22-02-10

So we arrived on Koh Phangan after an epic journey of tuk tuk, train, bus, ferry and taxi taking around 18 hours. The train was a nightmare as we didn't have a bunk, we were just in seats. Which reclined. Which would have been fine until the person in front of you reclined and you were back to no leg room at all. The windows were jammed open and the fans were going full blast I was absolutely freezing! The only toilets they had on board were squats so it was nearly impossible not to wee on your shoes being thrown around on a rickety old train!

We arrived at our Bungalows, Emerald Ocean to find this bloke who seemed rather drunk behind the reception, telling us he had no record of our booking. We both just looked at eachother. He looked again and realised we were infact meant to be staying there. The location was perfect liteallry 10 steps to the sea. The room wasn't so great. The was just enough room for the 2 beds and us, and the bathroom was a bit manky but it was in such a nice spot. We went straight out to the beach and were disappointed to realise it was gravel so it felt like walking on razor blades. But I was just so happy to be in the sea after all the travelling. We only lasted about an hour then we had to go to bed and slept most of the afternoon after getting about 20 mins kip on the train!

We dragged ourselves out of bed and decided to go and check out Haad Rin where the full moon party is held, we were staying in Baan Tai about 10 mins away. We got down there and had a wander before getting something to eat. All the restaraunts there seem to have wide screen tvs and all the seats face forward like a classroom. So we settled down and watched a bit of family guy. We walked along the beach there's loads of stalls selling buckets and bonfires all the way along, we walked to the end and went to this hilltop bar where you could see the whole beach for a drink. We were still tired so decided to head back and get a good nights sleep. We had noticed about 5 dogs lived at the bungalows and after being savaged by a dog previously I was rather wary. The taxi driver dropped us at the top of the road and we had to walk down this dirt track in the pitch black. I didn't even have my maglite!! A passing moped seemed to set off the dogs and a pack of them came racing down the road and surrounded us growling and barking. I nearly pooed my pants I have never been so scared in my entire life. I didn't want to make the mistake again of running, so I walked as fast as humanly possible back to the safety of the bungalow. For a moment we actually considered moving!

The next day we did nothing, literally nothing. Got some much needed washing done and lazed in the sun all day, we were on the west of the island so I watched the most amazing sunset before heading back to get ready. That eveing I was getting ready when I noticed a spider in the bathroom the size of a dinner plate. Literally it was that big I sh*t myself and waited for Siobhan to get back. Luckily she's not scared of spiders so she tried to get rid of it because it didn't think I'd be able to use the bathroom ever again! I watched from the doorway so I could be sure it was gone. First she tried to wash it away using the shower, but it wasn't powerful enough and the huge spider seemed to like the water!! It was going mad crawling all over the place! I of course started to scream at the thought of it getting in to the bedroom. We decided on another tactic. I handed Siobhan a 2ltr bottle of water and watched while she slaughtered the poor spider, I must have been wretching and screaming so loudly because the owner of the bungalows was shouting to see if we were ok, she wanted to know what all the comotion was about haha! With spidy safely down the drain we went and braved the dogs again to flag down a taxi to Haad Rin. On the way up the road I tripped over what I thought was a large rock, but it was too slimey to be a rock (I had the maglite this time) so I looked down and it was the biggest toad you have ever seen! I was getting a bit sick of the wildlife at this point! We got to Haad Rin and went for tea, I had a Thai green curry strong enough to blow your hea off, then settled in to watch Wedding Crashers. Neither of us felt like drinking (weird I know) so we had ANOTHER early night!

24-02-10

We decided to track down the post office which was in th next town along Thong Sala which is where we got the ferry from and send some long over due post cards. We got there after going to one which had been closed down for years managed to find the right one. We had some lunch and wandered back to the beach for a couple of hours. Thong Sala was nice so we decided to head back that night for something to eat. We had tried and failed to book any accommodation for Koh Tao so we just booked our ferry out of Koh Phangan and hoped for the best. I liked it there but going back I wouldn't bother with Haad Rin, Thong sala was much nicer and less like Tenerife! We were very much looking forward to chilling out on Koh Tao away from stray dogs! x x x