On the bus from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi we managed to get a couple of hours kip so were feeling ok-ish by the time we arrived at our destination. Our guest house, which we picked out of the Loneley Planet which is always a bit risky but it turned out to be lovely little stone bungalows with a big pool in the middle so we took it straight away. Air con and hot water too - ahhhhh! We dumped our bags and went straight out on the hunt for breakfast. Our friend Matt had told us his friend had a bar in Kanchanaburi so we went there to see him and had a nice big breakfast! Afterwards we went straight back to the guest house, got into our bikini's and got by the pool! First time sun bathing since Snooky in Cambodia so it was great! Need to top my tan up as currently if I came back people would not even believe I'd been away!

We also booked a tour for the next day round Kanchanaburi - to see the Bridge over the River Kwai, the Death Railway etc which I saw four years ago and was really looking forward to seeing again and for the first time through Gemma's eyes. Spent the rest of the day by the pool and in bed - us oldies need time to recover after these long journies!

The following day we went on the tour. We got picked up at 8am and the first stop was a huge waterfall which was, quite frankly, absolute crap! It was almost dried up and very unimpressive! It had taken us 2 hours to get there and then we had an hour drive to the next place! The next place was the hot springs which was really cool. Tara and I went to a hot springs in Greece but this was nothing like that (which was literally a tiny little stream of boiling water that you had to fight your way into) This was two small swimming pools with the natural hot water set next to a lake so you could spend 5 mins in the hot then 5 mins in the cold. We spent about 40 mins there hopping from hot to cold but it was nice.

Next stop was Hell Fire Pass which I didnt do last time I was in Kanchanaburi and was great but creepy. Its where the POW's dug out a huge path in the mountains for the railway line they were constructing, and it was named Hell Fire pass by them as when they were forced to work at night, looking around as the lamps and the bodies of the men lifting hammers and tools by fire light looked like a scene straight out of hell. On the walk back from Hell Fire pass the heavens opened and we got absolutely soaked to the skin! We may as well have not bothered drying off from the hot springs!

We stopped for some lunch and thankfully in that time the rain cleared up. Next we moved onto the train station where we were to pick up the train. As we were early we had a look around a few stalls that were there selling tat, and also walked up the railway line a bit to see a cave that was used by the POW's as a hospital cave - was sooo creepy. Locals have put a budda in it now but you can see rock shelves which the POW's used as hospital beds and stuff - there seemed to be a bit towards the back of the cave that you could go even further in but it was just too creepy and the bats were getting really agitated and pissed off with our camera flashes so we thought we'd leave it be and get out of there pretty sharpish before we got bitten and died of rabies/turned into Bat Girls.

The actual train ride was a bit boring really - I had such high hopes of it being a really great poignant moment like it was the last time I rode it, but it wasnt to be. It was raining so hard we had to pull the windows up and it was absolutely rammed with tourists, our carriage full of Chinese tourists who trampled all over us and each other. After 20 mins we got off and drove to the main part of the bridge which again was no where near as good as the last time I went as it was just too busy and had been ruined with shops and stalls everywhere, it was mayhem.

After this we were driven home and we had some dinner, we were supposed to be going out but we both felt like we had caught a bit of a chill from the hot springs/getting rained on several times so we stayed in and had a good sleep instead. Making the most of having a telly as well as probably wont see another one until I'm back in London Town!

Next day we decided to do our own touristy stuff and went to the POW museum, the grave yard, had some lunch in a floating restaurant on the river (which was not edible!) then walked down to the Jetha War museum which was just loads of photos of th POW's and no information like the other museums but it was really really good. Didnt feel too well after we'd done all this so decided to head home, but couldnt find a tuk tuk for love nor money and ended up pretty much walking the hour walk home. Got home, laid down for a bit and had half an hour by the pool but the sun had gone in by this time so not much fun. Had some dinner and decided to head out for some night life - went to the livliest bar we could find, which had about 8 people in it! Started drinking Chang beer - beer does not get me drunk and so I'd given up drinking it out here - but Chang beer blows my head off, as I discovered that night!

It was pretty quiet out and Gemma and I sat chatting over our beers - watched an almighty bout of torrential rain. After a little while two guys went bouncing past in dresses and stopped to chat then joined us for the evening. Jay was from Luton (!) and Sean from Canada - both really nice guys. We all had a really good laugh and moved onto a few other bars but there's really not anywhere with much atmosphere in Kanchanaburi. At midnight I had to ask Gemma to take me home as I was drunky like monkey! Went home to bed and woke up with a very bad hang over!

In the morning I spent some time by the pool and in the internet cafe before we checked out of our guest house at 12 and got picked up at 1.30 by a mini van. We drove back to Bangkok in order to get our connecting bus down to the south. Once we arrived in Bangkok we had a 2 hour stop over which was ok as we were hungry and Gemma got to see a little of Bangkok and I wasnt there long enough to want to kill myself. We went for a walk down the Khaosan Road and looked around the market, staying clear of the dodgies. We got back to the travel agency at 6 and picked up by our big over night bus which was quite comfortable. They put a couple of films on too which passed a bit of time. Stopped at 11pm for a break then carried on. Once back on the bus we managed to drop off to sleep through til about 6am when we arrived at another stop and were herded off the bus. We sat bleary eyed and half asleep at a little cafe type thing in the middle of nowhere for an hour and a half until another bus picked us up to take us to the ferry port. There were loads of people on the ferry and it was another 2.5 hours to Koh Phangan. Getting the bags off was a nightmare! Once off the boat we got a tuk tuk to Haad Salad where we had a bungalow booked (we booked it in London as apparently everywhere gets booked up around the full moon party) and which is really nice - 30-40 mins away from Haad Rin which is where the Full moon party happens and which is busier, dirtier and with more chance of your room being robbed! Haad salad is beautiful, the beach is stunning and not too busy and we're out of the way of the party madness but close enough to get to it!

We arrived at our bungalow at 1.30pm which was 24 hours to the minute that we'd left Kanchanaburi! What a mission! However, one look at the the beach and I knew it had all been worth it! The bungalow is small and with only a fan but its clean and cute and the resort restaurant is lovely, along with the staff.

More about Koh Phangan in my next blog.

Missing you all like crazy! Love you long time! x