The alarm started beeping at 7am and I struggled to open my eyes as I hadn't had the best sleep. I eventually got up and jumped straight into the cold shower which woke me up a fair bit. I packed the rest of my backpack whilst Andrew got a shower and then we were both ready for our taxi to Thongsala pier. We saw the owner stood on the driveway so we walked over just as our songthaew was reversing to pick us up. We thanked the owner and climbed in the back of the songthaew and experienced a very fast drive to Thongsala. Once we had confirmed our ticket at the Lomprayah office and received a Bangkok sticker to place on our t-shirt we walked down the road to 'Nira's Home Bakery' for one last time. We got a coffee and danish pastry to take away and then we walked to the pier. The high-speed Lomprayah catamaran soon pulled up at the pier and so we got on board a rather rocky vessel, placed our backpack inside at the front as directed and then went to sit on the top deck. We set off for Ko Tao and I made a strange noise as the catamaran rocked quite aggressively back and forth to the point that I slid along the bench. It wasn't long before the grey clouds overhead released a sprinkling of rain, so everyone on the top deck rushed towards the stairway. We went to find a seat inside but there were none so we headed back to the top deck as we quickly passed through the rain cloud. The high wind and subsequent rough sea made the whole journey rather bumpy and at one point a wave came crashing over the side and seemed to soak me whilst Andrew was sheltered on my other side. We firstly made a quick stop at Ko Nang Yuan before calling at Ko Tao pier, where there was an announcement for every passenger to stand at the front of the catamaran as the low tide meant the catamaran was unable to pull out of the pier! Therefore, the weight of every person was needed at the front to raise the back of the catamaran high enough to leave the pier. It was a strange request but everyone made their way to the front and we were soon on our way. It took four hours in total to reach Chumphon pier. The pier itself had undergone a make over since our last visit as the thin, wobbly wooden planks had been replaced with thicker, stronger wooden planks but only half of the new pier had been nailed together! This meant we had to walk over wooden planks that were just balancing on a metal frame, so needless to say I walked ridiculously slowly so that people behind me had to ask me to get out of the way. We confirmed our bus ticket at the counter and then had half an hour to wait before our bus left so we got something to eat.
 
We boarded our bus which was far superior to the last Lomprayah bus we had encountered as it had reclining leather seats with a head rest and foot rest, a huge flat-screen TV situated at the front and a smaller TV in the middle of the bus . A film started playing as soon as we set off but I attempted to get some sleep as I felt exhausted. However, I still couldn't get comfortable so as much as I tried I failed to sleep and ended up day dreaming out of the window for much of the journey. We had a rest stop and decided to get something to eat but it was a case of pointing to something, so I ended up with a fish dish that was so hot I had to scrape my tongue. I inspected my plate closer and soon discovered that there were many chilli seeds present. We had a quick walk around to stretch our legs and then got back on the bus. The last part of the journey was the longest but we finally arrived at Khao San road at around 9pm. Once we had retrieved our backpack we had to find an honest taxi driver which proved to be extremely difficult as nobody was willing to use the meter! A number of people we asked claimed to have never heard of the place until one driver finally gave us a price. It sounded very reasonable, at B50, so we put our backpack in the boot and got into the taxi . It wasn't until we turned the corner that we realised the driver had no idea and claimed it wasn't too far away. Anyway, we ended up getting out and so we had to walk back to find another taxi. Our search continued to prove fruitless until a Tuk Tuk driver stopped and we were that fed up that we agreed a fare of B150 after a little, easy bargaining. The driver was so friendly and chatted to us as we made our way to 'New Road Guesthouse'. We weren't entirely sure that we would end up in the correct place but the driver reassured us and before long we were at the door step. We were so thankful that Andrew ended up paying B200 which was the initial price, but the driver was so grateful and we were just glad we didn't end up in the middle of nowhere in the dark. I thought there was going to be a slight problem when the guesthouse only had a booking for one dormitory bed but there were plenty free so we were given a bed sheet, pillow case and room key each and then crossed a courtyard to enter a different building. We climbed the flight of stairs to the second floor as directed but our key didn't open any door, so we returned to the first floor and found our dormitory. There were plenty of free bunks but we had been given a bed in different bunks, so I just decided to move my bed even though we had strict instruction to remain in our allocated bed. I managed to put on the fitted sheet before I collapsed on the bed. We decided to have a quick shower before chilling out in the cafe, where we ordered a large Chang and looked at the clock to see that it was already 11pm. We drank up and retired to our bed.