As it seemed easier and a similar price to trekking across Bangkok and getting a public bus, Nige, Annie and I caught a mini-bus which went directly from Khao San Road to Ko Chang, the island down near the Cambodian border where we had decided to spend the week. Big mistake!!! After the journey, which takes 2-hours longer than they advertise, stopped at every commission-paying establishment along the way, we were deposited for an hour at a dirty little restaurant near the pier opposite Ko Chiang, where we finally gave in, ordered some food...and were served rotten prawn soup - so lucky we didn't have colds or something!!! She was not the least bit worried about it when we pointed it out to her and still charged us double the going rate. We probably should have refused to pay, but sometimes it all seems a bit hard. Still, at least we weren't taken in by her claim that if we bought the return boat-ticket from her now for 80 Baht we'd save 30 Baht. (The return ticket on the big car-ferry only cost 30 Baht, including a seong-tow (shared taxi-truck) into town!!!)) Still, after the wet and choppy trip on the little boat, over-packed with tourists (the savvy locals were all safe and dry on the car-ferry!), everything was great! The boat was met by the official seong-tows who run a regular service around the island (in lieu of buses) and we were taken to Kai Bae, the lovely beach recommended by a couple who were in our seong-tow, Jenny and Tim, who'd been to Ko Chiang a couple of years earlier. We checked into KB Bungalows, lovely little bungalows (with verandahs and ensuites) on the beach - at 400 Baht (about £7), a bit more expensive than we've been used to - but hey, after 3 months of full-on budget accommodation, we figured we could treat ourselves! Ko Chang is the largest of about 50 islands which make up the Ko Chang National Park. It is very pretty but it's probably its laid-back atmosphere that makes it so attractive. So saying, I think we probably came about 2 years too late - it's not Ko Samui (Thailand's answer to Ibiza or Bali) but it's getting there! The next morning, after a bit of an explore of our beach, we made our way up to White Sands, the original and most developed beach, where all the bars and shops are. We did a bit of shopping (mostly Annie, who came with an empty suitcase and a mission to acquire a whole new wardrobe!) and then headed down for a cocktail on the beach. We found a cute little bar with tables on the beach, had a few beers and a few games of pool and met a mad British couple who were living in Thailand, teaching English. We ended up having a brilliant night - we had a huge bbq-seafood feast, getting special attention all night as they both spoke Thai, which is obviously incredibly appreciated by the tourist-weary locals, and then headed off to a tiny little bar that the English guys had stumbled on a few nights before, which is mostly frequented by male clientele (if you know what I mean) and were entertained all evening by the big girl behind the bar with an incredibly contagious laugh, who was pretty happy to see some female faces, I think, and pulled out the jenga and challenged us to a game. Then she showed us how to make a penis out of a bar-towel. It was an educational night. Later in the week, to have a proper look around the island, we decided to hire scooters for a day. Annie and Nige had talked me into (and actually got me pretty excited about) having a go on my own scooter...I said I'd have a little try first...I think I would have been fine if it wasn't for the stupid basket - unlike a bicycle they don't turn when you turn the handle and so I kept panicking and oversteering and running off the road. I resigned myself to getting on the back of Nige's scooter. The hire-guy, Nige and Annie sighed a collective sigh of relief. So off we set. It was also Annie's first time on a scooter (but she's been driving for 10 years, in my defense!!!) and she did amazingly well on the fairly mountainous roads. However (sorry Annie, but it's too funny not to share!) when we turned off the main road to go out to a see a little fishing village - Annie took the lead on the little dirt road. We were ambling along quite happily when a big patch of mud came up ahead. After our honda-adventure in Chiang Rai, Nige and I both knew that you have to slow right down in the mud to stay stable. Annie, however, had no such knowledge and with the honourable intention of not getting sprayed with water, hit the accelerator and flew sideways, bike dropping flat in the mud! Annie, however, somehow managed to jump off the bike, over the mud and land (on her feet) in the grass on the side of the road. The bike was fine and so was Annie... after a quick fag! One of the draws of Ko Chang is the amazing reefs off its shore so we spent a day doing a boat-trip that visits a few islands and reefs and provides snorkeling gear and lunch. It was just as beautiful as promised, with thousands of fluorescent fish and coral, and, considering that this is the time of year with the lowest visibility, you could see about 20 meters down! There was a slight hitch when the old boat engine didn't start again after lunch, but in typical Thai style they laughed, shrugged and ran us out to the nearest island, telling us they'd let us know when they'd fixed it. It really wasn't a problem - after snorkeling for a while, we relaxed on the pure white sands of our own little island! They got the engine going again and we headed to another reef. Annie and I had had enough for one day and had a little snooze in the shade, but Nige went back in for another couple of hours. By the evening, poor Nige was feeling exhausted and unwell and went to bed early. When we woke up it was clear there was something wrong - he was burning up with fever - but shivering and his speech was blurred. I was scared it may be malaria, so ran up to the nearest internet cafe to look it up. It was heatstroke. I had heard of it obviously, but hadn't realized how serious it is. Your body literally gets cooked, and forgets how to sweat to cool you down. Your body then gets hotter and hotter, thinking that you're actually cold. It can even be fatal. The people at the bungalows were amazing and arranged to get Nige to a clinic, and the doctor there instructed me how to look after him. So for the 5 days, I was sponging Nige down every 3 hours and forcing him to make him lie under a fan to try and remind his body how to sweat - torture when you feel like you're freezing! Annie left to go home, the days went by and he slowly got better. It was very scary time but eventually he began to sweat again and then he was slowly able to eat solid food and in about a week felt well enough to leave the bungalow. By the time Nige was fully recovered we were a long way behind schedule - we had booked a flight out of Siam Reap in Cambodia so now had only a week left to see Cambodia!