I can’t see the road for the rain in my eyes. 

Last night we both lost our voices.

Oh no! You might think. 

Have you picked up a bug on the plane? 

Is it the foreign climate drying out your vocal chords? 

Of course, it is neither of those things.  We lost our voices because we appear to have turned into SIMS characters. Do you remember that game? The one where animated characters wander around being industrious and making unintelligible noises non-stop until they drop into bed? That’s us, that is.  We are both wondering at what point we’ll run out of things to talk about.  I don’t think that point will arrive. I hope not anyway.  

I suppose we did have a little respite whilst writing our daily blog in the hotel room but after that we were kind of stuck together with the option of talking to each other or sitting in silence. 

That may sound ridiculous considering we’re staying in a huge city where you have the opportunity to do anything. Rivers, temples, palaces, museums, markets, comedy clubs,  tuk tuks, live music, muay thai and on and on and on …

These things were, if not impossible, certainly very difficult yesterday because it rained.

At first, brandishing disposable macs and an umbrella, we took it in our stride.

Until we couldn’t stride.

As the rainstorm built up, the roads became streams and then rivers, with waves forming in the wake of cars and motorbikes and the people unfortunate enough to be foot passengers had no option but to participate in a freestyle rain dance of high knees, arms aloft for balance, and chins tucked into necks.  A little bit like a warm up for muay thai but wet from rain, not sweat.

“Ooh they look like camels!” one of us proclaimed of a clutch of backpackers with their macs over their rucksacks. 

“See, that’s why I don’t bring trainers!”

“Ooh, we’re gonna be held captive by the floods.”

“Are you sure that rain isn’t dripping on you?”

“I love it even though it’s raining.”

For two whole hours we sat at the nearest dry place, which was of course a bar, and made rain-related conversation. 

And then it stopped. 

But we didn’t stop talking. 

We didn’t stop talking until about 4am when Donna put her ear plugs in half way through a conversation, collapsed on the bed and almost immediately fell asleep. 

I was a minute or two behind her.