Koh Chang, Thailand
We arrived on Koh Chang around 9 or 10 PM on Friday (23 February) night. I hate arriving to new places after dark as it makes finding a place to stay quite difficult. We had heard accomodation was hard to find on Koh Chang right now, so while waiting for the ferry we had a travel agent book us some bungalows. Unfortunately some of us were quite far from the beach that most travelers stay at - called Lonely Beach - so the following day we had to change accomodation again. That seems to be a reoccuring theme recently.
After moving to the Tree House on Lonely Beach (really cool guesthouse) on Saturday (24 February) morning, I hit the beach all day and hung out with some people I met on the bus ride. There was a little party at the guesthouse that evening and I stayed out quite late (5 AM). The guesthouse had really great and pretty cheap food so I ate almost all my meals there. It was nice because I could almost always find someone I knew at the guesthouse to eat with. Although the bungalows themselves weren't that great - they lacked fans so it was hot during the night - and the shared, bucket-over-the-head-type of showers didn't provide the ease of a running water shower, it was still a really great place to stay with a good traveler vibe. I met a Canadian guy, Daniel, on the bus ride there and we split a bungalow (with bunk beds!) which helped both of us save a bit of money over the 4 nights we stayed there.
Sunday (25 February) I slept in, ate lunch, and then went the beach for the rest of the day. I didn't stay out too late that night because I was going on a boat/snorkling trip the following day.
Monday (26 February) a few of us went on a boat trip to some nearby islands. It was pretty good fun, although not quite as fun as the boat trip I went on in Nha Trang, Vietnam. And this one was 3 times more expensive ($15)! But the snorkling was great and it was a good way to spend the day and see some more of the area. Had another mellow night that evening.
Tuesday (27 February) I had made plans to go with Stina, from Sweden, down to Bang Bao floating village for a look-see. We decided to just rent a motorbike since taxis are relatively expensive on Koh Chang and there are no buses. Plus the motorbike gave us the freedom to check out more of the island. We rented just one motorbike as Stina hadn't driven one before and I had a 'tad bit' of experience with someone riding on the back (as you may recall I had an interesting afternoon in Dalat, Vietnam when a 64-year-old monk rode around on the back of my motorbike with me). It wasn't really a floating village, just a group of shops and restaurants built on piers all linked off a main, long pier over a shallow bay. It was pretty interesting for a bit. Then we checked out a few more beaches around Koh Chang - which is a fairly large island - and decided that the beach we were staying on, Lonely Beach, was the best of the lot. So we just headed back there. It was a good day and nice to see some different parts of Koh Chang. Again I didn't do anything that evening.
Wednesday (28 February) I took the share-taxi all the way around the island and down to the southeast tip of Koh Chang to Long Beach where the new Tree House 2 guesthouse is located. There is an okay little beach there (nice water, but not much of a 'beach') but the main attraction of the beach is there is nothing else there. Just the guesthouse. It was great. The bungalows were a bit nicer and the setting was beautiful. Just a few other people there but I didn't really talk to many of them. It was more of just a chill out, relax, and read a book type of place; which I did. Fell asleep in the hammock on the balcony of my bungalow that evening before moving under the protection of my bug net for the rest of the night.
I decided to stay an extra day there on Thursday (1 March) because it was so relaxing. Did a little exploring around the rocky end of the beach that afternoon, scrambling around big boulders and small, angled sea-cliffs with the waves slapping near my feet. Finally I could go no further and headed back. I worked up a good sweat being right in the full force of the sun. Spent the rest of the day and evening reading and went to sleep early.
Friday (2 March) I made my way from Long Beach, Koh Chang back to 'my home away from home', Bangkok, arriving around 8 PM after taking the 8 AM share-taxi from my bungalow! Another long day of traveling. I met a cool Dutch girl, Mianne, on the bus ride who was also traveling alone so we decided to split a room in Bangkok to save money.
After moving to the Tree House on Lonely Beach (really cool guesthouse) on Saturday (24 February) morning, I hit the beach all day and hung out with some people I met on the bus ride. There was a little party at the guesthouse that evening and I stayed out quite late (5 AM). The guesthouse had really great and pretty cheap food so I ate almost all my meals there. It was nice because I could almost always find someone I knew at the guesthouse to eat with. Although the bungalows themselves weren't that great - they lacked fans so it was hot during the night - and the shared, bucket-over-the-head-type of showers didn't provide the ease of a running water shower, it was still a really great place to stay with a good traveler vibe. I met a Canadian guy, Daniel, on the bus ride there and we split a bungalow (with bunk beds!) which helped both of us save a bit of money over the 4 nights we stayed there.
Sunday (25 February) I slept in, ate lunch, and then went the beach for the rest of the day. I didn't stay out too late that night because I was going on a boat/snorkling trip the following day.
Monday (26 February) a few of us went on a boat trip to some nearby islands. It was pretty good fun, although not quite as fun as the boat trip I went on in Nha Trang, Vietnam. And this one was 3 times more expensive ($15)! But the snorkling was great and it was a good way to spend the day and see some more of the area. Had another mellow night that evening.
Tuesday (27 February) I had made plans to go with Stina, from Sweden, down to Bang Bao floating village for a look-see. We decided to just rent a motorbike since taxis are relatively expensive on Koh Chang and there are no buses. Plus the motorbike gave us the freedom to check out more of the island. We rented just one motorbike as Stina hadn't driven one before and I had a 'tad bit' of experience with someone riding on the back (as you may recall I had an interesting afternoon in Dalat, Vietnam when a 64-year-old monk rode around on the back of my motorbike with me). It wasn't really a floating village, just a group of shops and restaurants built on piers all linked off a main, long pier over a shallow bay. It was pretty interesting for a bit. Then we checked out a few more beaches around Koh Chang - which is a fairly large island - and decided that the beach we were staying on, Lonely Beach, was the best of the lot. So we just headed back there. It was a good day and nice to see some different parts of Koh Chang. Again I didn't do anything that evening.
Wednesday (28 February) I took the share-taxi all the way around the island and down to the southeast tip of Koh Chang to Long Beach where the new Tree House 2 guesthouse is located. There is an okay little beach there (nice water, but not much of a 'beach') but the main attraction of the beach is there is nothing else there. Just the guesthouse. It was great. The bungalows were a bit nicer and the setting was beautiful. Just a few other people there but I didn't really talk to many of them. It was more of just a chill out, relax, and read a book type of place; which I did. Fell asleep in the hammock on the balcony of my bungalow that evening before moving under the protection of my bug net for the rest of the night.
I decided to stay an extra day there on Thursday (1 March) because it was so relaxing. Did a little exploring around the rocky end of the beach that afternoon, scrambling around big boulders and small, angled sea-cliffs with the waves slapping near my feet. Finally I could go no further and headed back. I worked up a good sweat being right in the full force of the sun. Spent the rest of the day and evening reading and went to sleep early.
Friday (2 March) I made my way from Long Beach, Koh Chang back to 'my home away from home', Bangkok, arriving around 8 PM after taking the 8 AM share-taxi from my bungalow! Another long day of traveling. I met a cool Dutch girl, Mianne, on the bus ride who was also traveling alone so we decided to split a room in Bangkok to save money.
posted by Dustin at 1:32 AM
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