Today did not go as planned. What we had been told was a 3 hour bus and a 20 minute boat however what happened was a 7 hour bus and a 35 minute boat (and that was only because we paid for the speed boat). Not knowing how long you will be on a bus is a hard task, you don't know how much to eat or drink as the bus has no toilet and you don't know how often you will stop. We also had the usual police/army check done twice on our bus, we aren't quite sure why the foreigners never get checked and only the locals.

Once off the boat, we had read that the only way to get to your accommodation was on the back of a motorbike, so as the women held our bags on in front of them we climbed on the back. Char's being the heaviest bag must have caused a flat tyre as she had to swap bikes half way through the journey.

However on arrival we realised it was worth it. We are currently on Koh Phayam, a lovely island on the west coast of Thailand with deserted beaches, beach bungalows and fresh seafood. It's also home to cashew nut farms....random fact. With not having booked any accommodation, a woman enticed us into her bungalows with a cheap price and we didn't expect much. We were very surprised as we were offered a beach front bungelow for only £8. The only problem was as we looked around and saw the gigantic spider which was living in there. But being very helpful they got rid of it as we checked in. Bonus.

M & C xxxx