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Koh Maak
We were treated to this sunset on our first night on the island!Our first view of Koh Chang was at about 6.30pm when we arrived by bus from Bangkok. The sun was just setting and the island was sillhouetted against a purple sky. We all just sat for a few minutes watching in awe. By the time we arrived, by speed boat, it was dark and we caught a taxi to White Sands Beach where we found a nice bungalow for the night.
I got up about 7 the next morning and went exploring. The beach our bungalow was on was amazing! It seemed that everywhere you looked there was a postcard photo shot. (although they never seemed to look that way when I took them...) I wandered down the beach, watched some Thai guys fishing for a while, and then checked out the main shopping area. The other guys got up soon after, and we grabbed a quick breakfast. We then had a nice swim in the warm clear water and played soccer with some Thai kids on the beach. Around lunchtime we decided to travel down to the south end of the island as we had heard that it was quite a bit quieter with a lot less tourists. So
Our First View of Koh Chang
And what a first view it was!
(Photo care of Glenn Black - Black Bull Enterprises) we caught a taxi to Bang Bao, a small village built on a pier out over the sea. We found a cheap bungalow near the beach and ended up staying there for 3 nights.
Most of our time on the island was taken up by relaxing on the beaches and just enjoying the amazing views but we did manage to do a few, more energetic activities.
On one of our first days we signed up for a full day snorkelling tour which was a lot of fun. Along with about 30 other tourists, who seemed to appear from nowhere, we caught a large boat out to a small archipelago southwest of Koh Chang. We snorkelled off 3 small islands, which were little more than outcrops of granite, for about an hour each. The snorkelling was great! We saw heaps of different kinds of fish with different colours and shapes but I think that the coral was the highlight. There was just so much of it and it was everywhere! I had a bit of a cold so I couldn't dive down too far but even 2m down you were right up next to it. We also stopped for
White Sand Beach
This was the view I woke up to on my first day! a swim on the island of Koh Rang. Relaxing in the warm aqua-blue water off a beautiful beach surrounded by jungle on one side and small islands on the other you could start to think you were in paradise... As usual though we ended up playing "classic catches" with a tennis ball for a while, before we started getting snorts of disapproval from other tourists. Denied the pleasure of leaping around in the shallow water we contented ourselves by making sculptures in the sand on the beach. Half an hour later we piled back onto the boat, along with everyone else, leaving a sand sculpture of a kangaroo/rat/squirrel on the beach.
Another day we hired motor bikes and explored Koh Chang that way. The roads are very windy and hilly so it was a bit of a challenge to start with. Apparently a few tourists die every year negotiating the roads on Koh Chang so we were pretty cautious. We first rode to a place not far from Bang Bao called Lagoona Resort. It is a very large resort with its own private beach so we spent quite a while exploring that. We then headed for one of the
Bungalows at Bang Bao
These were really comfortable bungalows that we paid about $5 each for a night. (Photo care of Glenn Black - Black Bull Enterprises) waterfalls on the island. Glenn and I got separated from Michael on the trip there and we spent ages going up and down the road looking for him. We had been told grisly stories of accidents by the guy we hired the bikes from so you can imagine the thoughts running through our heads for those few hours. Thankfully we did meet up again with Michael, but not before he had had a nice swim in a pool below the waterfall "waiting for us" he claimed. :P
Most nights on the island consisted of having an early dinner around sunset and then relaxing for a few hours before going to bed early. One night however we thought that we would look for a place with a little more life and action. We caught a taxi to Siam Beach, a few kilometers from Bang Bao, as we had ridden past it that day on our bikes and it seemed like a pretty happening place. We had dinner at a restaurant on the beach (the tables were actually set up in the sand) and then walked down the beach checking out the places as we went. We ended up choosing the
Kicking Back
Enjoying a pineapple on a secluded beach. place with the most people and found ourselves a mat on the sand. An hour or so after we arrived 5 guys got up and started doing some firedancing to the great delight of the assembled party goers. We sat for quite a while just watching the swirling flames and enjoying a few drinks. We tried a bucket which is a Thai cocktail that's made up of Sang Som (a Thai Whisky), coke, an energy drink and a squeeze of lime all in a beach bucket (like the buckets you make sand castles with). We also tried a Mai Thai which is Bacardi, Sang Som and Orange Juice. Both were nice but fairly potent. Around 12 we decided it would be a good idea to get a taxi home so I went up the beach asking people where to order one from. It was then that we discovered that there are no taxis on the island at night...
We were told that the best thing we could do was stay the night there and get a taxi home in the morning. This sounded like a very appealing option at the time however Glenn had to be up early the
Snorkelling
About to dive in and check out the coral. (Photo care of Glenn Black - Black Bull Enterprises) next morning in order to make it to Bangkok in time for his flight. So Michael went out to the road and started to flag down any car that went past. After about 15 mins he managed to stop one car but the driver said that he was drunk and didn't think it was a good idea that he drive us home. Finally after about half an hour Michael managed to get us a lift. The only problem was it was with a prostitute and a transvestite... Needless to say we were very happy to exit the car about 15 minutes later, and after making sure our ride had left we headed for bed.
The next morning Glenn left for Bangkok and Michael and I moved on to Koh Maak. Koh Maak is another small island south east of Koh Chang and it is meant to be one of the most isolated islands in the archipelago. Most of the time we were there we stayed near our resort enjoying using their free facilities. We tried Beach Ball for the first time and honed our Badminton skills. We also made full use of their 120cm TV and caught up on
Bang Bao
The view from a restaurant on the pier. some pretty ordinary movies that I had correctly dismissed in Australia (Mr and Mrs Smith and Fantastic 4). Splurging out one afternoon we decided to go for a Thai Massage. It was definitely an experience I won't soon forget. It involved a lot of back cracking and my legs were put in positions they have never been in before. But afterwards we did feel very relaxed and we soon discovered we were more flexible than we have ever been before...
We woke up one morning feeling adventurous so we hired a kayak, and after stocking up on some cokes, we paddled to an island, Koh Kham, a few hundred meters offshore. We had a good hour or so swimming and snorkelling around the island trying to get some value out of the 120 Baht fee we had been forced to pay upon arriving on the beach. We were sitting near the beach enjoying our "complimentary drinks" when we realised that we only had 15 mins to have the kayak back, or we would incur an additional fee... I think we set a new record making the crossing back to Koh Maak (well I like to think so anyway) and
Fire Dancers
Very captivating, especially after a few beers. (Photo care of Michael Meadows - Paddo Enterprises) 12 mins later we checked the kayak in.
But then, all too soon, our time had run out and we had to return to Bangkok. We took a speedboat back to the mainland and then got a VIP minibus to Bangkok, mainly because it was only about $1 more than the normal bus. I think the only thing our bus had that the others didn't was a small lcd screen on one of the visors. And this was more of an annoyance than an added bonus, as it screeched Thai karaoke music for most of the trip. Thus we finally arrived in Bangkok, after a very relaxing week, with more than a few strained nerves.
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Barbara M
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Stunning Sunsets
Wow! The photos are stunning. I hope I get to see sunsets like that when I am there! You certainly have had fun with some comic moments. The lift back to your bungalow must have been interesting. Have a grest flight to London and I look forward to the next stage of your journey.