Just arrived in Koh Tao after an overnight ferry - fun times!! So since I last wrote, we took the overnight train from Chang Mai to Bangkok, stashed our stuff back at the Trang Hotel and went off for a day of shopping at MBK and then some food and drinks along Khao San. We were being picked up at 6 in order to take an overnight bus down to Phuket. The lovely Sit had arranged it all for us although it is now believed we could have done a better job. A guy showed up at the hotel supposedly with the tickets, took our reciept and crammed the 4 of us into a taxi with all our bags (myself, Shell, Chris and Joe from the GAP trek). The taxi driver pulled off and suddenly we began to question if he knew where he was going. After a lot of umming and ahhing and a phonecall we convinced him to take us to the Southern bus station, the logical place to start our journey south. We got there in the pouring rain and ran for cover. The ticket man however was nowhere to be seen. A lot of confusion followed, with us phoning Sit, asking security guards and monks for their help before finally blokey showed up, told us we were in the wrong place as the VIP Tourist bus was leaving from Khao San but he'd get us a taxi right away and the bus would be waiting on the highway for us!! True to his word it was but had someone explained the journey originally none of it would of happened and we wouldn't have been embarressed as hell when we finally got on with all the other, mainly English speaking tourists! That was just the first adventure of that nights bus tour. We set off and even managed to get a bit of shut eye. There were a few rest stops along the way, until around 5am we pulled into a kind of bus station in the middle of nowhere but assumedly near Surat Thani. We swapped our tickets for more sticky labels, stuck to us like a stamp on a packet and waited until we were told to leave again. At around 6.30 a pickup truck came and everyone heading to the Adnaman coast pilled on. This took us to another station where a guy was trying to get an extra 200 bart in order to take you directly to your destination. Economising we refused and waited an age for the bus to Phuket town. Finally it came, packed full with locals and we left. From there it took around 6 hours but we finally arrived, headed straight to a guesthouse recommended by the Lonely Planet and managed to get a cheap room for the 4 of us! We headed out for some food and a bit of a wander before booking our boat the next day to Ko Phi Phi and then hitting the vegetarian festival where we had some gorgeous and cheap food and a coupole of drinks! The next day we had to leave pretty early again; the festival caused some of the roads to be closed but we were at the port in no time and sat on the air con ferry waiting to set sail. We left just after 8.30am and arrived in Phi phi a couple of hours later!! Phi Phi is gorgeous, backpackery due to there ebing no roads of transport but also quite touristy with its party scene. The place was devestated by the Tsunami and since more and more has sprung up there. We found a place to stay over by Viewpoint up behind Tonsai village and hit the beach!!! That night we grabbed some food and headed to the beach for buckets and shots a plenty!! The next day we took an afternoon/sunset longboat trip to Phi phi Leh where the Beach was filmed. We saw monkies, snorkelled, explored the coast and finally discovered Maya bay (from the film). We headed back to the boat for sunset and then back to dry land. Yesterday we hit the beach for a few hours before starting another overnight journey to the East coast and Koh Tao. This involved a ferry, a minibus which took us back to the random bus station oustide of Surat Thani. We were just getting some food ehre when I noticed a girl in front of me that I recognised. Turned out to be Maz from my second summer in Deux out in Thailand for a few weeks with some Uni friends. They too were headed for Tao, we took a coach to the port, dumped our bags on board and had a few beers before our ngiht on the boat lying on matresses in very close proximity to everyone else!! We made it safe and sound though and are staying in a little bungalow by the ebach with a gorgeous pool. This afternoon some of the other guys from our original trek group should get here along with their new companions and Sit!! Party time again!