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Published: July 24th 2010
Koh Chang is in the southeast of the country, close to neighbouring Cambodia, and is the second largest island in the country after Phuket.
We had no intention of visiting the island but due to all the trains being booked going south and our desire to visit an island we've not been to before we found ourselves on a 6 Hour bus journey to the ferry pier. The island itself is just offshore so it's a quick car ferry across and then a taxi ride to wherever on the island you want to go.
We decided to book three seats on the bus as we've taken the tourist buses out of Banglamphu before and found ourselves on a knackered old minibus with barely functioning air conditioning. I didn't want to experience that again with a toddler on my lap! We were pleasantly surprised however to find ourselves ushered onto a swish new minibus where everything works, including the speedometer which was a bit frightening for Faye as she was looking right at it from her seat. She was made fully aware the whole journey of just how much over the speed limit we were traveling, and even when we
were pulled over by the police and fined, it still didn’t deter the driver as he just carried on.
Once on the island, the first thing we noticed was all the lush jungle covering all the craggy peaks and mountains. We grabbed a taxi to a resort I'd found on the net which seemed really reasonably priced. The place was on Had Kai Mook (Pearl Beach) which was quite isolated away from the more developed parts of the island, so seemed right up our street. The place was really nice, our room was probably the nicest we've ever had in Thailand and the swimming pool was superb. The only problem was the beach... It was crap, think Brighton beach but with much larger stones, not great for a little guy still very much finding his feet. The last thing I want is for him to fall over and knock out his teeth; we had enough tears when they came through.
I looked in one of the free booklets about the island (you can find them in every hotel), and it said that this beach is good for snorkeling, which makes sense with it being so rocky. When the
boys were having a nap one afternoon, I donned mask and snorkel, gingerly navigated myself over all the wet rocks and pebbles, slipped into the sea and was sorely disappointed. Not sure what I expected to see, I even brought along my underwater camera, so I must’ve been expecting something, but there was nothing. Granted, the visibility wasn’t great… I was met by a huge shoal of fish once I swam out a few meters, but once they saw me they disappeared, but other than that, nothing. I explored the various cracks, crevices and boulders, and still nothing, there was better snorkeling in the hotel pool! I know I’ve been spoilt by all the other diving and snorkeling we’ve done, but this was just rubbish, I think if you want to see something here you really have to go out on a boat trip to the other islands in the area, I’ve heard they’re supposed to be pretty good.
We stayed at the resort a couple of days, enjoying the pool but then we had to move on, there just wasn't enough around to keep us occupied. It really made us realise how our priorities have changed. Normally we
couldn't have cared less whether the place had a pool nice or otherwise and would have really liked the tranquility of the area we were in, jumping on a scooter when we wanted to get out and explore. All that's changed now, we need good amenities within walking distance and sadly the two shops close by didn't stock the strawberry milk brand that Faye and Nate have become addicted to.
So, because of this we found ourselves in the middle of Had Sai Kao, White Sand Beach, the most developed beach on the island. Normally we'd never stay somewhere like this, but the beach, although not exactly White is actually quite beautiful. The strip of sand is crammed with bungalow operations, resorts, restaurants and bars, some are basic and some are fancy five star places so if that’s what you’re after there’s something for everyone. During the day it’s a bit naff but in the late afternoon and evening the place really comes alive.
We managed to get a really nice place at a huge discount because it's low season which was ace, and better yet the free breakfast is a buffet so Nate can eat unlimited sausages
to keep him going throughout the day… boy does that kid love sausages! The room wasn’t as nice as the previous place and neither was the pool, but we were willing to compromise as the beach is perfect for playing on.
So… that’s how we spent our days. After breakfast we played and built sandcastles on the beach or swam in the pool. Lunch was followed by a nap during the hottest part of the day, with more beach and pool action after that, finally enjoying dinner and a beer while watching the sun set over the ocean.
What about the rain you may be asking? It is monsoon season after all! We’ve been here ten days and may have been unlucky; we’ve definitely seen more rain than sun. Not that we’ve not had any sun, we’ve had some glorious sunny days but also some days where it rained constantly. Days with constant drizzle, punctuated by heavy tropical downpours, which was not what I expected. We’ve also had days where it was sunny one moment, then heavy rain for a bit, followed by more sun, which was more like I read about. All this rain hasn’t stopped us
from enjoying ourselves though, when your days revolve around playing on the beach and swimming pool, a bit of extra water falling out of the sky doesn’t really make any difference.
On one of the sunny days we did break from routine and went elephant trekking at Ban Kwan Elephant Camp. Nate could barely contain his excitement when we pulled up at the camp and saw the elephants milling around, but once on the elephant he settled down, I don’t think he quite grasped the concept we were on the back of one as all he could see was the back of its head, Gabe was overcome by all the excitement and promptly fell asleep in Faye’s arms. There were only us and two other couples doing it and they were doing a two hour trek, whereas we were doing a one hour trek so for the majority of the time we were on our own trekking trough the forest which was pretty cool. Our elephant turned out to be pretty naughty and kept wandering off the trail to go for a munch amongst the bushes, trumpeting and waving its trunk when the handler was trying to control it,
this was great as it reminded Nate we were on an elephant and not just strolling through the forest.
Sadly all great things come to an end and after ten great days on the island we have to head back to Bangkok as we have some things we need to do before we head home, namely shopping, which is why we’re heading back for the weekend. Chatuchak weekend market here we come. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time on Koh Chang and will probably return once the kids are old enough to hold on, that way we can hire scooters and explore a bit more. 😊
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Mum J
non-member comment
Great blog Michael and Faye, do plenty of spending at chatachuck,wish we were with you all love you lots, mum J xxxx