On to Heaven... Koh Chang

Sorry for the delay... finished up my contract this week at work and came down with Swine Flu or some strange strain of it. All is well though, no need to worry as I have caught up on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm".

So.. we awoke on day 2 of the epic journey in Bangkok. We knew we needed to catch a bus to Koh Chang Island and we knew it was going to be leaving pretty early. Somehow we managed to sleep even though the parties in the street went on until 3 am and we awoke at 6. I was pumped for our journey to begin. We headed downstairs to eat some breakfast and, to my surprise, we were greeted by a western style breakfast! My mouth was instantly watering at the tropical fruits and eggs along side bacon and sausages.

We happily scarfed down some grub and headed to the bus station to try to get on our bus.

The air was so smoggy in Bangkok and visibility was down to three or four blocks on this day. Just walking with our packs was taking my breath away. It was a very weird sensation that I had not really experienced up to this point.

We got our ticket and waited for the bus to arrive. While we were waiting, I was sitting next to a western man, he was with his Thai girlfriend and he was talking to her as if she were nothing and had no value. It was very distressing to hear one person talk down to another person like that who had done absolutely nothing wrong. As the bus approached I was excited to get on board and to avoid that situation. To my dissatisfaction, the couple ended up being on the bus in the seats next to us, all the way to Koh Chang, for 5 hours.

Haha. Oh well, I suppose. It was interesting to hear them interact and I am pretty sure she wasn't listening to him much anyway. We caught eyes a few times and her eyes smiled at me so I know she was okay. It wasn't the same as many sad eyes I have seen from women while I have been traveling. So I guess she was happy, or happy enough.

When we arrived at the ferry port we were so happy to get off our first of many long long bus rides. We purchased our tickets, boarded the boat, and headed on to the ferry. First things first, we stopped in the small ferry shop and got a beer to kick off the trip. Singha and Chang beer to be more accurate, as sampling the local brews is essential on any travel (as long as it isn't tap...be careful of the water). ;)

When the ferry arrived at Koh Chang island we got off and were greeted by many 'taxis'. These taxis were made by pick up trucks and all of the bags were shoved on top of the rack on top of the truck. There were close to 15 people already aboard, but when they found out the hotel we were going to they decided to squeeze us in too. The ride was $4 per person, which means the the taxi drivers were making a lot of dough . There were monkeys on the sides of the road and the truck had trouble changing into gear as we went up and down the steep mountains of Koh Chang. When the beach finally appeared it was like a tropical paradise. The town was small, but there was more than enough choices and things for us to do and places to eat.

We finally pulled close to our resort and we were let off on the main road and directed down a small tropical path that would reach out hotel. We slumped on our packs and headed out on the trail. We made it down past some beach bungalows and over a small bridge, and then it appeared. It was beautiful and I immediately knew that even though we were far away from the rest of town, that we were at an amazing secluded resort for Christmas.

The room was up on a mountainside and was a cute bungalow with a porch. The resort was the Chai Chet Resort. My main goal was to have a horizon pool at some point during this trip. I had never swam in one and this resort had a beautiful one that looked right into the sea. It was complete with elephants that spat water out of the elephant's noses.

We relaxed by the pool and then headed to the main road to get a bite to eat and stop in the local market to check out the goods. Everything was incredibly cheap. However, during this trip I learned that Money is relative. That is the number one way to travel. Not think about your money in terms of exchange rate, however, think of it as it is in the country that you are in.

We went to a small roadside stand to grab a bite to eat and were immediately greeted by two wonderful women who ran the humble establishment with 5 outdoor tables. They recommended we try the PadThai and a traditional green curry. We went for both along with two beers. They asked us about spice level and in our best Thai/English we asked for average spice but not high. They laughed at us as they cooked us up some fresh food in the kitchen and added spices. The aroma of delicious thai food filled the area. We were served fresh plates of amazing piping hot food and we ate to our hearts content. The women chatted with us in limited English about our trip and we went on our way with their well wishes.

We rented motor bikes, and explored the island before booking a reservation to ride elephants in the jungle the following Christmas day. We chose a place that was known for preserving and protecting elephants so we knew that the treatment of the elephants was humane and safe. We didn't want to let a place that hurt elephants profit off of their actions, so we thought this was the best bet. In the past, we had read and heard horror stories about seeing elephants being beaten while riding them, and we knew that was the last thing we wanted to experience.

After a delicious dinner at a local eatery we were off to bed for a fun filled Christmas day.