We arrived on the island of Koh Chang on 9th December and as soon as we got there we knew that it was the place where we would be happy to spend Christmas and New Year 2013.

We dropped our backpacks at Sea Breeze bungalows in a little village called Kai Bae and immediately headed for the beach.

Everything you have ever seen in any brochure or postcard about the beaches of Thailand is absolutely authentic and true; searing heat, white sands, clear azure waters, beaches fringed with palm trees, Thai ladies offering massages under the trees, beach huts with palm leafed roofs selling tropical fruit drinks and cocktails on the beach and wooden swings that dangle from palm trees into the sea ...it was all there!!..The sun was going down and we sat on a tree branch and watched the first of what would be many beautiful sunsets on Koh Chang....absolute heaven...

That evening we walked into a bar that had a big screen showing a rock concert, a small stage set up with guitars and amplifiers and it was there that we met the best character ever. Geoff, a 48 year old graphic artist, with fab dreadlocks, piercings and tattoos, a fantastic singer and bongo player with a lust for everything that life can throw at him, hilariously funny with boundless energy and as we watched him running about with a little 4 year Thai boy (Timmy, who lives at the bar) on his shoulders and dancing with Timmy standing on his feet, we could see he had a very kind, soft and gentle side. Over the next few days we found ourselves migrating towards Geoff whenever we were at the bar and I am happy to say that over the next few weeks Ray, Geoff and I shared a lot of silliness and became friends. He's definitely one of lifes good guys and definitely needs a mention in this blog!

The owner of the bar was a Dutch guy called Mouse (spelt Maus) he was a loud , brash and quirky fella and sometimes we weren't sure how to take his humour but he wasn't scared of giving out 'free beer for everybody at the bar' and jamming with guitars until the wee small hours so we ended up having quite a social time at the Backstage bar and it kind of became our local.

Koh Chang is basically one long road around the island and along the way there are various villages and resorts. When we were in Australia, Kev and Leslie had told us to track down a friend of theirs in White Sands beach called 'Thor'.

Thor is a very lovely lady boy but we think that 'ladyboyness' must run in his family. We mopeded down to White Sands and found 'Thors Place'; a lovely little beach side restaurant. Ray spotted a guy who looked like he could be 'Mr Thor' but when he asked him the guy said, in a very effeminate voice..

"No, Thor..she's my bruther and I solly but she's no well".....

Well can you imagine the straight faces and stifled laughter that ensued!!....

We ordered a very tasty curry (that went on to give me serious tummy ache due to its spicyness) and chatted with 'Thors' lovely bro complimenting him on their beautiful restaurant and left. We never did meet 'Thor' but he is obviously from a wonderfully colourful and flamboyant stock and as we waved goodbye we heard the brother say...'Thor, she say sank u, sank so'much'....and he 'wai'd us a thousand times as we sped out of sight...totally gorgeous!

On one of the evenings we met three guys; Steve and Dave (both from Bristol, Dave works in Bangkok) and Stefan (from Germany). Once again these fab guys had very silly sense of humors and were fantastic raconteurs, causing us achy faces and achy stomach muscles from laughing so much. That night after a few bottles of Chang (Thai lager) we decided to hire mopeds in the morning and zip about the island together.

So the next morning the five hells angels headed off on 50cc moped hogs... easy rider stylee!! First stop a Chinese temple then onto a firing range!!.. Everyone apart from Dave and I got excited about this. The firing range was equipped with an array of deadly weapons from Magnums to machine guns and for a few Baht you could pick any seriously dangerous firearm and shoot at targets in the sea or at metal people on the beach front...

Ray and Steve chose a rifle and shot some clay pigeons. I have to admit I was quite impressed when Ray hit 3 out of 5 bright orange pigeons. Not bad considering he'd never used a proper gun before!! Stefan decided to shoot a meaty assault rifle which was an absolutely terrifying weapon which made a deafening 'clang' as it hit the lined up metal people targets. Never really understood why you'd want to shoot a person metal or otherwise?? While we were watching the lads, a couple of other people turned up; a scary looking, heavily tattoo'd and very much pierced beefy British bulldog of a guy with his Phillipino girlfriend to have a go with the lethal weapons and I couldn't help thinking that for all we knew they could be any ol loonies, with a penchant for guns and a twitchy trigger finger???...needless to say I was quietly relieved when we left.

Stefan had found a dirt track which lead down to a secret beach with some magnificent views of the little surrounding islands so he led and we followed. I don't recommend taking a small clapped out moped 'off road'. The bikes were slipping, bumping, revving and skidding all over the place and when we reached a bridge and a road that had both collapsed leaving just a few planks of wood over a sheer drop I felt it was best to err on the side of caution and turn back. But the boys didn't stop so in 'typical Lor' behaviour I carried on over the non-exsistant bridge too. I was a bit wobbly (more than usual!) on the thin wooden slats but am happy to report I made it!! Our little bit of off roading paid off when we reached the secret beach. There was no one else there apart from a couple of hippies under the trees and what looked like an old abandoned bar. We all went for a dip in the beautifully warm water and headed back to the bikes with the idea of drying off on the ride home but half way back we noticed that there was a person at the abandon bar and they were selling 'Chang'...yay!...we only had one as we still had to negotiate the rocky terrain and broken bridge on the way back but it was most welcome in the heat!

We drove back to Kai Bae at twilight dodging the mozzies that were trying to fly into our smiling mouths, had showers then regrouped at a tree house restaurant on the beach called 'Porn's'. (that's the name of the owner...nothing naughty going on!)

We all sat in our tree house, again watching the little green lights of the prawn fishing boats on the horizon until till the wee small hours, drinking Porn's cocktails, smoking shisha pipes (don't worry they were just apple and mint flavours, no tobacco or anything illegal!) telling stories, thinking up crazy inventions to make us rich, listening to Steve's outrageous stories about his previous life as a professional dancer and falling about with laughter...it was a fantastic day..

We spent many similar nights with the lads, sharing Mohito buckets and silly stories until they had to leave Koh Chang and go back to their real lives. We all got on so well that Ray and I missed them and felt it just wasn't going to be the same place without them...really hope we meet them again one day.

Back at the bar, we met some more wonderful characters Rob and Liz from Belgium and the gorgeous Margo who bounded in full of excitement one night having finally passed her diving (PADI) course, I've never seen anyone so ecstatic!!.. Huge achievement for her... Margo and I nattered about life, kids, travelling and I felt I'd known her for ages. Just lovely, like-minded people.

So we decided to stay put on the island until New Year and just enjoy chillin out in paradise........again!! ... Mmmm we seem to be making a habit of this!!!