Wednesday 13th February 2008

Our mini bus was picking us up at just after 9am this morning, so we made sure we were up in plenty of time to pack our bags and have some breakfast before it arrived. When it did, we were driven to a place called Surat Thani - where we had to try and make our way to the Don Sok pier. From here we'd be catching a boat to the island of Ko Samui.

Most places offer bus-&-boat combo tickets to the island, but getting hold of one was pretty difficult - well, one for a fair price anyway. We were expecting to pay about 200 Baht, but were being quoted between 290 and 500 Baht. All the Thai people we were asking seemed to be in on some kind of scam - they didn't care who we actually bought the ticket from, just as long as we paid over the odds. In the end we managed to get a combo ticket for a fair price and were soon on our way to the ferry.

The ferry took a couple of hours and we were soon trying to find somewhere to stay on the island. We left the port and were approached by loads of taxi drivers, telling us that there we no public buses going to where we wanted to go (even though we'd not told them where we were going yet), and that we'd have to pay 600 Baht. It was a good job we checked with information - there WAS a bus, and it was only 100 Baht each. On the bus we got speaking to an older couple who had been to Thailand before and they recommended a couple of places in an area called Bo Phut. They made them sound really nice, so we figured we'd check 'em out. The first was full but the second (which was also the better one), the Free House, had room and we checked in. Our room is really nice, in one of the bamboo bungalows and is only a few meters from the restaurant and then the beach.

It was late afternoon by now, so we didn't bother going out we just hung around the bar and sat drinking next to the beach for the rest of the day. When it got late we had a meal on one of the tables on the sand. It was great - we had the music from the restaurant in one ear and the sound of the sea in the other... heaven!

After all the trouble getting here, it looks like Ko Samui might be worth it!