I woke up for the first time on the island without a hangover, and had a relaxed morning packing up my stuff. I checked out, and met Helen for a quick breakfast, we even managed to catch some BBC news! The taxis on the island, like in all of Thailand, are converted utes. The back tray has a roof attached, and two padded benches running down their length. We caught one of these to the far side of the island, a short trip geographically, but it adds years to your life as the driver hoons and careens his way over the tight mountainous road.The boat terminal in the main town of the island was absolutely packed with other young travelers, eager to leave the island now that the Full Moon was over. Luckily we managed to get tickets, and somehow in the massive thronging crowd, even managed to get on the right boat. Which in hindsight, wasn't really a problem, as they kept pushing everyone onto boats. There were very quickly no seats left on ours, and all the deck space filled up, and then all the passageways and aisles, so I spent the four hour boat trip reading my book on the stairwell, and then sitting in the passage by the toilet. It wasn't too bad.
Our ferry ticket also included a bus ride to the train station. I had done with trip before in a taxi, and it only took 30mins or so. However, it took closer to two hours in this bus (whose air-conditioning was as effective as an asthmatic hamster coughing on you), as we made a detour via the bus station. Instead of buying a package ticket, which included the train to Bangkok, Helen and I had decided to just do it ourself. Of course, all the hundreds of other backpackers leaving the island had booked the package, and so when we got to the train station, we found out that that there were no train tickets left, and none for the next day either. We had planned on spending the 12 hour train overnight train journey in a nice second class sleeper cabin, something with a nice horizontal bed. That dream was now dashed. At least I wasn't tempted to brave third class again, as even that was all sold out. 
Luckily, we were approached by a man selling bus tickets to Bangkok, while quite expensive for a bus (slightly more than the 2nd class sleeper train ticket), it was our only option, and we grudgingly agreed. The man assured us it was a good bus, first class in fact! We bought our tickets, and spent the few evening hours eating at a roadside stall and sweltering in the heat. At almost exactly the right time, an old manky bus, looking somewhat like Otto's pulled up outside. Helen and I shared a look of dread, we didn't want to spend 10 hours on an old school bus, especially after paying so much! All the travel horror stories of bus scams and phony bus services filled our minds. However, almost as though fate was playing a joke on us, right behind the old bus, a big, double story sleeper bus arrived and we were herded on.The bus was comfortable enough, good air-conditioning, complimentary water and snacks, good toilet and even a stewardess! There was plenty of leg room, and the seats reclined a bit further than your standard airplane seat, which was just as well, considering this bus trip would take as long as my flight from NZ to Singapore! Unfortunately, as comfortable as the seats were, my Western genes betrayed me. I was just too tall to really rest my head comfortably, and slouching to make my head reach, really cramped my back. I did manage to get some sleep in the night, but I regretted not being organised enough to book my comfortable second class sleeper ahead of time!
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