Chang-nesia

Who goes to Thailand and doesn’t experience Island life? Isn’t that like… illegal? I think it is.

Well, it turns out the weather was awful in the south of Thailand for the foreseeable future. And on top of that, I had many a solo traveler who I met tell me to try and avoid Phuket. If I wanted island life, which I did!, Phuket was not the place to get it. Granted, there are a bunch of islands accessible from there, but they told me not to waste any time actually staying in Phuket.

Anyway, these two main factors helped me to discover the eastern seaboard. Slightly closer and more accessible from Bangkok, the Eastern Seaboard and the gulf of Thailand have quite a few island options. The weather was looking mighty fine, so I hopped a bus outta there and was on my way.

1 Bus, 1 Ferry, & 1 Taxi later I was on Koh Chang. It took me about 6 hours in total and I was lying pool side at my resort in no time.

The resort I picked didn’t have beach access exactly. But it DID have access to a nicer resort where I could have a cocktail and watch the sunset. Which I did… on the second night – after Sean made fun of me when I told him I had a cup of tea the first night while watching the sunset.

Old habits…

Anyway, On my third day I hopped on another boat and headed to a smaller island called Koh Wai.

Koh Wai only has about 4 places to stay… and no roads whatsoever. I had to walk along the beach until I found some accommodation.

I got a lovely little bungalow on stilts overlooking the ocean. Koh Wai was definitely more my pace. There was nothing to do but read, lie on the beach and snorkel!

The water was beautiful. Absolutely clear and lovely shades of green and turquoise. On my second day, I rented a snorkel and explored the small reef near the beach. I saw so many beautiful fishies! Mostly small and stripey. They must be used to humans cause they would all cluster around me and swim behind me like I was the mama fish.  It was awesome.

Of course, before I went in the water I saw a sign on the beach for Jelly Fish. It was a warning about the box jelly fish. AKA: the most deadly jelly fish EVA.

Since there was no explanation about peak season for jellies, I had to assume that they might be in the water. And, being the paranoid lady that I am, I nearly choked on my snorkel every time my hair floated in front of my face. I totally thought it was tentacles. This happened about 5 times before I just decided to bail.

Ugh.

After a couple nights on Koh Wai, I headed back to Koh Chang to another resort that had a very basic bungalow complete with a hammock. Is there anything better? I shared my room with a couple geckos, but it was ok because they kept the mosquitos at bay.

Aside for drinking cocktails and lying on the beach I signed up for a 1 day Kayak expedition with a company called Kayak Chang.

The owner, Andy, is from Britain, and he took myself and three others out on the water for a day of sea kayaking.

It was amazing! We covered 12 km and paddled around 5 islands, landing on 2 for some snacks and lunch.

We also got to snorkel!

I fed the fishies some watermelon…

One fish got a bit confused actually and took a chunk out of my leg. A small chunk… but he definitely drew blood. haha.

I ended up staying on Koh Chang for a night longer than expected as I was avoiding Bangkok. Political unrest seems to be following me around the world!

I didn’t see anything actually happening in Bangkok, no demonstrations or rallies but there was quite a lot of violence near the government buildings. Staying on the island for an extra night was probably a good choice, and it didn’t bother me one bit. 😉

Now, I dunno if you know this about me… but I have some control issues. I like plans. I need lists. I want to book things and know where I am going, when I am going and how I am going. Well Thailand took one look at me, and laughed. Very long and very loud.

Thailand does not plan. It’s doesn’t book ahead and if it does… there are no guarantees… rarely tickets. No booking references.

I had to let go. There was really no way for me to book rooms ahead of time, to book buses prior to actually getting on them. This was new for me.

By the time I was leaving the island and heading back to Bangkok I had completely lost control.

You want to catch a taxi to the ferry? You wait on the side of the road and around 11am a random car will drive by and pick you up. It may or may not have a sign in the window that says ‘To the Ferry’. May or may not.

You want to get on the ferry now? You buy a ticket and just wait until it comes. It’s supposed to be every 30 mins. But really it won’t leave until it’s full. 30 minutes be damned.

You want to get on a bus to Bangkok? Oh, well, just get in this taxi and it’ll take you the long way round to the bus station at which point the bus will be pulling away, but we’ll still sell you a ticket and then run after the bus and stop it so you can get on. This is Thailand, lady. Get used to it.

It took me bout 10 hours to get back to Bangkok, but I made it. Not quite as seamless as my trip to the island, but it was ok. I only had to pee for the last six hours on a bus that didn’t stop.

Anyhoo, once back in Bangkok I just hung about for two days, got a pedicure (so cheap) and went to Starbucks more times than I would like to admit for the sole reason that they play Christmas Carols 24/7. Is it December? Holy Moly.

what is with this crazy two-faced cyet?

xxx