Once we got to Kanchanaburi we got a taxi to a hostel recommended by the Lonely Planet - 'Jolly Frog Guesthouse'. The location was amazing! Right on the banks of the River Kwai. In fact, it reminded me of a spanish/portugese holiday resort, with rooms accessible from the outside looking onto a massive lawned area. The only thing missing was a pool! We also got a really good deal! We payed for a twin room and they put a third matress in the room, rather than charging us for 2 rooms which they were going to do at first! We had some lunch at the hostel, and then went for a wander, in search of the famous bridge!! We stumbled upon another bridge and saw 'the' bridge in the distance, took some photos and then headed back to the hostel, realising that we didn't have the time or the energy to walk that far!!!!

Back at the hostel, we booked a tour for the next day, and then walked to the train station to book our tickets to Chumporn, where we would depart for Koh Tao. We had dinner back at the hostel and watched 'Zoolander' on the dodgy tv that kept cutting out!!

We got up early the next morning, had breakfast and were picked up for our tour. We were joined by a Northern couple, and a girl about our age from London called Katie. First stop was an elephant reserve, and we were taken to have our photos taken with a 78 yr old elephant! It was amazing and he had the longest tusks!!! It was a strange experience though to be touching ivory in its right location....especially as it was so polished, smooth and shiny! It is hard to explain! We then had an elephant ride! It was so exciting! Sam and I were on one, and Karl was on another with Katie. We sat on the seats and were taken on a short circuit before heading back to where we started. At first I thought that was it and that the ride was going to be dissapointingly short, but the trainer climbed off the neck of the elephant and asked for my camera and took a few photos of me and Sam. He then asked if I wanted to go on the neck!!!! I must have looked like a child at christmas as he started laughing and took yet more photos!!! We took a long route down to the river where the elephants paddled and did a wee!!! The trainer was laughing really loud whilst taking loads more photos and now we know why!!! You will see why when I get a chance to upload the photos!!!!! On the way back from the river the trainer made a hat out of leaves and flowers and gave it to me! The flowers matched the colour of my dress! haha I felt like Queen of the jungle! And I couldn't resist singing some songs from the Jungle Book! We got back to the start and fed the elephants some bananas! It was amazing how fast they went down before the trunk would reappear for another!!!! After this we went on a bamboo raft down the river, which was really relaxing, before heading to the famous Erawan waterfall nearby. We walked to the very top of the 7-tiers and had a paddle/swim before heading back down for some lunch. We were then taken to the Death Railway and onto the Bridge over the River Kwai before heading back. We did some quick changes and re-packing and then got a taxi (open card attached to the SIDE of a motorbike!!) to the bus station where we got a bus to Nakhon Pathom where we were getting the train to Chumporn. We got dropped off at the side of the road next to a shopping mall, and the driver told us that the train station was just behind! We thought that was too good to be true...and sure enough it was!!! We found some security guards near the underground car park who told us it was 3-4km away!! Two really helpful and friendly Thai girls who spoke good english helped us though, and even took us into the shopping mall to find some food!! By this time it was nearly 9pm and the mall closed at 9.30! So we had a pizza at 'The Pizza Company', which is much like Pizza Hut. The pizza was huge and I could only manage half so the other half was boxed up and we left. Outside, we tried to get a taxi but the only taxi visible for miles gave a motion that he didn't want to know, so we settled for motorbike taxis!!!!!!!! Just as we were mounting the bikes, with our massive backpacks on our backs, the taxi driver comes running back offering his services....turns out he had just run off to the toilet! By this point though we had reached a deal with a motorbike driver who had driven off and found 2 friends to take us all to the station so we felt we couldn't back out! The journey to the station was rather scary to say the least!!! You can imagine the scene, with our massive bags on our back!!! We did, however, get there safely!!! We had two hours to waste waiting for the train, and with 30 mins to go we were told that the train was delayed by another 30mins!!! The agony! Especially as by this point it was freezing!!!!!! I had gone into my bag and put on as many layers as possible!!!! Finally the train arrive, we found our seats (which thank god came with a blanket) and we left for Chumporn.