Ko Chang,
Thailand
Monday, October 20, 2008
After one night in Bangkok we decided to head to the northern Gulf of Thailand island called Ko Chang. We came to this conclusion based mainly on two reasons. #1 our friends Tyler and Brent from Nanaimo were on it and #2 it is a "short" bus ride/ferry from Bangkok. Well if you have traveled to Asia you should know that for the most part nothing is "short" and when a trip should take 6 hours, a few more should be added for good measure, as in our case. So we boarded our nice AC bus at 8:30am and went on our way. Most of us had fallen asleep until we randomly stopped about an hour in and some crazy lady came on the bus and told us we needed to eat and go to the bathroom as the bus "will not stop for 4 more hours". She was scary so we hustled our buts off and spent $ in her establishment. Back on the bus we had all dozed off again until another random stop occurred. This one was at some sort of carpenter garage. We waited and waited until finally someone asked what we were doing and they explained that they were getting fitted for a new sub box for their stereo system....ummmm??? So to appease us they put on Indian Jones and a half hour later we were on our way. That was until the AC suddenly stopped working and then the gear box and once again we were stopped on the side of the highway. This time another bus pulled up alongside and they transferred us and all of our luggage onto a local bus. We were crammed in and some sat in the aisles and it smelled absolutely horrible. A few hours later we drop off all the locals and we are heading to the ferry pier when mid conversation with some people from Maple Ridge, a loud bang occurs and ONCE AGAIN we are stopped on the side of the highway. This time our tire as exploded and taken half the wheel well with it. Ok.... well next thing you know we are hitchhiking with our backpacks on the side of the road until we get a few pick ups to stop and finally arrive just in time to catch the last ferry to Ko Chang. By the time we arrive to our "hotel" it is 8:00pm... a mere 12 hours after departure.... What a day.
Next day woke up and headed to the bungalows our Nanaimo friends were at. Spent the day at the beach with them and then had some dinner and headed to the Treehouse. The Treehouse is a really cool lounge that has a large deck with lots of pillows and short tables. Hung out there for a bit and then returned as I was not feeling to well. Woke up yesterday with horrible aches and the flu. Spent the day locked up in our bungalow sleeping. Made it out for some dinner and goodbyes with the Nanaimo boys (as they are off to Cambodia), then back to bed. Not the place you want to be sick in. Much rather be laying on the beach or in the ocean than in our shanty bungalow with our new cockroach and spider friends. Think we are headed off to Ko Samet tomorrow for a few days before we go back to Bangkok for the Wallinger sibling reunion.
Back to bed for this girl!!
P.s. cockroaches play dead. They are sneaky buggers.
