After a fairly hectic few weeks in Vietnam and Chiang Mai we decided to head for the island of Koh Chang for a bit of relaxation. 

Koh Chang is the second largest island in Thailand and is about 6 hours on the bus and ferry from Bangkok. Unlike most well known Thai islands it is actually to the east and closer to Cambodia. The name actually means elephant island, though it is thought this is more to do with the shape of the island than the number of elephants. 

We stayed at two different hotels over the two weeks. The first was at Lonely Beach which is increasingly unlike it’s name. However it is the hideout of several old hippies and even more pretend ones, usually gap year travellers. It is quite funny watching the gap year kids acting as if they’ve been cast into splendid isolation, rather than relying on wifi in every hotel, hostel and cafe to keep in touch via Skype and FaceTime with home. 

We then moved further north to Kae Bae beach. We discovered on the first night, as we sat by the beach eating, that there was an elephant camp nearby and the elephants came down to the beach for their evening wash and swim. They would then wander past us on their way back home, quite surreal!

Another wildlife phenomenon we witnessed on the beach, though on a much smaller scale, was the sand crabs. These tiny crustaceans, about the size of a 5p coin, burrow into the sand and push out tiny balls of sand. Doesn’t sound like much but when you have hundreds of them doing this they manage somehow to synchronise with each other and create the most intricate patterns across the beach. 

The two weeks were a mix of the beach, pool and sheltering from the last of the monsoon rains.