Another day in paradise

I'm sadly writing this from a town NOT on Koh Chang, where we've been for the past 5 days. We've finished our time there and have reached a state of depression due to the fact that we didn't want to leave and are already suffering from withdrawals. Only five hours after leaving. It is one of, if not THE, most beautiful places I've been to, and we had one of the best trips ever. And a lot of our wonderful time was due to fate. I will explain...

Geri and I had never been to Thailand, so we really had no idea what exactly to expect or where to stay when we reached Koh Chang, our first island destination. We crossed the border from Cambodia and entered a rainstorm pounding down on northeastern Thailand, so we were a bit concerned about the weather we would be faced with, and due to a slower than expected boat (yet again, I swear to never choose a boat as transport) we missed the ferry connection to the island, so we had to stay one night in Trat, the jumping off point on the mainland.

The next morning, we got in a taxi with about 7 other people. We all took the ferry over and when we arrived on the island, two of the guys in our taxi recommended an area to stay in where they had spent time before. So not knowing really anything, as we were just going to search for bungalows upon arrival, we took their advice.

The island ended up to be huge, and it took about 1/2 hour drive to get to Lonely Beach, the area the guys recommended. But it was perfect - exactly what we were looking for. Not too developed like other areas of the island, and a bit quieter with a little village of bungalows, cute bamboo bars, restaurants, etc. We found a bungalow resort that was picture perfect. And we fatefully got the last available bungalow. Close one. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for anything better - the hotel bar was a big hut on the beach, there was a beautiful restaurant area where you sit on the ground on pillows overlooking the beach where we ate every day, and everyone just was so happy there - the staff and the visitors. Totally relaxed. So we fit right in after our long, over-heated stay in Cambodia. We spent the next five days just lying out on the beach, going on an elephant trek (most of the island is a national park of jungle and mountains), eating amazing Thai food which we learned how to cook at a cooking class in the village, and hanging out with those two guys who we met on the taxi, who ended up to be so much fun and hilarious. Like the male equivalent of Geri and I - as we are both so much fun and hilarious. So you see how it was fate that we shared a taxi with those guys on that specific day who led us to the best part of the island and then ended up to be our good friends there?

The weather was perfect, there were dogs running around on the beach hanging out with all the vacationers, it felt like living a dream. And unfortunately now it is done. BUT, we have two more islands to go to before heading out of Asia, so hopefully they will not disappoint, but it will be tough to top Koh Chang.