Kelly's Journals

Kelly's HomeSoutheast AsiaKoh Chang, Thailand

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Southeast Asia

Koh Chang, Thailand |

Entry 1:

After a tuk tuk, the sky train, a government bus across 331 km, a ferry, and a bumpy ride in the back of a pick up truck, we arrived on Koh Chang. To our complete surprise all of the planning we had done using Internet sources executed flawlessly and for only 394 Bhat or approx. $13 bucks each. Thank-you Internet.

We have found a beautiful place to stay on Lonely Beach called “Paradise Cottage”. For 300 Bhat (Approx. 9 Canadian) we have our own spacious beach hut with a fan and light and bathroom. Well, the bathroom isn’t actually in the hut—it’s right out back. Yep, we get to pee and shower with the birds.

A key feature is the critter net that always covers the whole bed. At the restaurant last night a woman showed us a picture of the spider she found on her bed that was easily as big as my hand. After hearing her story we started to refer to our mosquito net as the more appropriate critter net.

The best part of the little resort is the patio/bar/deck area. There are individual covered platforms facing the water with a pair of hammocks and a little table. They are a beautiful place to eat banana pancakes in the morning, a cool place to have a fruit shake in the afternoon, and the perfect place to watch the sun set as we eat our dinner. They serve very nice Thai food for a very reasonable price. The fruit shakes—ahh…to die for.

After walking up and down the beach we feel so lucky to have found this gem of a resort. The other resorts are packed full, no green space or flowers, lots of garbage, the food is double the price, and the accommodations cost the same as ours.

This island is a popular place for couples, and if you are traveling solo it is especially popular to bring a “girlfriend” from Bangkok or Pattya. There are a lot of men with big suitcases or huge backpacks traveling with a Thai woman with a small overnight bag. I’m actually astonished at the number of awkward looking white dudes with cute Thai women. Right buddy, your not fooling anyone.

The only downside to the whole island is the garbage. There are a lot of beer bottles and cigarette butts on some stretches of the beach but the garbage from construction is the worst. There are empty cement bags, cinder blocks, and broken pieces of wood in piles all over. Not many people who live on the island even seem to care how dirty the area is becoming because they too have large piles of junk thrown into the pond out back. It really is very sad and a times quite stinky too.

None-the-less, we are having a great time and just might extend our stay here. I’m not sure when we will be able to post our pictures as Internet is PAINFULLY slow.

Entry 2:

We have had a great time in Koh Chang. We have spent a lot of time reading or at the beach and decided it may be time to partake in a few activities or at the very least get off our butts. We went to a herbal sauna the other night. It is a steam room with smelly stuff run by two bizarre European guys. It was actually pretty nice. We also had a massage there which was a real treat. We walked to the spa during the day, but we where there so long that it was dark outside by the time we wanted to return to our cottage. Man, it was really dark. Walking home was the scariest thing I have done in a long while. We were on the side of a narrow road with no light and tons of critter sounds. When we walked down the road in the light we could see frogs, snakes, rats and other things that go bump in the night so it was freaky.

We also decided to go on a 4 island snorkeling tour. It was a nice outing but the water was too rough to see anything really cool. The very last island we went to, Koh Wai, looked amazing. It is has very basic facilities, but the beach is gorgeous and it is not at all crowded. Brandon and I were positive we were going to pack up and move…but we really do like where we are staying. The lady-man snorkeling tour guide felt up Brandon which was really funny.

I have a nasty cough I can’t seem to shake so we walked down to the next little town on the island where there is a clinic. There are some great hills here and it was quite the work out. To see the doctor and get some drugs it cost 120 Bhat or about $4.00 Canadian. Not bad at all.

We are planning on making the trek in to Cambodia on Monday the 28th of November. I’m sure we will have some stories about that journey…

Locations Visited: Koh Chang


Comment
Hi Kelly & Brandon, I am really enjoying the read about your daily adventures. The festival flowers are gorgeous! I am glad you are trying the vendor food - I remember it smelling so good, but I was always too afraid to try it. Love Mom
Posted by: Brenda Janssen on 22 Nov 2005

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We are really enjoying your blog. Keep up the great postings! Stay safe. Joel and Melany
Posted by: Melany and Joel Allen on 29 Nov 2005

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Hey there you Two, Glad to hear that you are having such a great time. I look forward to reading more of your adventures. Take care and be safe Kristie and Jake
Posted by: Kristie Fehr on 02 Dec 2005

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Hello, again. It's great that you're having so many adventures - liking walking in the dark - I'm always amazed at what turns out to be an adventure. Sometimes, the simplest things are what have made us really pay attention to the ways in which this place is really different from what we're used to. For us, the most common adventure of this kind is driving on the 'wrong' side of the road - and constantly turning on the windshield wipers when we want to turn a corner. Take care, Elaine & Doug
Posted by: Elaine Cust on 04 Dec 2005

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