6th January 2007. Following a leisurely breakfast, Terry was at the hotel with his tuk tuk for another day exploring Cambodia, first stop was to be the floating village on the shore Tonle Sap lake about half an hour from Siem Reap through rural areas ranging from rather posh houses to the poorest of bamboo shacks over filthy streams. As we approached the village we were shocked to be told it was 20$ each to visit and not best pleased as the entire area was very run down and strewn with the third worlds national flower "the polythene bag". Tourism may have brought a new form of income but in both Vietnam and Cambodia if the locals do not do something to change their ways and combat litter the beautiful countries will be ruined for ever and lose their appeal. We haggled hard and got the boat tickets down to 10$ each and set off in one of the many tourists boats chugging around the estaury and on to the lake that is enormous. The village had hundreds of floating homes, churches and shops for the tourist and gave an interewsting insight to how different life must be on water. Most homes had a cat or dog and of course TV but were rather small so it was not the place to fall out with each other as there was no where to escape to let off steam. After an hour we were back on shore and into the TT to go to Banteay Srei a temple about 25 km from the main area that stands for Citadel of the Women and is spoken of as the " jewel of Kemer art". This small temple of pink sandstone boasts some of the finest sculptures and carving in the whole area, having been restored by Henri Marchal between 1931 and 1936 it is well worth the long bumpy journey. Heading back to Siem Reap we stopped along the way to buy some baskets, try the locally made sweets from the palm oil and to visit one last temple at Pre Rup. Here we decided to be brave and climbed the steps to the upper shrines and the stunning view across the jungle and countryside towards Angkor Wat. At the top was a little 9 year old boy who spoke perfect English but had a total disregard for our questions as he must hear the same thing 50 times a day. All that interested him was to sell his little bracelets and postcards, so after some tough negotiating Ann had secured 3 bracelets for 100baht to add to all of her other little trinkets. We felt rather weary from the long journey and decided to have a light dinner at the Ivy and turn in as we had an early start ahead of us.

7th January 2007 Having booked out of the hotel, Terry was waiting to whisk us off to the airport to catch our flight to Bangkok and to say farewell to our charming driver & guide of the past 4 days. We now know why they have such a beautiful airport, there is a departure tax of 25$ per person that must bring in a kings ransom with the thousands of visitors each year. We left at 9:50am and arrived about 40 minutes later at Bangkok airport where we had to check in through customs and clear our luggage before going to the flight for Trat. We had a couple of hours to kill but were pleasantly surprised by the luxurious lounge provided by Bangkok Airways with complimentary food,drinks and internet that made it hassle free. At 2:40pm we were off to Trat and arrived at a tiny airport with timber huts for the arrival terminal and transport that reminded me of Disneyland. We quickly arranged for transport to Koh Chang and within 20 minutes were on the ferry for the 40 minute crossing that got us to the island just as the sun was setting. Not having any definite accommodation we thought it would be best to keep an eye out along the way and jump off at one of the quiter resorts. On the minibus were a mother and daughter from Scotland who had just lost all their luggage and were not sure of the address they were supposed to meet their friend. All they new was it was called KB or Kai Bae so when we got there, having checked the Rough Guide we decided to book into KB Bungalows and are still not sure if they found their friend. The room was great and the food wonderful so we think we have found paradise an d plan to spend the next few days here.

8th January 2007  Woke knowing that today we would not be moving to far only to a room closer to the beach - strolled past the glistening pool to breakfast and to see for the first time our beautiful palm fringed beach with the sea stretching out to the islands beyonds. Having explored the resort that runs for about half a mile both sides of the road that runs around nine tenths of the island we went back to change rooms and then relax for the first time on a beach - great!!!!!!! Ann took off for Bodiworks and about 5 hours of pampering to return detoxed and relaxed. Dinner was fried ruby fish in garlic & peper (D) & tuna from the barbecue for (A) plus a cold bottle of Chardonnay made for a perfect evening looking out over the bay. As there is going to be a lot of R & R I will only record any highlights.

9th Jan Took the pick-up truck taxi to Bang Bao village to check out the straw huts on the beach that had seemed so appealing whilst in Cambodia- what a lucky escape that I had not taken Ann there on Sunday evening I think it would have ruined a beautiful relationship! So we explored the shops, restaurants & hotels along the stilted jetty that makes up the fishing village - "hello" came a call from BB Divers that we ignored thinking it was a ploy to recruit us only to discover it was Sabrina & Pedro a Dutch couple we first met at the airport in Luang Prabang, then in Halong Bay and more recently on Boxing Day in Sapa. They had been here about a week and reccommended there friends who we signed up with for a Discover Scuba day on Thursday 11th as they thought the weather was improving and visibilty would be better. Back to the resort and some more sunbathing. Ann took a stroll along the beach at sunset only to bump into Hannah a girl from London we met on the River Kwai who had arrived here on th 11th Dec on her way to Koh Samet and fell in love with the bay and stayed here since. She had spent her time taking a number of Padi scuba courses and working on the most fabulous suntan - she leaves fo Koh Samet on Saturday 13th. As the resort is fairly small it is also limited for entertainment but the bar across the road has a b****y lady boy serving drinks and a great little Thai guy who plays guitar and sings Pink Floyd and Eagles song with the R's & L's all muddled up - but who cares?

10th Jan Moved rooms again to one right on the beach were we think we will stay until it is time to leave - pure heaven great food plenty of sun & beer!!!!!!!!  Met a couple from Brum - Matt & Claire who were revisiting many off his old haunts as he had travelled the far east many times . Many beers and a relaxed dinner later they set off to store the bags before setting of for Siem Reap in the morning by mii bus that we have know learnt is a much quicker and cheaper way of getting to Koh Chang - hoo hum another lesson to remember  

11th Jan The dive school picked us up at 8:20 to take us to their office to get kitted out and meet our instructor Patrick before getting on the dive boat for a one & half hour trip to the small island of Ko Yak in the National Park. Along the way Patrick briefed us in what skills we had to master before we could set off for a dive around the reef. As we neared the sight we all got into our wet suits and were help with the heavy equipment to prepare us for the sea- one by one we all jumped off the boat for our first taste of scuba. As ther sea wa a little rough we headed for a shelter part of the island to start practicing the necessary skills and for me the moment of truth that scuba is not for me and in six years nothing has changed. I decided to give it a miss and returned to the boat leaving Ann to explore the reef with the others. 40 minutes later she returned elated from the experience and looking forward to her second dive after lunch to marvel at ther coral and brightly coloured fish of all shapes and sizes. Having carried on topping up the tan we got back to Bang Bao around 4pm and spent the evening there having dinner at The Bay restaurant - barbequed Red Snapper was delicous.  

12 Jan Lazy day on beach - massage in afternoon - dinner on deck what more can you want.