Back to Thailand
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2009
1
24
44
Trip End
Mar 30, 2009
Ko Chang, Thailand
Thursday, February 5, 2009
There was a line of mini-vans and I got in the one going to Koh Chang. It was a very uncomfortable, close to two hour ride. We got dropped off at some travel office. Here we were given our tickets to the ferry (Ko Chang is an island). I also bought my ticket to Bangkok for 270 Baht for Sunday and booked accommodation for $500 Baht per day on White Sand Beach.
A bus picked us up and drover us for a few minutes. We disembarked and got on a truck that took us to the ferry. We had to wait almost an hour before the ferry got there and was turned around. It was 17:30 by the time we got to Ko Chang.
I got on a truck with the other people. It was 50 Baht to White Sand Beach. I got dropped off at my guest house, Arunee Resort. I was underwhelmed by my room. It is tiny, with only a bed, a fan and private bathroom with hot water. For 500 Baht I was expecting more. This is more like a 200 Baht place. As I had already paid for all my days in Ko Chang I couldn't switch hotels in the morning.
As I was walking down the street in the evening, I saw a snorkeling excursion, 4 islands in 1 day, for 550 Baht so I booked it for tomorrow. The other ones I saw were 1000 Baht and up. I also booked my airplane ticket to the Philippines with Cebu Pacific for 6200 Baht (one way) which is very expensive. The same ticket was about $50 back when I tried to book it in October or November. The problem was that the Cebu Pacific website didn't accept North American credit cards, so I had to wait to buy a ticket until I was in Thailand. I could have booked one at the beginning of my trip, but didn't know yet on what day I wanted to fly. I will end up flying to the Philippines about 10 days later than I originally thought; I stayed longer in Chiang Mai and Laos than I planned.
Fri, 6 Feb 09
A truck picked me up at 08:00 and drove me to the other end of the island (it's a big island), to the fishing village where the pier is. Here I got on a fairly big boat. There would be a lot of people onboard. The boat left after 09:00. It took more than an hour to get to our first stop, a small coral island. We were given snorkel masks (flippers were 100 Baht extra) and jumped in the water. After an hour of swimming with the fish we moved to a different island. While on the way there, we were given food.
We spent an hour at this island too. Here we could snorkel or swim to the beach. After this we moved to another small coral island for an hour swimming. This place would turn out to be the best for snorkeling.
Next we went to another, bigger island. Here the boat actually tied up to a jetty so we could walk ashore. There was a restaurant here where we could eat or drink. There was also a nice beach to lie on or once again we could swim and snorkel.
After an hour spent on the island, we got back on the boat and headed back to Ko Chang. The boat got back at 17:00. A truck drove us back to our hotels.
Sat, 07 Feb 2009
I didn't do much today. In the morning, after getting up, I walked along the beach and then went looking for a Post Office. It didn't look like it was far on the map, but it took me quite a while to get there in the soaring heat. On the way back I decided to take a sawngthaew for 30 Baht.
I lay on the beach for a while and swam in the sea. When I felt I was starting to get a bit too much sun I went to my room and had a nap. I wasn't feeling too good, I had an upset stomach all day.
In the evening I walked around a bit and got some food. I took it easy today after a few hectic days. I haven't had a good night's sleep since Don Det 10 days ago. Tomorrow will be a long day again as I am going to Bangkok and then taking a red-eye flight to the Philippines.
