Day 7 .... the second half of the long distance journey

Well ... we were awake early in day 7 as the sleeper train was due to get into the station at 6:30 .... but it turned out to be late ... and didn't get into the station until about 7:30! It was a good thing that we asked a nice english speaking gentleman, were we at the right station because we would of gotten off about an hour train ride from where we were supposed to be getting off!!. When you really don't know where you are going, or the full names of the stations then its an easy mistake to make i guess!

When we got off in Surat Thani, we got the usual harrassment of people trying to sell us a bus and boat trip ... and bundle us on to buses before we knew better ..... but we knew what company we were looking for already so we just found them and got on to a lovel air conditioned bus! It was old but the air conditioning still worked . . so i was happy enough! The bus took us about an hour away to the ferry port, this drive was much more relaxed and slower than anything we had experienced in Bangkok so it was a nice change of pace. The Thailand countryside outside of Bangkok is far more beautiful than the city .... and anyone that is thinking of heading to Thailand, and only staying in Bangkok should consider heading further afield!

The bus arrived at the ferry port with a good 40 muinutes to spare before the ferry departure time of 10:00 am ... but again the ferry was also running late! Time and schedules seem to be a bit lax everywhere in Thailand ... but we were in no rush so we just sat and watched the ferry port in action.

On we got to the ferry ... and Pauric decided to pick a deck seat to enjoy the sun!  This turned out to be both a good and bad idea . .. as the breeze was lovely .... but the sun was really glaring down on us. We did move back a seat to get out of the sun and this helped a little ... but Pauric forgot that his feet were still out in direct sunlight ... and didn't Pauric get the tops of them burned ..... a stange sunburn patch that traced around the straps on my sandals .... ahh well ... it didnt bother me too much ... it was the first colour i got i suppose!!!

When we arrived on Koh Phangan, it was the middle of the day .. and still glorious. On leaving the port we got into a taxi .. well .. what i would term a pick up truck with 2 benches and a kind of roofed cage in it. They use these throughout rural Thailand and expecially the islands as not all the roads on the islands are sealed and can be very rough and bumpy. We arrive at our destination, Loy Fa Bungalow's .. and it looks like paradise! They are small stilted bungalows with either a fan or air conditioning and you normally get a hot shower with the air conditioned rooms as well. Loy Fa have there own small private beach just below the bungalows ..... it really is post card picture stuff! They are a bit expensive compared to some other places on the island but they do have the perfect setting if you are looking to chill out and relax for a while ... and we have 8 whole days of it to do here!!

Well ... we got settled into our new accomodation, and took  the short stroll over to the restaurant to get something to eat. They have a fabulous menu here, of both European/western and Thai/Asian food. I chose the 'safe' chicken fried rice and a chicken burger ... and both turned out to be lovely! Caroline tried the sweet and sour chicken and it was lovely as well! After eating we tried a local cocktail .... the Mai Tai ... its made from Thai whiskey and some sort of fruit juices and it was gorgeous! We took a brief stroll on the beach to see what it was like and off we went to bed ..... in our little part of paradise!