Koh Chang

Koh Chang 30/11 - 10/12

We flew from Hanoi back into Bangkok for 3 nights of shopping before heading down to Koh Chang for 10 nights. Ko Chang is another beautiful Thai island with crystal clear water and golden sands. We spent 7 nights in Lonely Beach which was everything but lonely and had a beach party every night! Then we stayed at Long Beach for 3 nights which is a deserted piece of paradise.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Paying 6 auzzie dollars for a hut over the water.

- Cheap Chang draught beer served by a bloke named John........ due to his Rambo-like obsession with headbands.

- BBQ red snapper with the best jacket potatoes ever!

- Smashing Bretty at beach cricket with the 'SS' coming from a bit of driftwood.

- Happy hour on the beach watching stunning sunsets.

- Dancing the night away with the local Thai boys at the half moon, full moon and black moon parties. The Thais sure love their moons!

- Our intensive 'get fit for back home' exercise sessions including hill walks and gruelling weight sessions in natures 'gym with a view'.

- Free drinks during happy hour.......... which counteracts last highlight!

- Finally finding rice paper rolls - TC was happy at last!

- Cooking up a storm at a Thai cooking class - watch out Jamie.

- Having breaky served whilst lying in our hammocks.

- Finding 2L bottles of Italian red at cost price.

- Watching Hazza and Torres destroy Bolton!

- Our 'Chrissy Day' party - never seen chicken disappear so quickly!

- Schools of fish constantly jumping out of the water.

- BUCKETS!

TOOL OF THE WEEK - DF wins the last TOTW award for the trip. Let's set the scene....... We had a 90- minute trip in the back of a van complete with 15 other sweaty travellers to do in the morning. So what does he do the night before? Buckets...... containing Thai whiskey, red bull and vodka. How many?1? No. 2? Higher (bear in mind a bucket is usually for around 5 people). Needless to say it wasn't pretty watching him moaning, groaning and looking very green for the entire trip.

Massive thanks to Country 'but you can call me Cunch' and Em 'Emory or Poo Brown' who joined in the Moccahead Mauling last leg of the trip. 25 days of sun, sand and fun were had by the 4 of us and was a great way to reflect on our trips before heading back home.... love u guys!!

To finish with - thanks to ALL who have been part of, offered advice & support or just embraced our trip. The No Rulz /Big Picture Trip is something we are proud of doing. Work hard but have an eye on what you want in life and what you want OUT of life. Signing off Australia - HERE WE COME!!

Halong Bay & Cat Ba Island

Halong Bay 19/11

We joined the tourist gang and booked ourselves on the 1 night/2 day Halong Bay tour - totally amazing! After a seedy bus ride we hopped on the boat and cruised around 100s of limestone islands while sun baking on deck chairs. After visiting grottoes, canoeing and eating awesome meals we settled down in cabins for our first ever night on a boat!! The first tour we have done but geee it was worth it!! Thanks Tony - u have game!!

We decided to stay on the island instead of heading back to Hanoi.......

Cat Ba Island 20/11 - 27/11

Sometimes it seems like we write the same old thing on here - good weather, beautiful beaches, no tourists..... but honestly Cat Co 2 is another stunning location to put on your to-do-list! We trekked a couple of kms out of town to be greeted with 2 300m stretches of golden sand, a backdrop of beautiful greenery and blue skies. Paradise Mark 2.

The cherry on top was that the only accommodation was a tent under a gazebo on the beach for $8.50 a night - we'll take that thanks! 1 night extended to 2...then to 6......

The place was a gem. There were a few days visitors to the beach but they all left around 5pm and left the 4 of us with a deserted beach, a full moon, duty-free vodka and a deck of cards. The local workers were super friendly and made us feel at home. We even had a classic game of beach volleyball with them....and were quite surprised when their easy going nature turned into a mean competitive streak. We were left counting our bruises!

Often we were the only guests at the restaurant and managed to score some sensational squid, loads of chillies for Em, Tuna sandwiches for Bretty, lemon juice for Dazza and ripe mangos for TC. But after 3 days of breaky, lunch and dinner there, we trekked into town and found an awesome restaurants that had great food (expect for the lasagne) and 2 for 1 bottles of red wine (TC was excited!).

Pretty much the days were planned around the 3 meals and in between was plenty of sun mauling, bat tennis, bat golf, cards, massages, reading, exercising, swimming and planning our next meal!

It was a sad farewell to our little paradise and the people there that made it so welcoming. With John Williamson and Men at Work blasting on the iPod we hopped on a bus, boat, bus, taxi, and plane back to Bangkok. Due to changing plans this is the last country we hit before flying HOME 2 AUSTRALIA!! Look out here we come!