Yesterday we left the comfort of our beach side bungalows to get a boat from Koh Phangan island over to the mainland. We were however in the wrong taxi so had to pay a couple of pounds to get there.
Jade wasn't feeling too well, we think she's picked up a bug so the boat ride definitely wasn't what she needed! As it was just after the full moon party, all the boats were very busy and the sea was really rough. It was so rocky and packed! Sally and me sat in the tiniest little spots on top of the boat and everyone was looking a bit sea sick. (For the girls I went to Portugal with, it was probably worse than that boat we were on there! People kept giving the advice to look at the horizon which made me think of you Emily! Plus it was rocking side to side so much, it was difficult to always see the horizon!)
So, that was a bad two hours! Then to get off, we had to find our bag from the mound on the back of the boat while it was still bobbing about loads! We then had to walk across a plank to get back onto the port side. But because the sea was so rough it kept moving up and down sliding forwards and back, it was easier to just run across and take as few steps on it as possible! We made it though! One adventurous Australian stood on a little spot and started helping everyone over once we were off and then got everyone's bags so that helped people out a bit! We saw him again later stood on top of a bus!

After this, we waited a while for a bus to take us to the train station, which when we arrived there, we waited again for the train to take us from Suratthani to Bangkok overnight. From Bangkok we were connecting to a day train to take us up to Chiang Mai in the north.

At the train station we were kept entertained by some locals with a screaming child shouting at each other. I read in a guidebook somewhere that in Thailand it is seen as rude to display public displays of affection, but even worse was to show public displays of anger. And on the whole, all the Thai people have been very calm and polite, yet, I think we've managed to find all the shouty angry ones wherever we go with those people on the station, and the family calling the police at the shop on our way to Koh Phangan! But it kept us entertained!

The train was better than we expected too! We wanted to book an air conditioned cabin, but they only had fan rooms left as there was a public holiday this weekend so the trains were busy. However, it didn't matter as the carriage turned put to be absolutely freezing! I don't think we've been so cold since last winter in England!
We were sat in a huge chair for about an hour, then a man came along to make our beds. The seats we were sat in folded out to make the lower bunk beds, but we had booked the cheaper upper bunks. We thought it was going to be like the episode on the second series of An Idiot Abroad when Karl rides the Trans-Siberian express and gets downgraded to sleep on a shelf in a lower class cabin. However, it turns out what we were looking at was the luggage rack! Our beds folded out from wall and were quite big and comfy! It was a nice surprise. So, we were all put to bed for 8.15pm!! People were constantly walking up and down the carriages selling food and drinks and especially trying to sell us beer! One seller told me and Sally to get up and go to the bar to 'sing sing'. Thinking he meant there was a karaoke bar we could go and take a look at, we got up and Jade joined us as she was still awake. We arrived in the bar and were treated like old friends - everyone jumped up out of their seats and was wooping and showing us to a seat. The bar just seemed to be all the staff getting drunk! We then had to order a drink but because we didn't want a beer or anything to eat, they quickly fell out of love with us! We think the food seller was actually trying to tell us we could get Singh beer in that bar - not that people were singing! Although there was some Thai sing-along television show on, it was all very confusing! So we paid for the drinks we had and retired back to our beds. We were sad to see the only toilets on the train were crouching ones, but they actually weren't bad, and for train toilets they were really clean. Jade reckons they might be the best toilets she's seen in the last two weeks which is a compliment!

After a couple of hours we tried to get some sleep, but it was so cold even without air con! Plus it was pretty bumpy when we were actually moving. The journey was meant to take 12 hours but the train seemed to stop more than it actually moved! I'm sure it could have actually took half the time to get there!

We all dozed off but were woken up about 5.45am by a man walking down the carriage shouting Bangkok. Thinking we were at the station we all jumped up to then have to sit on our beds for 45 minutes. Then the man came to pack our beds away and we sat back in our chairs for another hour! So it was an unnecessary early morning wake up call really.

We arrived into Bangkok about 7.30am and had an hour wait for our next train up to Chiang Mai so we grabbed a croissant and took a seat for some more waiting time, only to be interrupted by the national anthem during which everything stops and everyone stands up. Thailand is a very patriotic country, there are pictures of the king in every home and business and there was a huge display and information board all about the King in Bangkok station, it's quite nice to see how interested and patriotic everyone is!

We're now sat on the train to Chiang Mai. We got first class tickets and it's ok, someone came round and woke us all up by dropping our fold out trays onto our knees and giving us a pastry and some water. We are 4 hours into this train journey so far, leaving us just 8 more to go! However, someone mentioned at the station the trains here run on 'Thai time' so will probably arrive at least two hours late! It's going to take longer to get up this part of the country than it does to get here from the UK. But I guess it helps that once you're on the plane it keeps moving, all these trains seem to do is stop every 10 minutes!

It feels strange as nearly two days have gone by and we've not done anything except sit down and wait. The beaches we have visited were all so lovely! Some were peaceful, while others were more lively, meaning we've seen a nice mix. It will be a refreshing change of scenery to head back into more built up towns and cities for our next couple of weeks here.

Amy x