...You join us in hot n steamy Bangkok, about to leave the city...

We decided that after the madness that is Bangkok, we needed somewhere to relax and chill out. We chose Ko Chang, which we would later discover means elephant island, a mountainous, jungle covered island a few hours from Bangkok.

But before leaving Bangkok we met up with my (Marc's) cousin Alick again. He took us for a nice meal and then on to a blues bar, where we consumed a whole day's budget on alcohol whilst listening to a great band. Top night - thanks Alick!

At 7:30 the next day we left Bangkok with sore heads, but glad to be escaping the maelstrom. We boarded a 50 seater coach. Surprisingly this wasn't like the pictures we'd been shown of the type of bus Lady GaGa might use to go on tour in. Instead it was more the kind of bus that Slade might have gone on tour in during their heyday. But, despite its age, it was air conditioned and we had plenty of room to stretch out as their were only 2 other passengers. Following rides in the back of 2 old pick up trucks (which double as local taxis) and a nice cool voyage on the good ship rustbucket we arrived at our hotel on Ko Chang.

Luckily our hotel exceeded all expectations, nestling between jungle and sea. There were 2 pools - one overlooking the beach and one nestling in the jungle - and our room was very luxurious, not at all backpackerish!

Straight away we saw loads of wildlife - butterflies, frogs and lizards and were later joined at the pool by a snake. We even got to feed the monkeys that come down from the jungle to into the grounds were the staff lived.

Most of our time on the island was very relaxing. But on the final day we went on an elephant trek into the jungle. We sat on a seat on the elephants back with our mahout riding on the elephant's neck. These amazing creatures can go just about anywhere. It was relaxing once we got used to the swaying motion. We arrived at a river and disembarked (or whatever you do with an elephant). The highlight of the trip was washing the elephant in the river and riding her back ourselves with the mahout walking along beside.

We're also loving some of the new fruit we've discovered. Durian are indescribeable, but great. Rambutan are juicy and hairy but too much like hard work. And there are some lovely, tiny, sweet grapefruit-like things which grow in a bunch. We don't even know what they're called, but they're mighty good.

We've just arrived in Cambodia. Our journey here and what we do will be our next entry.

Hope everyone is well. It's good to hear your comments here or via Liz's Facebook.

Marc & Liz