The journey to Ko Tao was pretty painless, but Jonny got soaked a few times from seawater blowing in through the window which was very funny!

We rocked up on Sairee Beach (after some fruitless bargaining with the tuk tuk driver) and I set off on a quest to find us somewhere to stay for the night. It seems that the days of cheap beach huts have long since passed, and I think the top end of what I was quoted was 2,100 Baht for one night. Needless to say I moved swiftly on from there. Eventually found some nice digs although not as good as our last beach hut. Clearly we have been spoilt!

After a celebratory beer we caught the last few rays of the day, before having dinner and cocktails on some massive green bean bags by the sea in a cool chill out bar watching laterns being lit and set off to drift into the sky!

Next day was spent chilling out on the beach. The sea was a gorgeous colour and was shallow for ages, so much so that people were even taking chairs into the water! That night we had decided we were going to have a few drinks so, after Jonny watched United win (may I add that once I came to join him they scored 3 more goals) we had our initiation with the buckets. Although in hindsight a bucket of vodka red bull is not a good idea! Especially not for Jonny who was tipsy and chunnering on like there's no tomorrow! Also of note was the chicken skewer and banana pancake on the way home..... Mmmmm!!

Next day we had booked to go on a half day snorkelling trip round the island. It was a pretty choppy day, plus slight hangover meant we all felt a bit green. Whenever I couldn't find Jonny I knew he'd be at the back of the boat taking deep breaths (he SO wasn't a pirate in a previous life). We got to our first stop, Shark Bay, but were very disappointed to see not see one shark! Apparently they don't like big waves either. The last 2 stops were pretty cool but overall the snorkelling was not as good as Great Barrier Reef. Seems we have become coral snobs now too!

We were pretty glad to get back on Terra Firma at the end of the day, then had a long overdue sort out of backpack in desperate attempt to shed some of the 19k I now seem to be carrying!

Next day we were homeless as we had booked on a night boat and bus to take us up to Bangkok. We spent the day on the beach as it would be the last time we would get to sun bathe for a while. When 10pm came round we were escorted to the pier. The first sign that this was not going to be the journey we expected was the ticket collector saying "you no have bed... Is that ok?!" (we were not even aware a bed was an option). The second sign was that we had to dice with death to get up on deck, by edging our way along the side of the boat with all out backpacks. When we got into the cabin there were a load of bunk beds which were all taken, so we went upstairs to the only other available level, only to find that this was in fact the top of the boat and we would have to sleep on the metal floor looking up at the stars!

Once we had gotten over the initial shock of the situation and a night cap of a strong drink, we tried to get some sleep (luckily we had our sleeping bags and improvised quite well) feeling like proper tramps and longing for the good old boat to Santarem where at least we had a hammock!