After Bangkok we made our way our to Koh Chang via taxi, bus, ghetto bus, ferry and another ghetto bus (I think they're called sangthiews in Thai and are basically buses with no windows that have two benches in the back to for about 10 people, usually managing 20).

Koh Chang, translated to Elephant Island, is a beautiful tropical island with white sandy beaches and palm trees being overlooked by a lush forested interior which in turn is filled with lots of wildlife and natural waterfalls.

We arrived at our hostel, Magic Garden, where we were greeted on Sam and Cats balcony with a cold bottle of Chang beer. We then checked out our accommodation, a wooden hut complete with thatched roof, double bed, mosquito net, a selection of wildlife, an outdoor bathroom and a balcony complete with hammock......all for 400 thai baht (about £8.50). After dropping off our, now much lighter, backpacks (thanks parents) we exchanged our presents with the guys, pants for Cat and Sam and palm oil, a bracelet and a sling shot for me and Adds :)

Eventually we went out for a feed, a natter and a good old fashioned knees up which involved dancing on some huge speakers on the beach until the early hours, followed by our usual post party night time swim! Three flip flops and a necklace managed to dissapear this time! I'd love to come across the magical land where all the lost/abandoned flip flops go, and I'd beat up all the little flip flop stealing Thai elves!

Over the following few days we spent our time sunbathing and eating our way around the island. One of those days we hired two kayaks and paddled out to a remote island for some snorkelling and swimming in the beautiful, calm, turquoise waters.

Yesterday, we came across a family of cheeky monkeys (literally), rummaging through someones stinky rubbish bin. Three were digging through the crap and passing anything of monkey value to a family member who was sat on the trees behind, then another two relatives kept watch from the top of a pylon! Funny little b*****s.

Anyway, we ended up spending a total of 6 nights on the island and had some of the most incredible sunsets we have seen (bar Fiji).

Now we are on our way to Cambodia, so far we got picked up at 7am by a minibus and were transferred to the pier for a cargo ferry to Trat on the mainland of Thailand. The minibus then took 4 hours to get to a dodgy hotel where our passports disspeared and we were ushered onto the bus once again. The driver stopped on the way to the Thai border and reappeared along with our passports, complete with Cambodian visas that we'd been ripped off for (by £4 only though ha ha). The Thai geezer passed us onto a Cambodian geezer who led us through hours of border, immigration and healthcare checkpoints. Turns out we were better off being ripped off as everybody else had loads of hassle for their paperwork not being correct. Me and Adds were then separated from the rest of our group and put on a rickety old bus then dispatched at yet another bus station and loaded onto a busy 'coach' (read battered old bus that for some odd reason smells like rosemary!!!!!). So here we are, everyone is shouting in a variety of different languages and little Cambodian men are asking random people for more money.....however we have a small pink sticker!! which apparently means we've already paid, fair enough. People are getting on, then off, then back on and either shouting or just looking uttery confused.

Think the bus is full now, which is what we've been waiting for for the last hour sooooo, let's see if we get from Poipot to Siem Reap before the end of the week, the journey should take 5 hours but I no longer believe anything that a bus driver/tour guide tells me! Adds to the excitiment anyway.

Will let you know when or indeed if we arrive. Roll on Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat yippee!

Lots of love guys

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