Wed 12/9
Today really is up there with some of the best experiences we have had! First read about the tiger temple in lonely planet before we arrived and was a bit unsure if we should go as there is a lot of controversy surrounding the place. Looked up some review sights and there were a lot of recent reviews which were really good so we decided to go! No point judging a place if you have never been! It was an amazing experience! We went for the free photo opportunity so it was a bit rushed as you were zoomed around all the tigers really quick but we got lots of great photos so it was worth it! We must have arrived at the right time coz only queued for about 5 minutes but when we were finished the queue was really really long and it never got smaller the whole time we were there! We opted to pay and see the tigers during their playtime which unfortunately meant we didn't have time to walk round the park to see the cub and other tigers but i think it was well worth it! A small group of us were put into a cage and the tigers were let lose to play. He had a great view of all the tigers as the cage was only chest height. Some of the workers/volunteers even got in the water and played with them! The time just flew past! Got some great videos and pictures! We left glad that we went here! After talking to the volunteer its hard to understand why lonely planet want people to boycott the place when they haven't made the effort to visit themselves! As the volunteer put it, none of the volunteers (who seemed to be mostly australian) would be there if there was something dodgy going on! He admitted that rather than poorly looked after the tigers are actually spoilt rotten, i can understand why people might think they had been drugged as they are so still while you get your pictures taken but to see them get straight up and go play like they did, i highly doubt it! Once we got back to the hotel we got our bus booked for leaving tomorrow and headed out for dinner with Dave, a guy who was staying at our hotel. Went back to the same restaurant as last night, just cant pass by the vinegar and hellmans mayo coz it could be a long time before we get it again!lol.

Thu 13/9
Oh boy what a long day! Our mini bus left for Bangkok at 1:30pm and we were the only ones on it! Nice for a change! Plus it meant it took the 2 hrs which it is meant to. We had a 3 hr wait in Bangkok before our next connection, it was fine coz it meant we had time to get a decent meal. We knew nothing about the next part of the journey apart from the fact we were getting a bus and boat and should arrive in Koh Phangan around 11:30am. The bus from Bangkok was fine, plenty of legroom and comfy enough. Read my book to pass the time and around 2am it was finished and i was sleepy! At 2:30am i was nearly asleep when the bus made a stop, decided to go out for a fag and stretch of the legs when we had the chance, turns out we had arrived in Chumphon and it was time to leave the bus!! 4hrs to sit about and wait for our boat!! If we had known that we would have slept on the bus!lol. Even tho we were tired didna manage to get any more sleep! :(