Beer in freezer at Sawasdee - Oh yes, very good!

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21st December - 11th January 2008

Krabi (NopparaThara Beach, Klong Muang Beach, Koh Phi Phi) - Koh Chang

The ferry crossing from Langkawi to the Thai mainland was just two hours. The journey appears to be our equivalent of a booze cruise to France (Langkawi being duty free) as lots of Thai people struggling to carry lots of large baggages were packed on it. A painfully slow immigration official and two buses later we arrived at Krabi. We checked into a beachfront hotel at NopparaThara Beach which was hastily booked at the Krabi tourist information site.

The next day Claire had frequent urgencies to visit the bathroom so I had to go to the pharmacy and mime what we needed (English not so widely spoken here) which provided amusement but was easily understood. I was also trying to explain that I wanted to buy more than one tablet (one tablet was enough!) for future problems. She understood eventually but I think she was worried I might take too many - they are strong stuff!

The beach is very long and fairly quiet, the sea is great for swimming as there are no waves although you can walk out for ages and still be only waist deep. A ten minute walk from our hotel and we could be in Ao Nang, the adjacent and more touristy beach. It was nice to be close to the amenities it provided but we were happier on our stretch of beach. We had three days here before moving to our pre-booked Xmas accommodation which was hopefully to be a step up from our normal standard.

The day before Xmas Eve we stocked up on what we considered essential for the 'big day' - a litre of gin, three cans of tonic water, eight cans of beer, salted peanuts, crisps, a box of chocolates and a frisbee! We also had a Sunday roast at the restaurant next to our hotel just in case we didn't get one Xmas Day. It only cost four pounds and was delicious, a real plate full with all the trimmings.

We were picked up for free by our new hosts and driven thirty minutes to Klong Muang Beach. Our bungalow was a nice as the pictures online suggested - a big room, double bed, air con, ensuite with hot water (cold showers becoming too frequent lately!), fridge, TV, terrace and no neighbours too near as we were spread out amongst well maintained gardens. After checking in we walked to the beach. The beach was extremely pleasant with great views of nearby islands and in parts we would be its only occupants so it didn't matter that our frisbee skills had become rusty. We had a couple of beers in the evening, one at Paddy's Bar (no matter where you are in the world there's always an Irish Bar!) and then returned to make a start on our gin.

Woke up early-ish Xmas morning a little cold as the air con was on all night and before stepping outside into the dazzling sunshine it felt like Xmas. We had no presents to give each other - what do you buy when travelling? So after breakfast we got our hair cut! Everywhere was still open and we both needed a trim, with little else planned and it only costing three pounds each, why not? A new meaning to the Xmas haircut!

I was first up and after asking a few times to have more taken off about an hour or so later I was very happy with my cut, especially as she styled it all messy and spiky just how I like it. Claire was next up and we had no worries in telling her to cut more off as before Claire's jaw could drop in mute horror a huge slice was taken off the fringe. Almost immediately realising her error the lady was vey apologetic and took an age to finish not wanting to make any more errors and 'ruin our Xmas' (as she kept saying). In the end she did a great job and Claire had her hair straightened for free. Not wanting to go to the beach and mess her hair up we spent most of the afternoon drinking, eating and watching the TV. Unfortunately everything on TV was in Thai, including Lost which had been dubbed rather than subtitled (the only character we could understand was Jin - for those that watch it will no what I mean). Xmas dinner was sweet and sour rice and in the evening we took a stroll along the beach to watch a beautiful sunset before going to Paddy's Bar to listen to an Irish band. They were ok but not as thigh slapping good as we hoped. Back to the bungalow for another go at the gin - a very different Xmas but very enjoyable too.

A slight hangover Boxing Day (nothing different there) so we had a relaxing day on the beach and improved our frisbee technique. In the evening we went back to Paddy's to have some dinner this time pie and chips - great English 'meaty' food!

Decided to head back to NopparaThara Beach and base ourselves there until the new year and do day trips rather than keep moving about. We had a really good Xmas (although looking forward to a more traditional one next year with our families) and the staff at the bungalows were amazing. They were always so happy and their enthusiastic greetings will be sorely missed.

On our return to NopparaThara we checked back into the same hotel - it was clean, cheap, free soap/shampoo/mineral water every day and this time we had hot water too!. We booked two day trips, one a tour of four local islands and another 'James Bond Tour', for later in the week. Until then we resumed our daily routine of breakfast, beach, lunch, beach (usually with a tin of cold 'Chang' beer watching the sunset). shower, dinner and then either bed or football at a local bar.

The Four Island Tour, or more correctly the 'two island, one sandbank and the mainland tour' was our first trip on a Thai longtail boat - so called because of their long propeller shafts. The first island (Poda Island) was extremely pretty and we stopped here for about an hour to swim and walk along the beach. Not too long after arriving however and so did everyone else. Where we had been swimming just thirty minutes earlier was now a row of longtail boats packed like sardines and the beach swarming with daytrippers like ourselves. The next island, 'Chicken Island' (so called because of a rock formation shaped like a chicken) was a similar story - a really beautiful island but teeming with tourists. The third island was just big enough to swing a cat around and was connected to Chicken Island by a sandbank. The final island was in fact on the mainland and is loosely considered an island as it has no road access to it. This beach made the others feel almost desolate. The worst part of the day was on the boat ride back to the jetty. We were sat behind a white, pasty, spotty, bald and geeky old man molesting his twenty something Thai trophy girlfriend - yuk, yuk, yuk!

In the evening I was watching the West Ham v Man Utd game at a local bar while Claire was phoning home. No sooner had I ordered a drink, which at £1.50 was a rip off, I realised what type of bar I was in, one where a pasty, bald, spotty old man is guaranteed to pull a Thai bird! I couldn't leave as Claire was meeting me here after - that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Claire turned up just before half time and we watched the second half in another bar - West Ham won 2-1!

Our second day trip, on New Years Eve, included a visit to the James Bond Island where Scaramanga had his lair in The Man With The Golden Gun. We were only given thirty minutes on the island, but to be honest its a very small island and once you have taken a picture of the rock there is little else to see. That is, except, the ridiculous amount of shops they have set up on the island which all sell the same old crap. It was such a shame and very sad as it does spoil the effect. There were herds of tourists many lamely impersonating Roger Moore with the James Bond opening credit gun pose. We also got to visit a floating village which once you got past the initial tacky gift shops was very interesting. Once again, time not on our side we had to cut our exploring short. The final item on the tour was a waterfall which was hugely disappointing and frustrating as the time spent here would have been much better spent at the floating village.

It being New Years Eve we had an early night and not a drop of alcohol - seriously! New Years Day we changed our plans slightly. Original plan was to go to Phi Phi Island then island hop around the area. However, these islands have become so popular that budget accommodation has become very hard to find and even if you do find somewhere they triple prices at this time of year, so we decided to go to a little visited island on the West coast near the border of Burma called Koh Chang. In the meantime we booked one final day trip - a speedboat tour of Phi Phi island (couldn't leave without seeing the beach where 'The Beach' was filmed).

There were twenty six in the speedboat although it wasn't as crammed as we first thought it would be. It actually turned out to be a benefit as the return journey was extremely bumpy so we held each other in. Our tour guide, a girl called Ae, was brilliant - she was so cheerful and exciteable but not in a ditzy way. We visited Maya Bay, where The Beach was filmed which despite the number of tourists was definitely worth going and exceptionally pretty. We also did some great snorkelling here. While most people opted to snorkel without life jackets we decided we would wear them. We may not have looked as 'macho' but it was a hell of a lot easier! I even commented to Claire, 'I know these are lifejackets, but I'm surprised how buoyant they are' much to her amusement. I think I have finally spent too much time with Claire! We visited a couple of other beaches on the island and then headed back on our turbulent journey. A fantastic day, Phi Phi is real beautiful and it was all the more enjoyable by speedboat.

The next day we had to be ready for 5.30am as we had booked a taxi/bus/taxi/ferry combo to take us to Koh Chang. While waiting for the bus we were served a cup of coffee by a lady in a nightie and slippers who then continued with her ironing. It didn't seem strange at the time! The bus journey was sooooo slow! Seven and a half hours of being driven by what we could only describe as a learner driver. He never got near the speed limit, was scared to rev the engine, changed gear too quickly and never came close to finding fifth! The lady in front of Claire helped pass the time though as she couldn't work out her seat. As she kept falling asleep the chair kept slowly reclining until her head was practically in Claire's lap and then with a sudden jolt she would wake up and spring back to the upright position. It was a good hour before she fixed it! We finally arrived in Ranong thirty minutes before the ferry was due to leave - not really a ferry, more of a longtail boat. It was packed with passengers but mainly locals from the island with boxes and boxes of provisions from the mainland. It took a little over an hour to get to the island but it was nearly two hours by the time we got off. Our bungalow was at the far end of the beach and as there is no pier/jetty on the island people were being dropped off at each resort along the way with their mounds of shopping too. One guy took his shopping home in a kayak.

Koh Chang is brilliant! It is so unspoilt. There are about a dozen or so bungalow resorts spread along the beach discreetly tucked amongst the trees. We stayed at one called Sawasdee Bungalows - which I think is 'welcome' in Thai - it was very welcoming and relaxing. We had to walk 0.2 minutes to the beach, fifteen minutes to use the internet out of someone's bedroom, twenty minutes to find a shop (which was a wooden hut) and thirty minutes to change money (however, that can take up to three days as the money changer is a hard man to track down!). Electricity is only supplied between sunset and 9.30pm so lots of early nights, there isn't a single road on the island and our bungalow had a hammock - hammocks are great! It's mainly Germans that have discovered the island so far for some reason.

The only downside has been finding a doctor when you really need one. Claire developed a bad chest and hot sweats on our second night and was quite poorly the next morning so we thought it best to go to the medical centre on the island. The centre was about 3km away and we had to walk through woodland to get there. It was one and a half hours walk in Claire's condition only to find the place deserted. We walked back to some nearby shops to discover the staff were at Ranong for the day. While stopping for a drink a lovely lady chatted to us and said there was a doctor at the Navy base on the island they could call. So she called them and called them and they never turned up so we walked back to our bungalow - about a four hour round trip!

We decided on a 'rest is best' policy and Claire got steadily better over the next couple of days. Therefore the next few days we didn't venture very far we just stayed close to our bungalow (and hammock) read a lot, slept quite a bit, ate great food and tried not to get too excited. After eight days we decided it was finally time to say goodbye to Koh Chang. We could have stayed so much longer and it is one of the few places we have visited so far that we would seriously consider visiting again in the future. So here's hoping Koh Chang stays as it is and don't forget - at Sawasdee Resort the beer is in freezer, oh yes, very good!!

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Photos

Christmas Accommodation
Thank you to those who paid for it!

Sunset at Noparathara Beach
Probably watching with tin of 'Chang' beer in hand!

James Bond Island
Julian not pretending to be 007, licence to kill!

Comments

[Jimbo]

Crikey!!!
The Life Of Riley eh? Good luck and enjoy yourselves.