On to Koh Phangan

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We woke on the train about 6am and the Thai waitress brought us some soggy bread and orange juice. The train dropped us off at Suret Thani where we got a bus to the Ferry Port, and bought the most amazing cheese sandwhich for the journey to Koh Phangan. The ferry was heaving and we were some of the lucky few who were told to sit in the VIP area of the boat for free. It was airconditioned and had leather seats that reclined right back. Tom had drank a couple of bottles of Thai Red Bull which they say has amphetamines in them, either that or it's ten times the amount of Caffine classed as legal in the UK. He talked non-stop for aaages and entertained lots of strangers as well as us. We chatted to a really nice couple from New Zealand, they loved Tom. When we arrived at the Port at Koh Phangan we worked out that Tom had been wittering on for 6 hours.
Got a nutty lady taxi driver to take us to Phangan Utopia where we were staying, she kept going round blind corners on the wrong side of the road. Ellie had booked Utopia through Asiarooms.com but when we got there they explained they didn't have our booking despite us having a reference number & the printed confirmation email. We think they may have been able to sell the rooms on for a better price and had decided to bump our booking. On top of this Ellie's luggage hadn't arrived and the more busy the island was getting for the Full Moon party the less chance we had of finding somewhere. We all just really needed a shower and to chill by a swimming pool, but had to find somewhere to stay. Ellie was close to tears but I comforted her saying we'd go shopping and buy her lots of nice stuff with the compensation we'd demanded from the airline. Tom was still talking at 100miles an hour and was actually sick out of his nose at one point.
Me & Ellie walked round a beach nearby trying to find available beach huts. When we got back Coatsy told us Tom had hired a moped and gone to find places to stay too. He had no mobile phone or Thai Baht on him and was drunk, crazy guy! Me, Ellie & Coats chilled with some fruit shakes in a bar nearby and got chatting to a guy on the next table who said his friend could help us with accommodation. He said we'd have to follow him in a taxi to the place and only wrote down the village of the place, not the hotel name. He was really friendly and helpful, but it all seemed too convenient and we'd been warned not to trust anyone. Fortunatly Tom made it back shortly after and said he'd found a shack in a really remote place so we went with that and politly declined our other offer.
Called in at the 7/11 shop (most are open 24 hours though, not sure why they call them that) to get supplies and after a bit of a treck, Tom remembered where the shack was and got us there. It had 2 balconys, a dressing area and a mosquito net over the bed so we were made up! It only had 1 king size bed which the four of us would have to share but we were grateful to get our backpacks off and jump in the cold shower to get clean. We spotted a massive hairy spider which freaked us all out big time. We huddled on the bed with the net around us shaking and screaming like proper wimps, until Tom manned up and wacked it with a trainer. We were all pretty tetchy after this.
Tom's hangover kicked in so he slept while me Ellie & Coats walked up the steepest hill you can imagine to a quiet bar for some Chicken Pad Thai. It was the best food ever but we were the only people there. Lounged on some mats reading and chatting then walked back in the dark jumping at the sight of leaves and cracks in the pathways. A while ago, Ant had suggested I buy a torch for the trip but I'd dismissed it laughing, saying we were going to beaches not the bloody jungle. How I wished I'd listened to him!
We were all asleep by about 8.30 completley worn out from the day we'd had. We woke in the night a couple of times and had a right giggle at Tom when we found him searching for the mosquito net - it was around us, the tripper.

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