On this trip we flew to Thailand, then returned overland via India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Yugoslavia Bucket-shop tickets to Bangkok, where airport officials, who obviously didn’t like the look of hippies, tried to tell us we couldn’t stay - despite having visas. Spent a month in the south of Thailand, having headed straight for Songhkla where surprised policemen directed us to a hotel, which they insisted was the cleanest in town - it turned out to be a brothel; here a double room was a room with two double beds. About a week later a freak monsoon hit Songhkla; after 48 hours of it we set off to find the sun in Phuket, choosing to take local buses rather than the express. at dusk the bus terminated at Krabi - they don't drive at night; the driver assured us he wouldn't leave without us in the morning.

When our month was up we set off for India. As Burma was closed, we got the train from Had-Jai to Penang to catch the monthly boat to Madras; with an unexpected detour via Kuala Lumpur .... the French needed a visa for India.

Hitchhiking in Malaysia went very well and we were back to Penang in time to catch the monthly boat three days later.  The cheapest tariff allowed to tourists was an 8-berth cabin - which fortuitously only had one other occupant. When we saw the appalling conditions of 'deck class' we were glad to have been refused.  The food was simple but good.

Coming into Madras was a bit of a culture shock. The abject poverty....