Chiang Mai

Before we knew it, it was Tuesday and our last day in Chiang Mai. We went to a famous temple,can't remember the name so can't be that famous!! Then we puttered around Chiang Mai one last time. We went to the Institute for the Blind for a massage. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. The woman actually made me cry and needless to say, I won't be returning!All of the people Betsy had gone trekking with had either left already or had gone off to do other things. So it was off to the airport for our flight to Bangkok, that all went off smoothly and we got our bags and got a taxi to the train station. All the time double checking that we were going to the correct train station, as there is more than one in Bangkok. We got to the station about 8pm, got our tickets(the staff were really helpful) and settled down to wait for our train to Chumphon at 10.50pm.At one point I wanted to go to the toilet, but the smell was so bad in the hallway outside that I didn't bother. It was disgusting!!
The train left on time and we found our seat, we had arrived too late in Bangkok to get the last sleeper, so a seat it was. But it wasn't too bad, they gave us water and a blanket. So we settled down for 7 hours of insomnia. Just before our stop the lady came around and woke us up. We got off the train at Chumphon and were herded onto a bus for the ride to the ferry pier. We then caught a catamaran to Koh Toa, where we were hoping to stay. We had been recommended this hotel on the beach and had emailed them, but hadn't had a reply. But everyone had been telling us all along that it was low season, so we weren't too worried.
So on June 11th we arrived at Koh Toa and went off in search of our suggested hotel. We got there, it looked great and then we spoke to the guy who owns/runs it, who knew which. He says yeah that he did get our email, but didn't reply as he didn't have any rooms and didn't know if he would have any rooms. So obviously I wasn't happy, I had just spent a night on the train, it was really hot and now I had nowhere to stay. Betsy took this situation better that I did. So we went off to an internet cafe, found accommodation for that night in Haad Rin on the south side of Koh Phan Ngan, a few days in the north of that island and our first night in Kuala Lumpur. We weren't going to be left without accommodation again.
We went off to lunch and then caught the afternoon ferry to Koh Phan Ngan and then got a taxi to Haad Rin. We found our hostel, which was ok, but small. Dumped our bags, had a shower and went to get dinner. After the day I had had, I needed beer. It had been a long day.