I woke up at 5am and checked out the guest house shortly after.. well I tried to anyway. It was still dark and there was no-one around so I placed my key on the reception desk and left without paying a bean.. oh well, I had good intentions but what could I have done? I had a plane to catch ;)

I flagged down a tuk-tuk, agreed a price with the driver and he motored towards the Chiang Mai airport. My flight was fine and I managed to sleep the whole way. I arrived at Bangkok airport around 8.30am where I collected my bag then pottered around with time to kill. I had some sushi breakfast which was decent then made my way to the airport train station. The only thing I had to make sure of was to check my bag in with the bus travel agent before 11.30am which was just around the corner from Khaosan Road.. where I'd had a drunken night a few days ago on my last visit.

I headed to the Phaya Thai stop then flagged down a taxi. The first driver tried to rip me off so I told him to stop and I got out.. here we go again I thought! The second taxi driver I flagged down did everything by the book and put the meter on but he didn't have a clue where he was going. We got there in the end after asking several people along the way and I checked my bag in just after 11am.

I had just under 7 hours to burn in a place I promised myself I'd never visit again. I wasn't going to let it bother me though so I headed down Khaosan Road and chilled in a bar for a few hours. I grabbed a Subway sandwich then went for a wander back to the hostel I'd stayed at a few days ago.. they had a nice comfortable air-conditioned cafe to relax in so I wasted another few hours there.

It got to around 5pm when I started to make my way back toward the bus travel agents passing the huge presidential building along the way.. pretty impressive it is. I got to the agency with time to spare and waited with a few others I'd got speaking to who were on my bus.

True to the Thai way of doing nothing simple a young lad with no uniform said we had to walk 10 minutes to the bus with all our luggage!!! But then a torrential downpour hit Bangkok so he said we couldn't go anywhere until it stopped raining. A dozen of us waited, waited, and waited some more but yet the rain didn't relent. We were sat under a shop canopy with all our luggage whilst the young lad sat with his feet up playing on his phone emotionless with no indication of when we'd be leaving. It had got to 6.45pm and we hadn't even moved an inch much to the frustration of everyone. I decided to speak up and confront the young lad asking what would happen if it rained all night and he just smiled pretending not to understand.. so I stepped it up a notch being a bit more forceful this time. He kind of got the gist of what I was saying this time so I asked the rest of the group if they all wanted to go for it through the rain so we could get to the bus and they all agreed meaning he had to lead us there whether he liked it or not.. he just didn't want to get wet!!

We grabbed our bags and started to follow the young lad. It was a very strange 10 minutes as he led us through the dark, dingy, back-alleys of Bangkok including a 'short cut' through a Thai boxing gym in the back of a dirty old garage. Paranoia was working overtime as I was expecting an ambush at any minute!

We eventually got to where the bus was at with another twenty or so people waiting in frustration. We all stood around moaning at the organisation of it all.. these companies don't even seem legitimate. Stories were being passed around about the Thai bus companies.. none of them good. One particular story kept getting mentioned which apparently everyone just seems to accept it happening now. Apparently during these long-haul journeys, a person from the bus crew stays underneath the bus where all the luggage is held and goes through each and every bag regardless of whether it has a lock on or not. They're supposedly looking for loose cash, mobiles, passports, cameras etc, anything valuable that's easy to take. I couldn't believe what I was hearing especially as everyone just seemed to accept it. I always carry my valuables in a rucksack which I keep with me on any transport but I still have expensive clothes and aftershave in my luggage.. they're supposedly not after these sorts of things though. We'd have to wait and see when I got my bag back at the other end!! Unbelievable!!

After some more waiting around I reluctantly passed my luggage to one of the 'crew' whilst staring him in the eyes then boarded the bus. It was about 8pm and we were now FINALLY on our way.. what a joke they are!! The bus was similar to the one I had been on a few days earlier.. equally as awful in decoration! They put on a brutal Thai film for our viewing pleasure to get things under way.. at least it was in English this time.

I was uncomfortable throughout the journey and struggled to nod off.. maybe what I had heard before setting off was in the back of my mind. We stopped off for a half an hour break around 11pm then got back on the road. I nodded off a few times but never managed to get a proper sleep. There were drop offs for different islands along the way but I'd be staying on for the final drop at Surat Thani. The bus eventually got us there at 7am where we got our luggage back.. time to inspect! The small padlock on my bag was still intact which was a good sign but........ my bag had definitely been opened!!! Everything was still inside it, just in different places than when I'd left it.. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!! I was absolutely gobsmacked even after I was told it would happen. I was furious but something told me to just bite my tongue and let it go as I still needed to get to Koh Samui. It's totally against my nature not to saying anything so I found it hard keeping quiet.

Anyway, I bought some breakfast and waited yet another hour for a minibus to take me to the pier to catch the ferry over to Koh Samui. We drove for 10 minutes or so and arrived at the pier.. not the pier I'd be catching the ferry from.. of course it wasn't, why would it be? This is Thailand after all!! I waited half an hour to get on another double decker bus to take me to the 'actual' pier which took 45 minutes to get there. I was exhausted nodding off on the bus along the way.

We arrived at the pier just in time to board the ferry over to Koh Samui at 10.30am. It was packed with barely any space to move.. I sat down on the outside near to all the luggage keeping myself to myself watching the ferry leaving the mainland. The scenery all around was pretty special.. islands dotted around to the left and right, some big, some tiny with the surrounding waters twinkling under the sun.

It took a good hour and a half to get to the Na Thon Pier on Koh Samui.. longer than I had expected but we got there. I was first off with my bags to avoid the crazy rush and I headed down the pier to a taxi I had pre-booked on the ferry. After an ambush of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers trying to grab my business I found my taxi. Finally the last leg of an unforgettable marathon journey.. I deserve a medal after going through all this!

It was 12 noon and after 18 hours of pure torment I had arrived at my bungalow on the beach in a place called Bophut on the northern side of Koh Samui. I made it!!!!!!

So was the prize at the end of the 31 hour slog worth it??

YES IT WAS!!! :))) I walked through to the bar/restaurant area situated on the beach front and found what felt like heaven at the time.. a long stretch of calm quiet beach, minuscule waves lapping lazily against the shore and amazing views of Koh Pha Ngan in the distance. It even brought a little smirk to my face ;)

The Thai lady at the bar showed me to my bungalow so i could put my bags down.. it was small but nice and clean. She asked if I'd like some food.. I was starving! I hadn't eaten a proper meal since the Subway sandwich I had in Bangkok the day before.

I sat in the restaurant by the beach with a large ice cold Chang beer and tucked into a Thai red curry which was absolutely delicious!

I was seriously tired but didn't want to waste the afternoon in bed.. I took a shower to freshen up and then relaxed on the beach. It clouded over a little later in the afternoon so I came back to my bungalow to sort a few things out. I didn't bother venturing out into the town that evening.. I just ate in the restaurant again and had a much needed early night.

There isn't much to report on my time in Koh Samui.. I spent the remaining three days on the beach catching a wicked tan!! I'd get up around 7.30am each day and have some breakfast, then I'd lie on the beach in peace and quiet for several hours. The sky would always be clear first thing in the morning with over 30 degree heat, then it would start to cloud over late afternoon and then it would rain heavily in the evening.. each day the cycle was exactly the same.

I took a lazy stroll down the beach to the Fisherman's Village in town on Tuesday and Wednesday evening where I had a look around and grabbed a bite to eat. Indian on Tuesday, Mexican on Wednesday.. both were really good. Some of the bars/restaurants lined along the beach front looked amazing and very romantic.. meal for 1 in such restaurants? Not so romantic!!

Koh Samui is Thailand's third largest island with 80 smaller ones surrounding it. It has been heavily developed over the years with areas such as Chaweng becoming very touristy. Bophut on the other hand remains the place for peace and quiet. Development has been kept to a minimum preserving the village atmosphere.

There were many day trips and tours I could have booked myself onto but I was totally content with relaxing in the sun for 4 days. I had a great time topping up my tan, catching up on my sleep and eating great food.. I feel completely revived for the next part of my trip to Phuket/Koh Phi Phi :)

Flight from Koh Samui to Phuket at 11am in the morning.

xx