Paul and Tracy's Main Blog

Wednesday dawned bright and early. 6 o'clock to be precise, as the workmen arrived to continue their work on the building site next door, where the underground car park used to be. Unlike building sites in the UK, though, there were no generators or heavy machinery involved, just men with hand tools, and so we were able to simply turn over and go back to sleep. Which we did, getting up at a very lazy hour of 9am, before heading downstairs for breakfast. Eating noodles and fried rice with chillies for breakfast didn't seem that odd, especially when accompanied with a freshly cooked omelet and washed down with a good strong cup of Thai coffee.

After breakfast we arranged for our taxi to the airport and paid to use the hotel's Internet in order to update the blog with yesterday's news, which we did whilst sat in the shaded bar outside the hotel, whilst enjoying a cool bottle of coke (not beer, it was just a little too early...). We then tried, unsuccessfully to arrange for a pick-up at Trat airport to take us to the resort on Koh Chang, before checking out and heading back to the airport.

Which is where we're now sat, in the Bangkok Airways lounge, taking full advantage of their power supply to write this, but with no Internet access, I'll have to wait until later to upload it. Our flight to Trat leaves in about an hour, and once there we'll have some fun trying to get to the resort without getting scammed. But in just a few hours we'll hopefully be sat on the beach, enjoying a few more cold beers...

All aboard the magic bus...

Ok, so it's not magic, but it was a bus, and it took us to the plane for the flight to Trat. I don't think Tracy's been on a plane as small as this since Pete flew us up to the Lakes to celebrate our wedding... Cosy, but very pretty...





The flight itself was uneventful, out of Bangkok and to the very edge of the Gulf of Thailand, then skirting the coast with grand vistas of marshland below, and a tuna sandwich and cup of orange juice in front, with only the in-flight magazine to occupy my idle mind... But the landing was much more interesting. Trat airport gets my vote as the prettiest airport I've ever been to, with manicured gardens spelling out “TRAT”accompanied by thatched-roofed terminal buildings with no walls and no menacing security guards, whilst out front families of topiary elephants grazed for the tourist cameras against a backdrop of forested mountains... simply stunning...





We joined the queue of expectant travellers to book our minibus to the resort whilst the baggage handlers wheeled a small trolley laden with tired rucksacks to where the carousel should have been and unloaded the bags onto the wooden floor ready for collection. Booking the minibus was as easy as remembering the name of the resort and once lightened by the princely sum of 1,600Baht (about 30 quid) we made our way to air-conditioned comfort in a minibus filled with expectant couples, like us, eager to get to paradise... A short journey later and we were unloaded onto the deck of the ferry to Koh Chang, which was bustling with westerners of all nationalities, shapes and sizes, but mostly young and busy chatting, drinking and smoking and looking for all the world like they've spent their entire lives without a care, travelling with little or no sense of purpose, or even perspective. Whilst we crave even short holidays to get a break from the stress of daily existence, worn down by years of mundanity, they wander round this paradise looking for the next party. Bastards. I'm jealous. But only of their youth. My time is coming, very soon...





Once off the ferry the minibus wound its way up the meandering road up and down hugging the mountains close to the sea, before dropping off the first passenger at a tired and run-down looking resort. Back on the road again, hoping that we weren't going to hit or get hit by either the large pick-up trucks that double as taxis, laden with backpackers hanging out of the sides like dogs panting from car windows, or the millions of scooters swarming past, their riders either red-skinned tourists trying to look cool, or beautiful young thai girls succeeding. We managed, and dropped of the other passengers two-by-two at resorts that looked much more like the brochures until we were the only two left, and then we turned off the road at a sign for our resort – Siam Bay Resort – down a very steep and winding road and stopped outside a grubby looking building with surly locals staring at us with “you looking at my pint” eyes. Not quite what we were expecting. The lodges by the sea to the left of the 'reception' area looked run down, with faded tin roofs and cock-eyed wooden balconies. To the right were some new villas, still being built, although thankfully not now. And then a row of small, squat white bungalows, behind which loomed a large apartment block. We'd arrived. We checked in and the bell-boy, who fancied himself as a Thai Rod Stewart, heaved our bag onto his back and showed us the way. Bungalow 113. Right on the beach. Large twin beds, air conditioning, a shower out the back under what looks like a greenhouse, toilet, TV, fridge and safe. Home. And with the sun starting to set right outside the window, above the island opposite an idyllic white-sanded beach. Things were starting to look up...





No time to shower, we need a photo of the sunset. And a beer. Or two. Bottled Singha from the fridge whilst sitting in the fading sunlight listening to the gentle roll of the waves as the tide comes in, watching the small fishing boats bob up and down. Breathe deep. And Relax. Perfect...

Dinner was better than the surroundings suggested, but then again, isn't it always? Tom Yam soup, suitably spicy, followed by deep fried fish in sweet chilli and chicken pad thai, with perfect steamed rice. Sometimes you need to look beyond the cover to find a good book...

Back at the bungalow, fed and rested, relaxed and contented, we feel into a deep sleep, the hum of the air conditioner and the crash of the waves vying for our attention and filling our dreams. Until 12.30pm, when we both woke for no reason, and neither of us could get back to sleep, so we dozed and chatted until 2.30am, when I finally turned off the air-conditioner and fell asleep to the sound of the waves lapping the shore just yards from my bed...