We'd learned our lesson on the last sleeper train and didn't expect to arrive in Surat Thani on time, and we were right! So we didn't rush to get up and stayed laid in our top bunks until we arrived, 2 hours late. We'd bought combo bus and boat tickets to take us to Koh Phangan so we were shown which bus to get on at the station. Unfortunately, the modern air conditioned bus soon filled up (lots of people heading to the full moon party), so we ended up in a rickety old bus with no windows - natural air conditioning! When we arrived at the port at about 9:30, we were told that we'd missed the boat as the train was late, so we had to get a bus at 12:00 to another port where the boat would go at 3:30 - great! Add to that the 2.5hour journey to Koh Phangan by boat and we realised we were in for a long day of sitting around!

Luckily at both places wher we had to wait around there were stalls selling food so we didn't go hungry. When we eventually got on the boat at 3:30, we ended up sitting there and not going anywhere for nearly 2 hours while they crammed as many people as possible onboard. I'm sure there were far too many people! We kept seeing buses pulling up with more people to get on! I heard one of the crew members say that it was because of the full moon party tomorrow - we hope it's going to be worth all this!

After the boat had dropped some people off at Koh Samui (where we're going after Koh Phangan), we moved to sit outside and watch the sunset and a thunder storm in the distance, which was a nice way to end the journey from hell!

At the port, we jumped into a waiting minibus, which took us to our hotel at Haad Salad. We checked in and were shown to our basic beach shack, which we'd been dreaming about all day. After a quick shower we ate tea at the hotel restaurant and then went to a local bar for a few drinks. I was feeling worn out so went to bed early, leaving Dave and Chris to have some man time. They ended up going to the beach and getting attacked by a dog, so I think I made the right choice…