Monday,

we were up early,

 and in the mini bus,

 going up Thappraya Road,

,

 to Jomtien,

 to one of the View Talay condominiums to pick up more travelers to Koh Chang,

 we woke up one of the local cats we were that early,

 

 one more pick up at a hotel just off of the Sumkivitt Road,

 and we were off on holiday!

 first stop for some LPG,

 and a early morning coffee,

 our trusty mini bus, here is a small tip, make a note of the mini buses number when you get out, theses things travel in packs, there is nothing more embarrassing than getting back in the bus to find out it is not yours!

 the downside of using a mini bus that uses LPG is that the tanks are so small it takes 2 stops to keep filling them up,

 and LPG stations are so few and far between it takes an age for your bus to be filled,

 second stop for another coffee,

 but this stop was really nice as it had a water feature,

 with lots of nice big koi carp,

they also sold large coffees,

 nearly there,

 and here we are, arrived at the ferry terminal where we were immediately recognized by the lady at the reception desk,

 the ferry ties up,

 and we are nearly the first on board,

 up the loading ramp,

 a quick pose at the top,

 and a look at where we are going,

 at side of the ferry a few small boats,

 and a now disused passenger ramp,

 all aboard for the skylark!

 'Cheers!',

 not sure where this goes,

 then we are underway,

leaving the mainland behind,

 beers all round,

 one of the ferry's making the return journey,

 the sign says it all,

 finish the beer,

 as we are almost there,

 and time to disembark, 

 the good news about this trip is that the mini bus stayed with us, previously we had carry on the luggage upstairs on the boat then board a different mini bus on the island, but on this occasion the mini bus traveled with us,

 I know I have mentioned this before,

 but you have to be out here to really appreciate,

 how steep,

 and twisty the roads really are,

and when you overtake on a blind bend you need nerves of steel!

once at the top just as you think things are fine,

the descent begins,

as sharp and twisty as it was on the way up,

it is just as bad,

on the way down,

nearly there,

and here we are at the reception area at the rear of Paddy's Palms,

our room which was 1,300 baht a night had a double and single bed,

as we left our room to the left at the end of the corridor,

is the swimming pool,

after a shower and change, we meet in the bar,

and well stocked it was too,

we decided to go to the beach, we walked past the hotel next door, 

and along the road that runs parallel to the beach,

we made our way past the travel booth where we will be buying our tickets for our up coming boat trip to the islands,

one of the many beach front hotels,

and this is where we will be eating later, the Indian Hut,

the local Tesco Lotus, it is almost just like being back in Pattaya,

there are a few beer bar complexes, but nowhere near the numbers or size of them in Pattaya,

here is another one,

we made our way past one of the hotel shrines,

to the Sea Bar where there is a short cut through to the beach,

the beach was almost deserted,

as we made our way along it we walked past this building, you could not build nearer to the beach if you tried,

and this is where we settled down for a afternoon beer or three,

it did not take long for one of the souvenir sellers to appear, the good news is that there are not many of them and they do not bother you,

life's a beach!

a coconut for Diana,

as the sun goes down,

fast forward 15 mineutes,

we decided to head off for our evening meal, past the food stalls that had magically appeared on the roadside,

back past the now lit shrine,

and souvenir shops,

to the India Hut restaurant,

a quick look at the well stocked bar,

then bring on the food, after some poppadoms we ordered chicken samosa and onion bhajes,

followed by our main courses,

amongst others chicken tika massalla, aloo gobi, and for a change onion rice,

meal over it was just a short walk back to,

Paddy's Palms and Diana had been really looking forward to this,

for more than a few months, sticky toffee pudding, we all tried a piece of it each even though we were all full to bursting from the Indian meal, it, like the meal before was delicious, we had a couple of nightcaps and for all of us we were off to bed.