Beaches

Another 6 hours on a bus, and we were suddenly seeing sparkling waters. We took a ferry ride to the island of Koh Chang, a ferry ride, and then trekked until we found the “o so cool hippy hangout” described by Lonely Planet. Seeing that everyone else also reads Lonely Planet, it was full, but eventually we did find a nearby place of similar coolness and price range (about $4 for a small primitive hut with a bed big enough we figured the 3 of us could sleep). The best part was having dinner right on the water…a setting that would be out of our price range in most countries.

The first place we went had a new place which was described as the last remote beach in Koh Chang, so we decided to go there the next morning. It was about a 2 hour drive, the last bit of which did convince we certainly were at least making a good attempt to “get away from it all.” Once again we had a primitive hut with a bed which we decided really wasn’t big enough for the 3 of us, but we didn’t decide that until after 2 rather cramped nights. We swam, laid on the beach, read, and spent the evening sitting around tables eating and relaxing listening to the waves. Our second day we had booked a snorkeling trip, and since we were a bit remote, the 3 of us were picked up by a small motor boat and taken to the large boat with everyone else. Wielding our cameras, passports… we were shocked as choppy waters began splashing into the boat…by the time we reached the large boat we were completely drenched and had had a few rather harrowing moments, not to mention that our camera’s were barely dry. We dried off in the sun until we reached the snorkeling/diving destination which was really beautiful. Brightly coloured fish, interesting coral…it was really beautiful. After lunch we did a second excursion to national park waters where we could swim around a small island and see a wide range of underwater scenery. This was to be my highlight of the whole trip.

Planning our trip back to Bangkok in time for New Years eve, I discovered that we were a day ahead of ourselves when I went to book the bus ticket. We debated but decided to go ahead and head back to Bangkok and spend our “bonus” day there. It was lucky we did because after that everything was closed for the holiday so we wouldn’t have been able to see any of the attractions otherwise.

Rather than the government Mercedes bus we took to Koh Chang, our return boat was a tourist wonder….double decker bus, wild painting on the outside, hot pink interior, with films such as Mission Impossible and Snakes on the Plane for our viewing pleasure. The swaying bus made me a bit sick, but the laughs at such a gaudy display was worth it.