Day Thirteen: The Road to Ko Chang (Pt. 1)

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Chiang Mai - Ko Chang: Monday, Jan. 21st.

A brief note: Thanks again to everyone who has been commenting and sending messages. With the intermittant access to reliable (or affordable) internet cafes, this blog is actually running about two weeks behind, time-wise. That means that I haven't been sick for over two weeks now, although, I certainly do appreciate hearing from everyone. I just haven't had time to respond to most, since I use most of my net time for this blog. We're back to cheap and abundant internet for the next few days, so I'll be catching up...

Farewell Chiang Mai!!

So, we've decided on Ko Chang as our next stop. We've flirted with the idea of staying here in Chiang Mai just a few days more, but Angela & Paulie are heading onto the next leg of their journey tomorrow and, to be completely honest, it wouldn't be the same without them. I know, I know, sentimental...yadda yadda...but, gut rot notwithstanding, Chiang Mai has been way more fun than we ever imagined it would be, and those two are a big part of it.

Angela & Paulie are heading down to Ko Phi Phi for about 10 days as the last part of their trip. They're only in Thailand for about 3 weeks, so they're flying down and staying at a resort (well, la-di-da!!). Everytime we mention our plans being made based on 2 months here, Paulie delivers a swift, "easy there, Swamp-ass".

We spend the day just hangin' around the city drinking Chang, re-building my tolerance to Thai spice and visiting the various used book stores around town. (Chiang Mai is a fantastic place for used books) And, that f***in' "Let's Go!" guide is getting traded in come hell or high water!

We trade in the books that we finished this week for: a 2008 edition of Lonely Planet: Thailand, Kim gets a copy of "The God of Small Things" by Arundati Roy and I get "Damage Done" (a biographical account of an Aussie's time in a Bangkok prison), as well as "The Bicentenial Man" by Issac Asimov (with whom I've become an enormous fan of on this trip).

We end our day with (only) a 1/2 hour massage (I go for the Thai massage this time...feeling bold!), while the girls get a foot massage. Paulie opts for reading his book in the courtyard with a large Chang. After the massages, we head to a sweet little outdoor restaurant called, The Wok and try not to get too sad about our last hour together.

Paulie has a firm "no goodbyes" policy that we strictly adhere to. He even goes as far as to say, "Hey, if things suck on Phi Phi, maybe we'll come find you on Ko Chang." I tell him that if anything, it would be the other way around. I don't think that Phi Phi will suck. At least, not where they're going. ('Cause, I have read that Phi Phi isn't what it used to be. BUT, they're chilling on a remote beach....so...y'know...it won't suck).

We finish our dinner and have to run to catch the overnight bus. Halfway there, Angela stops us and says, "Guys! We have to leave you here, we're late for the meditation at the temple", (something that they've both been dying to do, and it's their last chance). So (without saying "goodbye"), we say "goodbye" very quickly and tear the bandage off fast. We walk away from each other muttering, "don't look back, don't look back", so of course, we look back and....they're looking back over their shoulders running the other way, waving just one more time......BWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! 😞

That effin' travel agent...

Whatever you do, DON'T go to the Flight Centre on the Danforth in Toronto. And certainly steer clear of Aleks, our travel agent.

The reason that we're heading to Ko Chang is that we need to do a visa run out of the country (as you may remember from the very first post on this blog), because our travel agent assured us that, as Canadians, our visa was good for 60 days. THIS IS WRONG!!! Even though she stamped our info and got Kim to sign her name on the stamp saying that we didn't need a visa....we need an effin' visa at the 30 day mark. So....that's why we're going to Ko Chang.

Ko Chang is an island on the east coast of Thailand close to Cambodia. We figured, what the hell, we'll make the most of it, stay on an island (I can hear your heart breaking for us underneath all of that snow), and then run up to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat for a few days. Kill two birds with one stone.

"Let's Go!" said that the islands on the east coast were "beautiful", "stunning" etc. etc., so naturally we're skeptical. "Lonely Planet" says otherwise, and we're on the VIP overnight bus to Ko Chang via Bangkok.

VIP my ass...

I always thought that VIP meant "Very Important Person". I'm not sure what it means in Thai, but it ain't anything close to what we were expecting. I won't bother complaining about the bus here, but let's just say that if you have to choose between the bus or the train...take a plane. Stick a fork in us, we're done with the "budget" transportation. The bus sucks, and the people on the bus suck even more. At least we met Peter & Patsy on the train up to Chiang Mai, but no such luck on this leg of the journey.

We have to connect in Bangkok at 6:30am and take the 8:00am VIP bus to the pier across from Ko Chang, where we'll catch a ferry....and then a songthaew....did I mention that we haven't a clue as to where we're staying on Ko Chang?

I took a sleeping pill that kept me awake because I thought that my heart was going to explode it was beating so fast. Kim couldn't sleep either, and she took a sleeping pill as well. (why do they call them "sleeping pills"???) At 5:00am (1 1/2 hours ahead of schedule) our bus lands at Khaosan Road and our guide yells, "BangKOK, BangKOK, BangKOK!!!" And tells us to "hurryhurryhurry" like we're refugees trying to beat the border police.

Completely disoriented and wandering Khaosan at 5:00am, we pass by a few rats in the garbage as we try to find somewhere to sit and....I don't know....do something?

Kim turns to me and says, "I miss Angela & Paul"

Me too...

The real road to Ko Chang

Alright, the VIP bus to Ko Chang is a step up from the first one. At least the seats on this one are fabric and not vinyl (vinyl, of course, won't let your swamp-ass breathe). We could have arrived at the pier much earlier if the bus hadn't stopped twice to sell us crap that we didn't want (one thing we've realized is a quintessential Thai trick). First stop was an over-priced lunch that we opted out of. Second stop was to sell us hotel accomodation that we also opted out of.

"Lonely Planet" said that if you arrive to the pier by VIP "backpacker" bus, you'll likely be crammed onto a rust-bucket of a ferry, instead of the nicer car ferry a few kilometres away. "Lonely Planet" was right. Sardines in a rusty can, that's what we were. The sun was setting as we sailed across the bay towards Ko Chang and both Kim and I had a sinking feeling that we weren't in "Chiang Mai" anymore.

The ferry dropped us off like the refugees that we felt like, on the pier at Ko Chang where there were two (count 'em...2!) songthaews waiting to drive people inland. There was no use surrounding the trucks as they rebuffed everyone who wasn't going to where the drivers wanted to go. We had decided on a beach (Hat Bae) that we read was quieter than the rest.

Once the two songthaews left, we (and the rest of the throng) were left standing in the middle of nowhere as the sun was hitting the horizon. We both stayed calm as the rest got panicked looks on their faces, because, as I said to Kim, "we have money. They'll find us. There will be more songthaews." And within 15 minutes, we were on our way to Hat Bae.

We really miss Angelaw & Pawly.....

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