Koh Chang was to be our second beach but first tropical island and we were excited! Even more so as the island is the spiritual home of Richard "Dickhead" Symes! We had been well schooled on what to do and where to go so on arrival there was no question that we were heading straight to Lonely Beach, the backpackers base on the island and a party paradise. Thudding music, dancing tourists, fire dancing locals and endless tattoo parlours greeted us. A 100 baht (£2) room was quickly made our home for the evening. Situated in the heart of party street and attached to a nightclub it was inevitable where the night would end up...Man United vs Arsenal kicked off the night and the rest goes down in Koh Chang history!

We by some luck and good fortune secured a beach front bamboo shack the following day and we planned to make it home for the rest of the week. Sipping beers on your balcony atop a white sand beach encompassed by a warm turquoise sea was what all this travelling lark was about wasn't it!? On the "gurus" advise we hired mopeds determined to circumnavigate the island, the day of disasters at it is now known will not be forgotten quickly!