A Koh Chang four island trip is NOT the best of Thailand

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So today we were left to our own devices as we could decide what to do as there was nothing in the itinerary. I guess the idea is so that people can have at least one day to relax as every other day has been jampacked.

Relax....us? Claire was getting very angsty about us having nothing to see or do so we asked about things to do of our guide, Jeff. Andy and Helen decided to spend some time relaxing while us other four opted for the exciting sounding 'four island trip' thinking we'd be getting a chance to explore four islands.

But no.

We were picked up at 8.15 and then it was a lengthy drive up and down incredibly steep roads to get to our boat. The drive took almost an hour as we picked up more people along the way but we did get to see other areas. With Koh Chang being so hilly I'm not sure they do or could do much here apart from tourism and while it is not completely ruined like Kos it is still pretty bad.

The coast road on this side is mile after mile of tourist crap. From fancy hotels to a hippy's paradise, tattoo shops and zillions of restaurants and bars it's all pretty garish. It's not high rise which is good but it's the sort of place that someone called Giles would come and stay for a few months on Daddy's trust fund (Claire tells me they're called trustafarians apparently). They grow dreadlocks, party till dawn and then have to go back eventually to become bankers or solicitors. (Andy says I can put his name to this too as gap year trustafarians annoy him as he has had to work his whole life-he's glad he's not called Giles though)

Some of the places to stay were quite basic which is fine but does there really have to be so much litter strewn around? One pile of litter had attracted a few monkeys though so that was entertaining.

Anyway, we finally got to the end of the road journey and walked a couple of hundred yards to the pier. The pier starts with a ten minute walk (seriously!) full of stalls selling tourist tat and food. A further walk along the open bit of the pier and we were finally at our boat.

It was a big boat full of lots of people. Not a good start. They were playing some abhorrent, cheesy 80's soft rock pap. Things are getting worse. The crew are singing along. Maybe we should get off.

We should have done really. Sat on painful wooden benches we set out to sea and were given water and snorkelling gear. The crew were mainly there to flirt with young single ladies but did do some work inbetween.

We stopped at an island and got off to do some snorkelling whilst being told not to go near the island because of the sea urchins. Now whenever I've been snorkelling before the fish are beneath you, normally at least a few feet beneath you. Not here. There were loads of different fish in shoals of amazing colours and many of them were right at the surface. This was fantastic. For me.

Now imagine you don't like any creature without legs and those creatures are right beside you and swimming so close they almost touch. Claire wasn't having a good time, especially when the crew were throwing food into the water. I helped her back onto the boat and she stayed there while I carried on snorkelling and filming the fish using our underwater camera.

Back on the boat we queued up for food. The first stop was a guy who spooned the rice onto our plates then forked a piece of omelette on top which he took off the fork with his thumb and the held his thumb there....for far too long. Luckily there was other stuff to eat.

The next stop we could actually go ashore but all there was was a tiny little beach and it was far too hot to sit around. I helped Claire off the boat and she did manage to make it ashore. I was then feeding the fish out of my hands as thumbprint guy was chucking me rice balls to feed them. Great fun.

The next island wasn't much of an island but we moored there anyway. Claire stayed onboard while I snorkelled amongst fish that were up close and personal again. It really has been a good day for snorkelling. We were given a bit more food which Claire didn't fancy in case Thumby had been around it; the sweetcorn and watermelon was nice though.

The next stop we were able to go ashore to what looked like a more interesting island with a nature trail. Obviously we didn't have time to do that so we had a wander up the beach and took some photos. We'd gone ashore along a kind of floating pier. I've never seen the like before and can't think of words to describe it....you'll just have to wait for the pictures!

On the way back to Koh Chang we stopped off to feed some monkeys. These little rascals come down to the rocks each day as boats pull up and throw pineapple to them. There were quite a few of them running around catching and even swimming out for the food being thrown their way. Wonderful creatures and it even cheered Claire up. Slightly....

By the time we got back in our transport back to the hotel she was ranting about how rubbish the day had been. We should have checked what it involved as we'd rather have been off exploring and taking photos but some people like what we did today. We just won't be with them next time. The interior of Koh Chang looks really interesting so, if you do end up here for a day, see that instead.

We met back up with Jeff, Helen and Andy later and, once Claire had vented about our day to them, we were able to go out for a nice meal. The yellow curry I had was possibly the best meal of the holiday so far. We then went for the all important ice cream, took some pictures of the lightning.....well.....we tried.....and then retired for the evening.

So it wasn't the best of days but hey ho, tomorrow we are off to Bangkok!

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