Finally, it's holiday time for us, yes I know people think we are on one long holiday, but really we aren't, honest! Long term travel is amazing, exciting and an adventure for sure BUT it also means leaving behind your family and friends for extended periods of time. Yes, there is Skype and Facetime, but nothing is a substitute for the real thing, being able to give your kids a hug or spend hours laughing and whiling away the time over a glass of wine with your friends. To say we are beyond excited to get the news that two of our three kids will be visiting us, along with two of our lovely friends is an understatement! - and they can bring cheese! (Cheese – we dream of nice tasty familiar cheeses. And chocolate. In fact, I am fantasising about both right now just writing about it!)

The Ferry over from the mainland - a taste of what is to come

We choose to go to Koh Chang (Elephant Island) as it is a relatively easy 6hr drive from Bangkok where the boys and our friends fly to. It is a touristy Island, but I'm not sure where isn't in Thailand, but it ticks all our boxes for holiday time. We have rented a bungalow for a month, in the small town of Kai Bae, renting long term made for very cheap accommodation it worked out at around £8 per day - not per person, but for the whole bungalow! And we can have a shower every day!!!

Home for a month!

Koh Chang is the second largest Thai Island after Phuket, but nowhere near as busy, settled in the Gulf of Thailand. It has everything you would expect from a Thai island, beautiful sandy beaches, amazing sunsets, inexpensive massages and cheap cocktails - what more could you want? The main area of Kae Bae is compact and most things are within a short walking distance, bars, restaurants, massage places. night -life can be as quiet or as party as you want - and we did both!  

Koh Chang - all you expect from a Thai Island

Thailand is all about the beaches and the crystal clear waters which are excellent for snorkelling - There are some great boat trips to the Marine National Park where get to snorkel in the warm water at two or three spots during the day. We have a fabulous day swimming with the fishes, jumping in the water and having an all round jolly time sunning ourselves on deck and return sun- kissed (AKA burnt!)

Food in Koh Chang is varied, you can, of course, get Thai food, but it 's nice to take a break from rice and noodles once in awhile. Luckily for John and the boys, there is an excellent curry restaurant across the road, but you can get Italian, French and other western food as well as rather delicious wine, a welcome break from Pad Thai and a Singha beer

It's not bad having a holiday!  

But enough of this luxury, these guys need to know what life is like on the road! We get the co-ordinates of a secluded beach at the other end of the island and
o take these soft hotel types to see what Overlanding is really like and treat them to a night in Tigger

 A bit of Man Friday going on here!  Girls got the honour of sleeping in Tigger on a windy night!

There are masses of waterfalls on the island, the closest to Kai Bae is a short 10minute drive away. You reach the waterfall, by taking a small hike in the shady jungle so by the time you reach the falls you are more than ready for a refreshing dip. The water is well; let's say stimulating, especially compared to the sea and teeming with fish, which like nothing more than to give you a little nibble if you stand still for too long! Lots of opportunities to jump in and have diving competitions and not too busy on any of the times we went. You do have to pay an entrance fee, but it was minimal around $3 per person

All good things come to an end and before we know it it's time to say goodbye to our lovely friends and family.
We enjoyed Koh Chang our only regret is that we didn't stay longer, it's a great island to kick back and chill out on - but we have an appointment in Bangkok for a VW festival, and Tigger is the star of the show!

Exotic Thailand here we come! We are so excited having been landlocked for months we are dreaming of golden sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and kicking back Thai style - this is what it's all about surely, spending our days lying on beaches doing nothing more energetic than rubbing on some sun lotion?  But we have to wait as Tigger's need is greater than ours and he is desperately in need of a spa treatment.

We enter Thailand through the Laos border at Vientiane, buy our car insurance and off we go. We are just in time it would seem as since then Thailand has made it much more difficult for foreign vehicles to enter, needing permits with time restrictions on how long you can stay, and the latest news we heard is that foreign vehicles now need a guide in a Thai car to travel with them.   For up to date information have a look at Overland Asia Facebook page - good for all things Asia related https://www.facebook.com/groups/510330665669757/.

Tigger has been limping a little, and our main aim is to get to Bangkok to the garage where he will undergo a long overdue spa treatment, Tigger's needs are greater than ours unfortunately, that beach still seems a long way off (We are still suffering from the cheap intercooler failure was fitted in the UK.  We did find an exact replacement in Turkey but didn’t realise then, that we needed to remove the crappy plastic bits and fabricate alloy replacements in their place. The new Turkish one blew apart the same as the original one, but this time, there was no option but to repair the unrepairable. Hence, frequent annoying repair stops to keep us going until we could get another replacement in Bangkok.)

So how do you find a reputable garage in a new country? Well, you know someone who knows someone! We made our VW Bangkok contact in Turkey, on the balloon flight in Cappadocia.   John was wearing his "Tigger's Travels" Tee-shirt, which one of the girls in our basket spotted, she recognised the Syncro and told us her Dad was the president of the Syncro Club in Thailand - sorted! The VW family stretches far and wide as we are to find out!

On route to the garage, we decide to risk a trip to Khao Yai national park even if Tigger is coughing and spluttering a little. It's famed for its elephants, but we don't see any (well you wouldn’t would you if you are prancing around dressed up like a giant tiger!) - we did see some more scary wildlife, though! (nothing compared to the scary wildlife I share the van with on a day-to-day basis!)

Please note I am standing much further back shouting  "they run fast you know - and I can't drive the van" 

I did think he might be a "pretend" croc - but no, he moved!

 The waterfall used in the film The Beach, have to say it wasn't quite as exotic as in the movie!

The park is quite hilly, and Tigger is not a happy Tiger, so we have to cut the trip short and head for the garage in Bangkok.  Think Bangkok, think exotic temples and wild nightlife - well not quite the case in Min Buri where the garage is, far off any known tourist route and probably the least glamorous place in Thailand but hey ho it's for Tigger. We find a cheap hotel with a swimming pool (one has standards you know!) while Tigger has his spa treatment and count the days until we can get to the beach  (we? I am in the garage every day up to my ears in oil and sweat!) oil and sweat wouldn't suit me, stop whinging!

Even Min Buri can look pretty good at sunset

VW stuff!!!

Ok. So here is a summary of what happened at the garage. Mrs C is adamant that it is not of interest to you, the avid reader. And she is probably right but here goes. I feel a list coming on.

1. Re-make the intercooler.
2. Make and fit a scoop to push air down into the engine bay to assist the intercooler.
3. Replace the turbo - kindly donated to us by one of our new buddies, Woody ( Hi Woody and thank you J )
4. Fit some new fans around the fridge to improve its performance ( didn’t make much difference as we found out afterwards)
5. General service.
6. Went shopping at a huge automotive electrical district in downtown Bangkok and bought a couple of clip on 12v fans for air circulation at night time, laser pointer just for fun!!! And a couple of multicolour LED strips which I stuck on the outside under the gutter. Disco lights!!!!! Don’t underestimate the international importance of disco, even if I can't dance!

Finally, we are sorted, thanks to the help of our Bangkok VW garage guys. Now we can begin the holiday; we are beyond excited as two of our three kids are coming to visit along with two of our lovely friends - excitement levels are through the roof, not only can we see these gorgeous people - but they can bring cheese!

Holiday time in Koh Chang coming next!