Ko Chang

In the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand lies the country's second largest island, Ko Chang.

One of the most artistic postboxes you are likely to ever see and what a stunning location!

The island is just one of many that make up Ko Chang National Park.

Bao Bang is a cute little village on the southern tip of the island and is built over the water. It is a great location for lunch!

Ko Chang is quite mountainous with some good jungle walks to waterholes and waterfalls, although the dry season means that they were not as wet as they can be.

The Thai new year celebration called Songkran coincided with our visit to Ko Chang. It is basically a great excuse for a water fight.

Island life is slow paced with the hot humid air. Parking yourself under a tree by the ocean is a great way to avoid using too much energy

The most difficult daily decision was whether to swim in the ocean or one of the pools at the beautiful Bhumiyama Resort

Another day comes to an end on Ko Chang.

Thonburi

On the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, opposite the busy city of Bangkok, is the district of Thonburi. Here you won't find the tall skyscrapers and the chaos of the city; you are taken back to an earlier time when Bangkok was known as the 'Venice of the East' and life was slower and revolved around the canals or khlongs. We took an afternoon longtail boat ride along these waterways.

I wouldn't go swimming in the khlongs but the kids seemed to be having a great time!

This old lady was waiting for our boat to arrive - it was obviously a planned stop - she was selling a variety of goods straight from her little boat.

We then stopped at a real floating market. There were shops on the water...

...and shops on the land

There were a variety of homes on the khlongs, from rundown shacks to the more classy but what they all shared in common was a waterfront view!

It was a great experience to take a trip through the khlongs of Thonburi.