Ko Chang

15th January – 22nd January

The effort in getting to Ko Chang was well worth it. After an incredibly crazy ride across the mountainous island (our Songthalew was carrying a record 14 people – good going even by Thai standards- including 10 lively French exchange students!) we arrived at Lonely Beach. As is the case with most Thai islands, Ko Chang has been well and truly “discovered”, and although Lonely Beach maintained true to its backpacker origins (versus the other resorts that were being developed as four and five star resorts) it was anything but “lonely”! Still, the beach was beautiful and we spent a whole week lazing around on the white sands and swimming in the crystal waters.

Each night, a party was to be found somewhere on the beach, so we had a few fun nights out involving buckets of Sangsom and fire limbo-ing (under poles saturated with petrol and set alight!). Our fears on how the Thai beaches were going to be saturated with really pissed college kids were allayed and we met loads of like-minded travellers who were enjoying the chilled vibe of the beach. The theme of the whole week infact seemed to run in the vein of the seven person rule (that everyone in the world knows someone that knows someone, within 7 links) – we met Zoe and Alyson first. Zoe worked with Emma Thornton (of Sweaty Betty) whilst at Jigsaw, and Alyson’s father was from Whitehaven! Later we met Ed who grew up with friends Tessa and Josh Williamson! Then Dave and Gill, Gill was from Carlisle!

It was hard to wrench ourselves away from the island, and we’d become quite settled in our (near) luxury bungalow with 7 foot bed and outdoor bathroom (the Lonely Beach resort, not really a ‘resort’ as such, just 8 bungalows in a row, recommended if ever you go), but we needed to get back to Bangkok to arrange an Indian Visa. Sam was also itching to go shopping and after all, we’d be back on the beaches after a few days…?!