Today we had an easy day, Steven was up early and booked our tickets to Hat Yai while I packed up some of our stuff and got dressed. We then wandered around town and debated shopping but I got the hint Steven had used up the last of his enthusiasm last night. We headed down to the front instead and enjoyed a couple of sodas while watching the sea before taking a slow walk around the town. Steven had been doing a bit of planning on Cambodia and trying to see how we could fit Myanmar/Burma into our schedule and as a result was getting all worked up and stressed. I told him (as I do almost continuously) that he needed to chill out and for the rest if the day just switch off. We then decided to do just that and have relaxed day with no travel planning or stress.

On retuning to the hostel we sat and checked our mail and I downloaded a load of books onto the kindle. I downloaded "first they killed my father" which is a true story about the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime. I also downloaded a book on Thailand and a thriller trilogy set on the Western Isles where I spent the latter part of my childhood. Steven was catching up on the football scores and enjoying the peace with a beer (he was pretty stressed so broke his planned forty day abstinence).

The hostel was lovely and cool and a welcome break from the heat outside which ensures you feel completely shattered by mid afternoon and in desperate need of a shower. While we were chatting and enjoying the peace a young couple came into the reception and started asking the receptionist for advice on getting to Kuala Lumpur. At this Stevens ears pricked up as he had basically just sorted our whole journey to the same destination... But was to shy to interrupt. After they sat opposite us we eventually approached them by asking if they wanted any advice on booking the journey as we had just undertaken the task to which they gratefully accepted.

We chatted with them briefly about trains and buses before we moved on to more interesting topics. We learnt they were our age and married a year or so ago. Chas was an English guy who had moved to America in his teens on a football scholarship and met his bride Tonya who was on the dance team, the American dream as we told them.

We sat chatting with them... Well Steven to Chas about football (both are avid Man U fans... eeww) and me and Tonya about photography. She was telling me how she lost her camera with a years worth of photos in Vietnam and my heart literally broke for her. I could only imagine how I would feel given the situation... Devastation! I would rather lose my passport then my memory cards... In fact I would rather lose my whole bag. We shared stories and Thai ice cream before they headed out to sort their travel to KL. We all arranged to meet later however for a bite to eat.

It was now getting on so I retreated upstairs to shower and Skype Lacey who was online but had no luck... Poor girl is doing her dissertation and probably crying in a corner somewhere in despair. I had a lovely cool shower and dried and straightened my hair (a rare luxury) before sitting on the balcony and enjoying the view while listening to Radio One, which I was streaming (I miss music soooooo much). Not long after Steven appeared and joined me on the balcony. He had just assisted Chas with booking the overnight train to Kuala Lumper and then headed upstairs to freshen up, the other two were going to meet us at about seven.

We chilled on the balcony for a short time before Tonya popped her head around the door followed by Chas. We then headed out to try and find some food, we ended up heading to the place we went to last night and took a pew at the smallest table in the place. The restaurant was quite busy and continued to fill as we sat and eyed the menu. Tonya and Steven decided to share a beer although they ended up with their own huge Chang lol... Which they were a bit put out by by managed to empty happily enough. Me and Chas ordered soft drinks and they were lovely. We looked at the menu and made our choices which strangely enough were almost identical. I had the crispy fish spicy green mango salad and Steven had the garlic and pepper pork... We then shared a steamed rice with a fried egg... My favourite.

We tucked in and chatted all about our lives and our travels, we found them to be a really nice couple and we were very relaxed in their company. Time flew and before we knew it we had pasted ten thirty so thought we should pay up and retreat as we had finished eating about ninety mins before. We paid our bills which were less than we thought (particularly the other two who were massively undercharged) and wandered in the direction of the seven eleven. Although it was late we shared a craving for sugar so did a cornetto run, before taking a slow walk back to the hostel. On route we passed a shop selling hats and Chas stopped to try one on... Turns out he has the same problem as Steven when it comes to finding hats big enough but on his occasion it fitted like a glove. The women however wasn't to give a fair price so he walked a way a little disappointed.

We then sat and chatted in the hostel reception before the time came to retreat... It was getting on for eleven and we were up early for our trip to Hat Yai. Chas had developed the sniffles as he was allergic to the hostels cats so we retrieved some piraton for him on route to bed... It wasn't far to go as they were inhabiting the room next door. We said our good nights, swapped details and retreated to our rooms where before long we were in a deep sleep.