Abi & Dave

View from our room!

We were lucky enough to start our time with Abi and Dave by staying at the KC Grande on Koh Chang. What a beautiful hotel it is and spending the day at the roof top pool is just perfect. This was Abi's first trip to Thailand and Dave's first foray into eastern Thailand. I don't think it could have started any better. We really like White Sands beach area, there are things to do without it being mental though it's sad that the Jungle Queen bar has closed loved the resident band that played there.


We didn't eat much in the way of lunch as there's so much choice at breakfast we weren't really hungry of course ice-cream is different. Since our last visit, there's a new converted VW combi-van cocktail bar. The guys are very friendly and there's access to a sit down toilet, so don't worry that it's parked on the main road. They use real alcohol I know that sounds strange but in a lot of places the bottles look real but they're often filled with wanna be contents so the drinks are awesome and reasonably priced at 150 baht roughly AUD£6 / GBP£3 / USD£4 / EUR4. Dave took a shine to their Long Island Iced Tea bucket and who can blame him.

Having spent three lovely nights on Koh Chang, Abi & Dave headed of for three nights on Koh Kood. To be honest I was a bit jealous as I've been wanting to go there the snorkeling is meant to be good but we just haven't managed it. Meanwhile, we headed back to Chanthaburi like Cinderella.

We had a lovely time showing them around town yes, including the lake at 6pm. We even headed to Maneechan Resort for a lovely lunch and an afternoon by the pool. Well, it was all going brilliantly until the storm clouds gathered and we figured we best get a wriggle on. Of course Abi & I headed to the changing rooms, found the hot showers complete with toiletries and the hair dryers so we might have taken a bit longer than we ought to. Anyway, half way home the heavens opened and we all got a bit wet on the motorcycles. Well, its all an adventure isn't it?

And all too soon, it was time for them to leave. I really can't express in words how thrilled we both are that people take the time and put in the effort to come and visit us. It was lovely to meet Dave who was very patient as I struggled with his south London accent and I've known Abi since she was in high school she feels more like a sister than a cousin. The good news is, it won't be three years before we meet up again.

If you'd like information on where you can eat whilst staying in White Sands, look here

Leon II

The excitement had not diminished any just because this was the second time Leon had visited us. Although the reunion was a bit surreal as he arrived in Bangkok the day before I returned from Australia. This meant he ended up becoming very familiar with a certain Starbucks near Ekkamai whilst Mr John met me at the airport *.  I thought it was lovely that, on this visit, Mr John was on holiday making it easier to spend some quality time together.

We had so much to fit in, it was pretty full on in the first few days. So it was Wednesday when we headed back to Chanthaburi and on Thursday, after a trip to immigration which I'll tell you about another time we took off for Koh Chang. We stayed at the Alina Grand Hotel & Resort. They use the terms loosely and I wouldn't recommend it, so I'll say no more! Regardless, we had a good time hanging round the pool, eating, drinking and generally catching up. 

In fact we even managed to catch up with Lisa & Gordon, friends who live in Bangkok. This may not sound that amazing but Leon, Lisa and Mr John went to high school together. What a weird and wonderful world it is.

On their advice, we headed to Nong Bua Seafood at Whitesands you'll find it on the main drag just look out for the sign. It is a fantastic place, very, very reasonably priced. There are no "airs and graces" you get served, you eat, you leave. There's a lot of seafood on display out the front that you can point at and choose if you're not comfortable with the menu and there's such high turnover, the seafood is fresh it's always a concern here that it's been sitting in the baking sun all day. 

Of course part of the reason Leon left his visit until April was to check out Songkran and I don't think he was disappointed. It really is like being a little kid. As usual sleepy Chanthaburi was rocking and quite literally this year. We met up with Roy and his "posse" at the lake and were given a very Thai welcome with the whiskey flowing and the band rocking out the country music. We were invited in because Mr John had worked with one of the guys at a previous school.

I don't think I've told you before but there is a shop by the lake where you can purchase all you "country" related gear Stetsons, cowboy boots I kid you not. There was also some lovely food being passed around and a guy working the barbecue tirelessly it was also lovely to have a sit down. 

Of course no trip for Leon would be complete without some quality time with the legend that is Pii Kob. We'd seen him a little bit but then got to have a lovely lunch at a new for us place just out of town. The food was really good and a lot of laughter shared. But all too soon it was time to head back to Bangkok for a bit more sight seeing before Leon had to leave.

We love having him here and we're hoping it won't be his last trip. Who knows, maybe next time we can take in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. As always though, we are so grateful to people who make the effort to come see us and bring us chorizo!!

* you can get a bus back to Chanthaburi from the airport but it's hit and miss whether there are enough seats. The easiest bus terminal for the eastern parts of Thailand is Ekkamai (because it's on the east side of Bangkok) and rather than drag Leon back and forth on his first full day we thought it best to let him relax a bit

Artist's Place

So as I've previously mentioned, Mr John did sterling work in securing us accommodation in Trat the night before we left for Koh Mak.  He's signed up to Agoda (who we've had some seriously good deals through this year) and received an email about this place.



It's only been open since last year and it's a little calm, cool oasis amid the town of Trat.  There's a lovely water feature that seems to instantly calm you.  Not to fear that you're out of the way though.  It's very well located with only a 10 minute walk to either the day or the night market. 

Our room had air-conditioning but because there's no fly-screen in the window or door, they provide a mosquito net for you to sleep under.  Breakfast was perfectly adequate and included in our 700 baht ( roughly GBP£10 / AUD$23) rate.  The owner speaks reasonable English and was very welcoming.

If you turn right when you come out of the hotel and walk about 100 metres, you'll come across Oscar's Bar on a corner.  The owner Sal, makes a fantastic Pad Tai and drinks are reasonably priced and suitably varied.  You can recognise the bar building because it will say "laundry service" on a sign at the back and at the other end of this building is the bar.

We'll definitely stay here again, should the need arise.

Koh Chang

As you'll know, it was the Kings Birthday on Thursday.  This meant that it was a national holiday.  Mr John decided to take Friday off as well and so we went off to Whitesands resort on Koh Chang for three heavenly nights.  The ferry ports on both the mainland (Trat) and the island are really pretty with the colour of the water and beautiful blue skies.

We stayed again at the KC Grande as we'd had such a good time there in September for my birthday.   It was great to see all the Christmas decorations up in reception.

We had a good sized room and it was very handy to the restaurant for breakfast.  Last time we stayed, we were in the building across the road with the roof top pool and we made use of the pool again as the main one was a little busy.

One of the best things for us going here is the food that you can get and some of the bars in the area.  We especially like La Dolce Vita Italian.  The owner is from Milan and the food is excellent.  Not only that but the house wine is not at all bad.  Mr John really enjoyed the Tiramisu!!  We also like having a quiet drink at the 15 Palms because you can sit in beanbags and look out to sea, including some lovely moonlight reflecting on the water - dead romantic!

We had a fantastic time and Mr John also had Tuesday off as it's Constitution Day here.  Speaking of which, the Kings birthday brought some welcome relief to the protests in Bangkok and the Prime Minister has said there will be an election as soon as possible. 

Koh Chang

As Mr John had booked a day off, we took the opportunity to head to Koh Chang for a break and boy am I glad we did.  The weather was great and the accommodation and location were ideal.  We decided on the slightly busier area of White Sands beach this time and picked the KC Grande to stay in.  The resort is split by the main road and we were on the land side but felt we had the better deal.

Our hillside Jacuzzi room

Although not right on the beachfront, we pretty much had the roof top pool to ourselves and the views were amazing.

Our building also contained a water slide and..well...you just have to don't you.  Actually it was a little scary.  Started off ok but by the time you got round the last bend you were hurtling towards the not so deep pool - about 1.4m.  I was screaming coming round the last bend and Mr John confessed later he thought I was being "a bit of a girl" until he went on it too!!  Laughed myself silly.

Mr John, a mad rugby fan, requested a visit to Paddys Palms Irish Pub to watch Australia play South Africa - though the less said about that the better (for those that don't know Australia lost).  We also ate there having a great Steak & Ale pie and when we went back the next day to watch the Australian (Rules) Football League elimination final (yes, my team lost as well so not a good sporting weekend), I enjoyed a roast lamb dinner while Mr John opted for the cooked breakfast.  I haven't eaten so many carbs in months - awesome!

As if that wasn't enough we also ate at La Dolce Vita restaurant and whilst the setting wasn't vey nice, back off the main road weird buildings around, the food and service was fantastic.  Very happy food bunnies!

Koh Chang

We've just had a fabulous long weekend at the Koh Change Paradise resort.  Koh Change is, I believe, the second biggest island in Thailand and is near the Cambodian border. To get there, we rode to the bus station to get a mini-bus but there wasn't one, so instead we took a taxi which took about an hour to get to the ferry terminal.  The ferry takes 25 minutes to get to the island and once there, you have to be quick to get into a shared taxi with various drop-offs and for us, this took about another 25 minutes.  The centre of the island is quite mountainous and going up and down the hill in an open taxi is quite an experience.  If you can open your eyes long enough, the views are spectacular!

We save about a third of Mr John's wages every month - and pretty much blew the lot on this weekend.  It was so worth it.  Mr John booked us a beach villa with its own pool.  Because it's rainy season it cost a third of what it would during the dry - which really helped.

Paradise Resort sits on Klong Prau beach.  As you come out of the resort and turn left, there are quite a few shops including a small Tesco Lotus for any last minute forgotten things.  Before you get to Louts, there's a coffee shop - Marin - which does good coffee though a little pricier than we are used to.  Behind Marin is a little cocktail bar called The Malibu Bar.  The owners are very friendly - even before they found out Mr John had taught their eldest daughter last year!  They play reggae music and, whilst I'm not a huge fan of this genre, it provides a very relaxed atmosphere in which to enjoy a cocktail or two.

Past the Lotus, on your right, is an avenue of shops which contains an Italian restaurant called I buoni a nulla.  We found the food to be excellent and discovered afterwards its currently rated 2 of 120 odd restaurants on Koh Chang by Trip Advisor.  They sold red wine in a half litre carafe which was perfectly good quaffing wine.  It was a rare treat as we haven't drunk wine since we arrived three months ago.  Again, the owners were very friendly and hailed from Milan.  Mr John didn't know whether to ask for the bill in Thai, Italian or English!

So instead of moving in permanently, which we wanted to, we headed back to Chanthaburi.  Mr John still had another day of holiday but he didn't want to arrive back and go straight into school next day.  As it turns out, we could have stayed an extra day as the school is closed today due to the flooding in the town.  We're OK at the minute and I'm hoping there's not another "News Alert" post required.  The river is very high but we're keeping our fingers crossed.  In the meantime I have a very happy teacher at home who is messing with my daily routine!