Our journey from Cambodia was to say the least uncomfortable, a good way to leave the country I guess! We were picked up from our hostel at about 7.30am and squashed into a car with two 2 other people, whose suitcase filled up the entire boot and so we had to balance our rucksacks on our knees! We drove around Siem Reap for about half an hour like this until we reached a petrol station, whereby the two other people were told to get out and three more people got in!! So we had six of us squashed into a car, our rucksacks were kicked and pushed until they fit in the boot and off we set on our 3 hour journey to the Cambodian border.

We had heard that the journey would be a rough one! Apparently an unnamed Thai airline pays the Cambodian Governement to never finish the road from the border to Siem Reap, so the jounrney is that unbearable that more people are put off it and fly from Bangkopk instead!! They were not joking! The road looked like it is in the middle of being built but as far as we could see not much work was going on. Instead it is a dusty, bumpy and windy dirt track but still a very busy road!! We just had to grit our teeth and try and sit still in the little space we had in the back, neither of us were lucky enough to get the front seat!

Once we had reached the Cambodian border it was a case of walking across to the Thai side and then waiting 2 hours for our connecting bus down to Koh Chang. The contrast of the Thai roads was unbelievable, so smooth and straight, we slept for most of the journey. We caught the 7pm ferry from Trat out to the island of Koh Chang, so it was dark when we arrived and then just as reached the area of Lonely Beach where we wanted to stay the heavens opened. This was proper monsoon rain, the roads looked more like rivers within a matter of minutes and we still had to find somewhere to stay!

It was not looking good, it was dark so we had no idea where we were, it was pouring with rain, so when the taxi dropped us off at a beach resort called Treehouse, us and our bags were completely soaked within seconds and the only room they had at Treehouse was a single, but we were dripping wet at this point so we took it. When they said room they really should have said shack, it was about the size of a large tent, the door did not shut and the rain was coming in, if we hadn't laughed about our situation we would have cried!! This was not a good start to what was supposed to be a lovely relaxing week for us!

When the rain stopped Andrew went to try and find the bathroom, he came back having found another place for us to stay right next door which had a double room (thanks for nothing Treehouse - they didn't even suggest somewhere else for us!)The room was dirty but it was actually a room with a double bed and its own bathroom so it would do for the night! So our first night in Koh Chang was not great and we ended up paying for two rooms!!

The next morning the rain had cleared and the sun was out, everything seemed much better! We could actually see where we were which was helpful! While I tried to dry our bags and belongings out, Andrew went out in search of somewhere nicer for us to stay, he did a brilliant job and found us the perfect place! We booked into The Nature Beach Resort where we have stayed all week. It is great, we have a beautiful bungalow, 2 minutes from the beach, with our balcony to chill on and a great bar and restaurant very close by!

So we have done absolutely nothing all week and it has been wonderful to actually relax for a week! This is something we have not done all year! We have been getting up late and spending all day sunning ourselves on the beach.Of course we had to buy a bat and ball to keep Andrew entertained!! The sea is the warmest we have ever been in, it is like getting in a bath and the water is crystal clear you can see loads of fish swimming around! The tans are now looking good and hopefully they will last until we get home!

The sunsets have been spectacular and we have been spending the evenings drinking G&T on our balcony watching the sun set and then most nights a fire show is perfomed on the beach, they are so talented it is amazing to watch.

We will sadly leave here on Sunday and head back to Bangkok for a bit of last minute shopping and emptying of our rucksacks before we fly to China for the last month of our Round the World Adventures!

Hope all is well at home and everyone is well!

Lots of Love

Sarah and Andrew xxx