we walked over to the bar I went to on my first visit to Bangkok. It was a funky place with good music and the seating spilled onto the sidewalk. After a few beers we parted, my friends were flying out that night.

I was staying at the same guesthouse as the first night I arrived. “Remember,” I reminded her while checking in, “How I blew the fuse when I plugged in my computer?” How long ago it seems, and how quickly time passed. She laughed, acknowledging her remembrance.

A laugh and a smile was a good way to end this trip, one that started and ended here in the backstreets of Bangkok.

The above post was brought to you by BeatTheBrochure. Find, compare, and book anything from flights, hotels and holiday deals from the provider that won’t ever be beaten on price. With travel protection and rock-bottom prices, you can be confident when booking with BeatTheBrochure – one of the UK’s leading travel agents.