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Published: July 28th 2009
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On the night before we left to go to Ko Chang, we could hear a storm outside that was quite literally rocking our beach hut. This lasted all night, and we could still hear the wind and sea lashing against one another the following morning. This made me slightly uneasy about getting two boats! Once on the sea, it was really choppy, but we weren't shipwrecked and made it there, which was a relief!
As soon as we arrived, (after getting on the back of a truck, then a boat, then a coach, then a ferry and then another truck) me and Robbie got a really good feeling about the place. It was really beautiful, with coconut trees and greenery all around in the hills, as well as beaches, it was like some sort of jungle paradise from a film or something! The place we ended up staying in was a little strange but amazing. We were right at the Southern end of the island, at a place called Lonely Beach, which was apparently the last stand for the hippies. The bungalows we were staying in were called The Magic Garden, and had thatched roofs and were all on stilts,
and literally looked like where the ewoks lived in Star Wars! There were huge trees all around teeming with life, and in our room there were fairy lights around the bed, which looked slightly romantic through the mosquito net! The toilet and shower were connected to our bungalow, but on the outside with no roof. The tropical rain meant that we got absolutely soaked when we went to go for a wee, but it was quite exhilarating having a shower while getting rained on as well, like we were getting back to nature or something! I think I was surprising Robbie by staying really chilled out about the bugs and things, I was even surprising myself! The owners of where we're staying also had a pet monkey, which was quite quirky.
After having an explore around the area we found a little bar called Om that played a pretty good, but quite an eclectic mix of tunes, including Bob Marley and the Happy Mondays! Despite the heavy rain, Ko Chang had quite a hippy feel to it that we both really liked.
Another thing that we both loved about where we were staying was the fact that whatever
we ordered to eat we never got. If we asked for prawns we got chicken, and if we asked for chicken we got beef, but the food always seemed to taste pretty good, so we quite liked the mystery of it! The monkey who lived there also waved to us when we came and left which was an added bonus!
On Lonely Beach there were bars and BBQ's on the beach, and we found a bar that played soul and served the most tasty home made food! Even though it was raining, we were really happy to be on such a beautiful island and take the place in.
Even after 3 nights, the torrential downpours hadn't slackened off at all, which still meant us getting soaked every time we went to the toilet! The rain brought to our attention some crazy creatures, such as a leaf in our room that when we went to pick up suddenly sprouted legs and flew off. It even had veins on it like a leaf!
On the first day that we woke up without the sound of the rain, we quickly dressed and hired a scooter for the day. The island
itself had many beaches but also a real jungle terrain. We found some waterfalls, and whilst visiting one of them I managed to lose a flip flop, and we both got ants in our pants, quite literally, as there were bugs everywhere!
The following day, we decided to do an elephant trek. We were joined but a crazy couple from Vienna called Marcel and Teresa who were a pleasure to spend the day with. The elephants took us on a trek through the jungle, through streams and up gullies. The elephants were so gentle, to the point of them stepping over some power cables in the river that had been blown down in the most gentle and dainty way. At one point I dropped my water and without being prompted the elephant picked up the water and handed it back to me. We went for a swim in the river with them, and were shown how to massage and wash them, as well as them picking us up, spraying us and throwing us back into the water again! There was a real love, we felt, between the elephants and the trainers, who'd been looking after the elephants since they
were eleven years old and the elephants five years old. It was a really amazing experience, and the animals seemed to be well cared for and happy.
Ko Chang was a really worthwhile place to go to, and despite the rain, we loved it!
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