Ko Chang
So here is my first post in a very long time. I primarily
blame teacher’s college applications. But those are in the past now, so I can
focus on other things. Hooray!
December is probably the most holiday filled month in
Thailand, with Father’s Day/The King’s Birthday, Constitution Day, and New Year’s.
Father’s Day and Constitution Day are fairly close together, so I took a couple
other days off to create a 5 day holiday. I decided to go to Ko Chang, one of
the last places I still really wanted to visit. Ko Chang is about 5 hours east
(and slightly south) from Bangkok. It’s the second largest island in Thailand,
I think. Most of the island is a national park, so Ko Chang is a bit less
ridiculous than the southern islands.
Anyway, another one of the foreign teachers, Krista, and I
left Thursday morning – there is a bus that runs from Bangkok to the Ko Chang
pier. We arrived at the pier around 1pm, and boarded the ferry. The ride took
about half an hour, and we arrived. We then got to enjoy the insanity that is
the roads of Ko Chang. Ko Chang is a very mountainous island, and the roads are
notoriously dangerous. The main way to get around Ko Chang is to take a sawng
teaw. The roads were insanely steep and twisty, but they followed the coast, so
the views were gorgeous.
We arrived at our hotel, Oasis Bungalows, around 3pm. Oasis
is up a hill near Lonely Beach, the main backpacker beach (fewer fancy resorts).
The bungalow was very nice, and surrounded by jungle. In the evening, we walked
down to the beach to enjoy the sunset.
Friday
Friday morning, I decided to explore the island a little bit
on my own. The biggest waterfall on Ko Chang Nam Dok Klong Plu, wasn’t too far
from Lonely Beach, so I decided to head in that direction. After another
precarious sawng taew ride, I got off at the side road leading to the
waterfall. After a short walk down a shady road, I arrived at the entrance to
the National park and waterfall. There was a 2km path that led through the
forest and to the water fall. I always love getting back to nature and the walk
was quite beautiful. The walk to the waterfall wasn’t long, and the falls were
pretty. But there was a fair numbers of tourists, so after a quick dip, I
decided to continue on the path. It led up a hill/mountain and back down. At
that point, I was super hot and sweaty, so I went back to Lonely beach to watch
the sunset.
Beach near the waterfall
Saturday
Saturday, Krista and I decided to venture to the east coast
of the island. Most western tourists stay on the east side as it is much more developed
and easier to get around. I had read on the East side, there were neat-sounding
mangrove forests that you could kayak through. We ended up having to hire a special
sawng teaw to take us there, as they usually don’t drive on the east side. It
was expensive, but we both really wanted to go. The drive was beautiful, very
natural with hardly any big buildings. After a while, we stopped at the forest.
There was an elevated concrete path that led through part of the forest. It was
amazing to see the trees growing out of the water. The mangroves survive in the
salt water by pumping the salt they absorb into a few leaves, which turn yellow
and die. After the walk we went to a small village where you can rent kayaks. I
think the village was primarily a fishing village, as there were many boats and
fishermen tending to their nets. We kayaked through the forest out to the ocean,
where there was a smaller, floating fishing village. It was a beautiful paddle,
and I’m glad we got the chance to visit.
Sunday
On Sunday, I had signed Krista and myself up for a guided
hike. The description said we would walk up a mountain and get some really nice
views. However, once we arrived at the starting point, our guide informed us
that today we would actually climb TWO mountains with lots of steep up and down
parts between them. I was excited – often when you sign up for guided hikes,
they are piddly little walks through the forest. There were 4 other people in
our group, all from Germany. We started by walking through a rubber farm. I had
never seen one up close – the farmers cut small strips in trees and the sap
drains out, and is collected. We then started up-hill. The path was quite steep
and wild. It was challenging, but not any harder than the paths in the
Adirondacks. We arrived at the peak of the second mountain around noon or so,
and enjoyed some spectacular views of the island. The way down was also very
steep, and challenging. Mid-afternoon, we reached a small river with a pool for
swimming. Finally, we arrived at the end around 5pm and were driven back to our
hotel. The hike ended up being 18km, I think, and it was a very beautiful walk.
Rubber tree
Monday
We decided that Monday would be a lounge on the beach day –
to recover from the previous day’s hike. We picked a spot on Lonely Beach and
then swam, napped, read books, and were beach bums. We on;y left to find food.
I also played with my new waterproof camera. In the evening, we were rewarded
with the most beautiful sunset on the island yet.
Lonely Beach
The next day, we traveled back to Bangkok. And I have officially
decided that Ko Chang is the best island in Thailand. Beautiful nature, and not
too many idiot travellers.
