Day 3 (Thursday 19th October 2006)

Turns out that dude was all right!!!! Here we are in Koh Chang! By the way the iteninerary has changed...we have 5 nights here in Koh Chang and then the rest split between Ko Pha-Ngan, Krabi, Ko Phi Phi and Phuket!! Unfortunately, the national park went out the window...it's not even open!!

Koh Chang is spectacular! Bangkok was beginning to disillusion us about the so-called beauty of Thailand, but here we are in an island paradise. That li'l dude (feel so guilty for doubting him...even interegated him on camera) has arranged for us to stay 5-nights at the Baan San Sabay (Sabay meaning luxury/comfort) jungle bungalows...and both luxorious and comfortable it is! It is a cool li'l bungalow shack on stilts by a jungle forest with running streams outside. Words can't express how fantastic it is so we'll stick it on camera. (See it for yourself at www.sansabaytravel.com) We arrived here at about 17:00 after a 6-hour bus ride (without air-con) from Bangkok, before hopping on the ferry to Koh Chang. Ol' matey had our transfers to and from the boat all sorted bless him...even though we decided to jump in a taxi with everyone else...a li'l Thai bloke came back to the hotel with a sign saying Mr Marc on it but we had missed him bless him! That night also arranged for us was a seafood dinner in a lovely, quaint traditional restaurant with a romantic canoe ride through the jungle, fire fly watching!! It was fabulous and we sat eating our meal on our knees and everything! After our romantic evening and now peace of mind over the whole 'scam thing', we went back to our jungle bungalow and chilled out with our housemates...a few geckos, tree frogs, moths, ants etc...

Day 4 (Friday 20th October 2006)

After a good night's sleep and an alarm call from a cherping gecko, we were up early for breakfast. We decided to go exploring the surrounding areas and the popular White Sand Beach. The beach there was magnificent, something you'd see on a travel brochure! Emarald seas lapped at white sand and as you stood in the water looking back, lush jungle mountains framed the view...outrageous!! The weather was beautiful, the water was calm and arguably as hot as one of Marc's mum's baths and who knows, even Sarah's mum might have been tempted to a dip! Irrisistably, we grabbed our masks and snorkels and had a good mooch around. We saw giant jellys, batfish, sea cucumbers, sgt major damsels, parrot fish, flat fish and large beetles using leaves as rafts! The batfish were down in the shallows pretending to be leaves...but even they couldn't hide from Marc aka 'David Bellemy'!! The sand teems with fidler crabs and flying in from the jungle were the most incredible butterflies and dragonflies. However, determined to spoil our fun, teeming swarms of hundreds of tiny jellies embarked on poor li'l Sarah...they stung Sarah all over, but old Bellamy escaped with a minor sting to the hand! Later that night we booked an elephant trek at the Ban Kwan Elephant Camp for sunday morning and a snorkelling trip for monday to the beautiful surrounding islands!!

We're off for dinner, catch you soon...

PS Yes Dan that lady boy was beautiful!!

PPS We wish a very Happy Birthday to Ratty Batty!!!!!