Wednesday 22nd Oct 08

We arrived safely in Bangkok. Despite all being quite jet lagged we managed to fit in several temple visits. The two that stand out the most for me were firstly a) The Grand Palace - being obviously tourists we were attracting a lot of locals trying to convince us that we didnt want to go to the Grand Palace, that it was shut and that we should go with them elsewhere. When we managed to push past all of this we entered and were told to go to the dressing room to hire clothes to cover ourselves up. Well....! We were all given over sized shirts and long robes to wrap around. I looked like a granny..my photos prove it which I will not be putting up on facebook! The luxury and the enormity of the buildings inside took my breath away. Nearly everything was coated in gold.

b) The reclining buddha which is 45metres long again was one of those moments where when I entered the temple I was astonished my the sheer size and beauty of the reclining buddha. Its feet are made of mother of pearl.

After 4 nights in Bangkok we were ready to move on and see new horizons!

Yesterday we got the bus at 8.30am to take us to Kho Chang, an island south east of Bangkok. It was quite a sight leaving bangkok and seeing all the shanty towns and huts...people living from homemade walls and roofs of corragated iron. The monsoon was in full swing which was quite good for travelling rather than being scorching hot. After 7 hours we eventually came to the Ko Chang ferry. There were a few tables set up with people trying to sell accommodation. We hadnt booked anything so we signed up to stay at the Island Lodge and then boarded the ferry. It cost 230baht each which is about 5pounds. After about 30mins on the ferry we arrived on the island and then found a
minivan which they use as a taxi. There was already about 6 people on board with the bags on the roof. He was waving to us to board but I was hesitant as I could see how we could possibly fit on. Anyway the driver got every1 to budge up so we ended up on this
one. 2 Germans came along after us and perched on the step at the back while we drove! U certainly wouldnt b allowed to do that in UK. We were dropped off near the lodge....and felt a right sight as we all struggled to lift our bags onto our backs. We were then faced with about 100 steps up to the room we were staying in. It was pretty horrible! We had to share a double bed and a single...it was pretty dirty and small and the shower floor shared with the toilet! Really this sums up all accommodation we are coming across with the type of budget we are sticking to!

Today we decided to relax for the day and walked down onto the beach known as White Sand Resort. The weather was unusually warm and dry all day and we enjoyed sunbathing we gorgeous views of the torqoise sea and white sand.

28/10/08

Today we had a late start and went for breakfast around lunchtime...infact spoke to Brett at the same time that he was getting his breakfast and leaving the house! Afterwards we walked down to a shop looking for stamps so that I could send a postcard to G&G and Caz one to her nana. We then took a minivan for 10-15mins to the bottom of Kong Plu waterfall and prepared ourselves for the trek up. It was more or less like walking through a jungle...very hot, wet & humid. It took us about 30mins to walk up an incline that ran alongside the river. Half way up we stopped to get some pictures and a Thai group offered to take a picture of the 3 of us in return for me taking one of them. We continued on and eventually reached the waterfall which was beautiful. There was a sign warninbg of strong currents but at the same time in a calmer area of the waterfall there were ropes positioned to help visitors cross the river to get closer to the waterfall itself. We were all quite unsure about making the cross and decided to watch others attempt it first. The water was reaching everyones waistline. We decided to attempt it and one after the other lowered ourselves into the water, helping to pass our bags backwards and forwards until we were in stable positions! We got to the other side safely and continued closer to the waterfall itself and the calm water beneath it which was a lovely torqoise colour. We took a couple of pics then the rain began so we started to make our way back across the river and down the trek. Tomorrow we hope to leave our current accommodation, Phu Pa Resort in White Sands resort and head further south down the island to Lonely beach. We have just been checking the internet tonight for possible rooms to stay in.