We Were Up Early Again,

and off to Koh Chang,

 

 

 we had such a good time last week when we were there we decided to come back and explore the island some more, so we were picked up at 07.45 in the morning and made good time until,

 

the short failings of specialist fuels was brought home to us all, we filled up with LPG about 30 kilometres outside of Pattaya, then after making good time we had to refuel about 60 kilometres from the ferry, the problem was that only 3 of the refuelling 8 stations were operating, the queue of cars and trucks was almost into the road,

we arrived at the LPG station at 10.45, we left at 11.35, it took 50 minuets to fill up! last week we made the same trip with one tank of petrol, note to self, keep well clear of new fuels unless you stay in major cities,

 luckily speed was not of the essence, so a quick beer as we arrived at the ferry terminal,

 we had a short wait, the ferry was arriving in the distance,

 but not the same one as last week, it was coming in backwards!

 so it had to do a 180 degree turn,

 before docking,

 almost there,

 

 and there we are,

 so a walk to the ferry,

 and wait till it casts off,

 

 the ferry we were on last week,

 we were then away,

 'Cheers!',

 it must be busy as this was a third ferry making the crossing,

 

 Diana all smiles as we were going back,

 as we were going into harbour some of the fishing fleet were coming out,

 Diana and her Billingham bag,

 the boat was surprisingly full,

 

 the jetty in the distance,

 

 and then we were on dry land,

 everything has to brought over on the ferries, including fuel,
 

 this lorry had a bad start, stalled on the hill before the hill got really steep,

 we were soon on our way,

   but then hit a tailback,

 

 behind another lorry,

 so it was nose to tail up the hills,

 

 soon it was our turn to overtake on one of the many blind bends,

 only to catch up another lorry,

 

 and the queue formed again,

 the good news is that there is a road widening scheme in place,

 which is just as well as that was a bit close,

 back in the queue,

 then we were on our way down,

 as other lorries were on their way up,

 

 whilst the worry of a truck stalling on the way up and perhaps rolling back down towards us was over,

 

 there was always the thought that one behind us could have a brake failer and run us down!

 but all was well,

 

 we made it to our room in Paddy's Palms,

 the towels laid out as nicely as ever,

 this time we were on the second floor,

 so we could look over the swimming pool on the way to the ground floor,

 having checked we decided to make our way to the beach for a late lunch,

 

 and made our way to the far end of the beach to 15 Palms,

 looking towards the hill we had just come down,

 and towards town,

 we walked through the resort,

 past the big tree,

 and on to the beach,

 which looked deserted,

 we made our way along the beach looking at the various restaurants,

 until we found this one,

 if only I could remember what it was called,

 'Cheers!',

 Diana chose a coconut shake,

 our first course arrived, spring rolls,

 

 we moved to be out of the sun for our second course, tom yum goong soup,

 Diana's coconut shake looks over the beach,

 

 the sun was getting lower,

 

 our main course then arrived,

 chicken fried rice and tempura prawns,

 

 after our meal we decided to make a move back to the hotel,

 

 so on to the baht bus,

 and we were back to the hotel,

 we decided to take a dip in the pool, but I have to say that the water was so cold we decided against it,

 

 for our evening meal we strayed at Paddy's Palms, another coconut for Diana,

 and a beer for me, as we were not very hungry Diana ordered a massaman curry,

 

whilst I decided on a ploughman's, after our meal we sat outside, where it was colder than it was inside with the air-conditioning on, it really is that cold out here, well with that after chatting the evening away we were off to bed.