At last!

Before I really get going I'll just point out that there's 59 baht to the British pound - it'll make it easier for you to work things out later.

It's been a real long slog to get here but I'm now finally sitting on lonely beach, Koh Chang, Thailand. I have a straw hut right on the sea for 280 Baht (B) a night (4.60 GBP). I got home last night and at high tide the water is about 6 feet from the hut. Fortunately I'm on stilts!

I left the south coast of the UK on Tuesday afternoon to start the journey. Two and a half hours on the train to airport, 3 hrs in the airport, 11.5 hrs on the plane, arriving at new airport in BKK. We breezed through the nothing to declare channel and were issued 30 day visas for free then went to look for a taxi. I went off to the loo and upon my return found Lee & Lexie had befriended a lost looking young Brazilian lad called Osmar who was looking to share a taxi. That's where it all started!

We travelled by taxi to the Khao San rd and started looking for somewhere to stay - it was now almost 6pm on Wednesday so our options were limited! The 'New my house guest house' was where we ended up but they had no single rooms. Not a problem for Lee & Lex, but for me - sharing a twin room with a guy I've known for just two hours was a little worrying. We split the 350 B cost down the middle so my nights sleep in BKK was 3 pounds.

We all went out for food & beer. Pad Thai noodles from street hawker 25B if you had egg with it, 20B without! 640ml bottle Chang beer 50-80B depending on where you are. On the way back to guest house we stumbled into a bay elephant being walked around the streets of BKK - crazy, or ting tong as the Thais say.

So we left BKK on on Thursday: taxi to bus terminal 40B each. Air conditioned government run coach form BKK to Trat 250B each and 5 hours in the seat - they gave us complimentary water & Jammie dodgers too! Trat bus terminal to 'Pop guest house' by open backed truck, 40B each. Only room available was one with two double beds in it but for 100B each for the night who can complain? Authentic Thai green curry with several bottles of Chang, an amusing encounter with an Irishman called Paul, some drunken banter with a bunch of Thai fellas, 3am to bed and Lee hogging the fan all night.

7.30am awake, shower, breakfast and 9.20am depart for transfer by truck to ferry terminal - 40B. Open return ferry ticket to Koh Chang 140B. Open back truck from ferry to Lonely beach which is on the other side of the island, 80B per person. Now it's time to chill, soak up some sun (around 30 degrees here), drink more Chang and eat more of the delicious Thai food. My hut - yes mine (we have three between us) has a shutter window that opens out and looks straight out over the sea. Hammock is strung across the porch and I have a double bed all to myself. It is beautiful here - worth the four days of travelling to get here!