Island Time
Cindy and I took a quick trip to Ko Chang, which is an island 5.5 hours southeast of Bangkok, and near to the Cambodian border. The trip itself was more than we'd expected...2 transfers, a long ferry, etc. BUT we made it just in time to have to get the most expensive room available. Grrr.
Ko Chang itself is the 2nd largest in Thailand, after Phuket, and is still half un-developed, which was the draw for me. However, since 2000 they've managed to build a couple hundred resorts near White Sands Beach. We drove through it, but I couldn't even afford the Cokes at the 7/11 there, so we headed on towards Lonely Beach, which is still backpacker haven.
The first night we went to a fun restaurant with live music and lots of hookah pipes. We met some interesting older German guys. One was a music teacher, so it was fun to talk classical. I was pretty tired, so we had an early bedtime. The next morning, I decided that though I had never done it before, I should rent a motorbike to travel around the island. After all, you can rent one for 180 Baht, and a taxi to/fro places is 100Baht, and it's infinitely more fun!
So I learned all the buttons/gadgets on the bike, and I said "Climb on Cindy!" A few wobbles and 2 false starts later, I said, "Hm...maybe you better let me practice for a minute first." She quickly (verrry quickly) climbed off and I practiced driving up and down the gravel road. 3 times later, I was fairly confident, especially since we would be hitting the paved roads in a minute. Cindy (cautiously) climbed back on, and we headed out.
Motorbiking on islands is my new favorite pasttime. It was amazing! Zooming up/down hills, feeling the wind, stopping whenever we wanted...now that's nice. We drove to the entrance of a big waterfall and hiked 500m inside the park to find it. The waterfall was amazing, with several tiers and a nice swimming pool at the bottom, which I enjoyed a dip in.
Afterwards we drove to White Sands Beach so Cindy could revel in a tropical beach scene. It was very nice, but...the Philippines have stolen my heart forever. I chilled on a blanket while Cindy swam and worried about the encroaching darkness. Sure enough, the ride back was sheer terror. There are NOT enough lights on the road, and there are so many twisty turns. I was muttering pleasedontdiepleasedontdie the whole time, over and over. And just my luck (everyone is already shaking their heads) I couldn't see a giant hill in time and wasn't able to get enough momentum to go up. We toppled over, luckily in the grass, but I managed to scrape up my hands, and one knee. Cindy cut her ankle, but was otherwise okay, mostly because she landed on top of me, I think! Haha. I very shakily drove us the rest of the way home and promised myself I would never drive at night again!! Still worth it though, as Cindy agreed. (I hope she still feels that way!)
That night we chilled with the Germans again and this time, the music teacher was jammin on guitar with another guy, and there were bongos...and it was all very hippie and island-like and stereotypical and...darn it, I had fun.
We woke up late the next morn, enjoyed a nice lunch on the water, and then unfortunately had to head back. A nice introduction to Thailand's islands.
Ko Chang itself is the 2nd largest in Thailand, after Phuket, and is still half un-developed, which was the draw for me. However, since 2000 they've managed to build a couple hundred resorts near White Sands Beach. We drove through it, but I couldn't even afford the Cokes at the 7/11 there, so we headed on towards Lonely Beach, which is still backpacker haven.
The first night we went to a fun restaurant with live music and lots of hookah pipes. We met some interesting older German guys. One was a music teacher, so it was fun to talk classical. I was pretty tired, so we had an early bedtime. The next morning, I decided that though I had never done it before, I should rent a motorbike to travel around the island. After all, you can rent one for 180 Baht, and a taxi to/fro places is 100Baht, and it's infinitely more fun!So I learned all the buttons/gadgets on the bike, and I said "Climb on Cindy!" A few wobbles and 2 false starts later, I said, "Hm...maybe you better let me practice for a minute first." She quickly (verrry quickly) climbed off and I practiced driving up and down the gravel road. 3 times later, I was fairly confident, especially since we would be hitting the paved roads in a minute. Cindy (cautiously) climbed back on, and we headed out.
Motorbiking on islands is my new favorite pasttime. It was amazing! Zooming up/down hills, feeling the wind, stopping whenever we wanted...now that's nice. We drove to the entrance of a big waterfall and hiked 500m inside the park to find it. The waterfall was amazing, with several tiers and a nice swimming pool at the bottom, which I enjoyed a dip in.
Afterwards we drove to White Sands Beach so Cindy could revel in a tropical beach scene. It was very nice, but...the Philippines have stolen my heart forever. I chilled on a blanket while Cindy swam and worried about the encroaching darkness. Sure enough, the ride back was sheer terror. There are NOT enough lights on the road, and there are so many twisty turns. I was muttering pleasedontdiepleasedontdie the whole time, over and over. And just my luck (everyone is already shaking their heads) I couldn't see a giant hill in time and wasn't able to get enough momentum to go up. We toppled over, luckily in the grass, but I managed to scrape up my hands, and one knee. Cindy cut her ankle, but was otherwise okay, mostly because she landed on top of me, I think! Haha. I very shakily drove us the rest of the way home and promised myself I would never drive at night again!! Still worth it though, as Cindy agreed. (I hope she still feels that way!)That night we chilled with the Germans again and this time, the music teacher was jammin on guitar with another guy, and there were bongos...and it was all very hippie and island-like and stereotypical and...darn it, I had fun.
We woke up late the next morn, enjoyed a nice lunch on the water, and then unfortunately had to head back. A nice introduction to Thailand's islands.
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