Koh Chang

  Koh Chang, Thailand
Friday, November 14, 2008

Before I left for Koh Chang, the only thing I knew was that it is an island off the northeastern coast of Thailand.

Koh Chang from ferry

The trip from Bangkok was supposed to take about 5 hours, so I was told, but the whole journey ended up taking about 10 hours, including a "high speed" ferry and a taxi that broke down on the way to the beach.

Treehouse restaurant and bar

However, it was well worth the trip. I made friends with an Argentinian guy, and Dutch girl and a Canadian guy and we all stayed at guest houses on Lonely Beach.

Lonely Beach village

The bungalows are very basic, just a bed and a mosquito net for 100 Baht/night (about $3). I didn't really sleep that much because a couple mosquitos, beetles and spiders managed to sneak their way into the net and were driving me crazy all night.

Fierce Creature that slept on my bungalow porch

Also, the mosquitos here don't seem to be phased by a hard smack, they just keep on truckin and go after you again. The bathrooms are outside and consist of a hole in the ground and a large stone vat of cold water to dump on yourself for a shower.

My Bungalow

The beach setting was beautiful, with palm trees and mountains in the background.

Koh Chang islands

There are a number of guest houses near or on the beach, but it was never crowded. The restuarant right on the water is called the Treehouse where everybody met up to eat, hang out, dance, or just relax and read a book.

Near Lonely Beach

The Canadian guy, Wade has been traveling for 15 months and was on a very tight budget, so I think he was gonna stay on the island for another 2 weeks.

Treehouse

I have met some interesting people so far, its fun to hear their travel stories and get some good advice about the places I will visit next. There was a lot to do on the island itself like elephant trecking and snorkeling, but a lot of people just relaxed on the beach and did nothing. I did that for a couple days and the third day I went to a ropes course/zipline

Ready to hit the ropes course with Laura and Joel

which was very fun and physically demanding. It was in the middle of the jungle so you could see monkeys climbing on the trees and some of the wires on the course. I wish I had brought my camera for that.

Zipline

I could have stayed on the island for a few more days, but I wanted to meet up with my friends from school in Cambodia, so I left for Siem Reap.

Next Stop: Siem Reap, Cambodia