Koh Chang: Ferries, Motorbikes, and Automobiles

The morning of my trip to Koh Chang, I was delayed a bit at my hotel and then could not find a taxi who would bring me to the bus terminal for a reasonable amount of money so I ended up taking transit.  As a result, I missed the first bus and had to wait around for an hour.  This foreshadowed many of the other problems I could, and did, run into travelling to, around, and from the island of Koh Chang.

It took the large bus almost six hours to drive to the ferry terminal where we were rushed onto an overcrowded bus...only to be driven a mere fifty feet to the actual pier and then walked onto the ferry.  I had been sitting next to a young woman travelling from Finland and together we sat on the floor of the ferry because it was so crowded there were no seats left. 

After about 45 minutes we arrived on Koh Chang and were greeted by many of those shared taxis who tried valiantly to cram everyone on with the luggage strapped to the roof.  As it was, a woman had to hang on to the back of the vehicle as we sped up, down, and around very high hills on the way to the beaches. 

When I got dropped off at 'White Sand' beach, I approached one of the local travel agencies with a couple of the other travelllers and they were told that their guesthouse was 100m away but mine was 1km!  Actually it was more like 1.5km and yes, I hiked the whole thing while carrying an extra 20 kilos.  When I arrived at the hotel, they told me that for the first night I would be at the sister hotel across the road and would then move for the second night.  The sister hotel bungalow was so new that it still had paint buckets outside of the balcony, and when I asked where the blankets were, I was told that I was supposed to use the oversized towels that were folded on the bed. 

After a much-desired shower, I made my way back down the hill into town and looked for a restaurant that was recommended in my guide book.  When that didn't work I just picked one at random (which actually was also recommended) and sat at a table right on the sand next to the waves.  I couldn't see them because it was dark but I knew the sea was there.  Anyway, I was approached by a woman who asked if I was travelling alone and when I said I was, she said so was she so I invited her to join me for dinner.  My original plan for Koh Chang was to go and be alone for a couple of days, not really talk to anybody or be beholden to anyone else's schedule.  But the reality is that it is much nicer to sit at a romantic table on the beach with company; Even if that company is a perfect stranger.  Caroline was staying in the area for three weeks so she had quite a bit more flexibility than I did.

After dinner, I walked back along the main road ended up paying way too much money for a pedicure.  But whatever.  When I walked out I felt ready for the beach. 

I was woken up at 6am the next morning by the unbelievable loud howling of all of the wild dogs that live near the resort.  When I got out of bed to investigate, I saw a couple of them right outside my window on my little porch.  After a while I gave up and moved my stuff across the road to the main hotel and then went for breakfast.  Breakfast was a decent buffet spread but the real story is the view.  We were perched at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean with lush trees all around.  That atmosphere is worth the price of admission.

I walked back into town and met Caroline, and together we took a taxi to the Khlong Pluu water fall in the national park.   This is one of those places that is free for local Thais but costs foreigners 200 Bhat which is about 7 dollars! 

The 500m walk to the falls was through beautiful jungle and even though I'm sure the falls themselves are more impressive in rainy season, they were still pretty with a clean, deep pool at the bottom that was perfect for swimming.  That was the first time I had been in water my entire trip! 

There were even a couple of local life guards of sorts who watched and made sure that nobody was in any kind of danger. 

After freshening up back at the hotel I met Caroline again and we both had a Thai massage on the beach. 

While I was lying on my stomach I was watching little ants climb through the sand and I could hear the ocean just a few meters away.  Very civilized...and I can't think of anything comparable back at home.  We had another lovely romantic dinner on the beach and that was the end of my only full day on Koh Chang.

Let me describe it a bit.  I am not sure what I was expecting but I think that the beaches and lakes of Canada have spoiled me forever.  I chose Koh Chang because it is supposed to be less developed than the other destinations like Pattaya or Phuket.  But I have come to the conclusion that 'less developed' simply means that the hotels are not as big and there are not quite as many tourists.  Because as it is, the entire beachfront is covered with guesthouses and restaurants.  The main road is full of shops for beachware and other touristy things. 

Since there is no real public transit other than shared taxis, many tourist rent motobikes so there were tons of Europeans driving around on these things.  And finally, there were some nice bars, but there were also so many places with Thai women in short skirts and high heels looking bored and waiting to reel in some travelling men.  There were many families and couples on the beaches, but the only Thai people there were either working, or were the wives of white men.  In the end, despite enjoying the natural beauty, and the gorgeous water, it just wasn't my kind of place.   At least, not in my current stage of life.

My room for the second night was wonderful and faced the ocean and it is a shame that I did not have it the entire time. 

I woke up the second morning, checked out after breakfast, and walked to town for a final swim in the ocean.  The ocean was beautiful and relaxing and I had no idea what kind of nightmare experience I was about to have for the next 36 hours.

I had asked my hotel's concierge how to get to the Bangkok airport from where we were and he told me that I could leave in the afternoon, take the ferry back to the mainland, and then catch a minibus (which he said left hourly) back to Bangkok and from there I knew I could get the airport easily using transit.  Well, the porter drove my luggage and me on his motorbike to the town and then we could not find a taxi willing to take me to the pier.  It took half an hour to find someone willing to do so and when I got to the pier, I had just missed the ferry and had to wait 50 minutes for the next one.  This was annoying but not a huge problem because I had given myself four extra hours to get to the airport.  There were no tourists on the ferry and an Englishman who was working on Koh Chang told me that the other pier was more suitable for what I was trying to do but I could probably take a taxi to the other pier on the mainland to catch a minubus.  Once we arrived back on the mainland, there was a taxi waiting there and the driver told me that there were no more buses going to Bangkok from the pier and that the last one was at 2pm.  I tried to ask him about the other pier but he said there were none there too.  The English guy was going into the nearby town of Trat and the driver told me I could catch a minubus from there.  I wasn't thrilled with the idea but I agreed because I still felt I had enough time.  Once we got to the Trat minibus station, the woman there told me that the next bus was not for another hour and a half.  This would put me into Bangkok at 10:30 and I knew I would not have enough time to get the airport.  The taxi driver offered to arrange a private taxi for me and in the end I accepted the even though it was expensive (but not as expensive as missing my flight I though and it was a four-hour drive after all).  Anyway, he said we would leave immediately but we did not end up leaving for another hour and a half because he was having difficulty finding a driver willing to take the job.  Once he found a driver, we then had to wait around for the driver's wife to arrive and come with us (either to keep him awake or for decency's sake - who knows).  The entire time I was waiting they kept telling me "5 minutes" or "20 minutes" or whatever and I really had no control over the situation whatsoever. 

Trat is not a pretty town. 

And I was stuck there with a bunch of strangers waiting to get chauffered like a princess back to Bangkok.  I was stressed and nervous and hoping that I would not end up as a statistic.  But like so many things in SE Asia, things are never as they seem.  So if I was seeing a run-down and sketchy corner, they saw their everyday workplace.  I learned another lesson in perspective.

We finally got underway at 6:30 in the evening and since the trip was supposed to take 4 hours (according to the driver) and that would get me to the airport with enough time to check in.  Well, after about half an hour we pulled over because the engine was overheating (and I thought...really?...REALLY?).  We were able to drive but at a slower speed to a service station where they changed the oil and then things seemed to be alright again.  I was beginning to relax and chat a bit with the woman driver who spoke some English.  It was only when we were at our second stop getting a snack from the 7-Eleven, when I asked how much longer we had to go.  When she told me "3 hours" I thought maybe I had asked the question wrong...but no.  The cold realization that I was very likely going to miss my flight, or at best that it would be very close, began to hit me.  The trip that everyone said should take  4 hours was going to take 5.  I tried very hard to explain that you have to be at the airport very early for an international flight but these were simple and good people and had zero concept of what I was trying to get across.  I think they did try to drive faster though.  We arrived at the airport comples around 11pm or just after (flight at 00:30) but then the driver missed the turn to the passenger terminal area, pulled over on the other side of a parking lot, and hopped out to ask for directions.  He came back to tell me that I had to walk across the parking lot to get to the terminal because the minibus could not drive through.  Any attempt I made to explain that we had to drive back around to the turn we missed was not at all understood.  And I knew at that point that this was the final nail in the coffin and these precious minutes would mean that the gate would close before I got there.  And that is exactly what happened.  I ran across the parking lot, into the terminal, up three levels, and found the check-in desk...all with 20 kilos on my back.  And was told that the check-in desk had closed 20 minutes earlier and that there was nothing I could do.  I ended up staying at a cheap hotel near the airport and I stayed up until 2am trying to get through to Quantas so I could get on the next flight out.  In the end I bought a new ticket with British Airways because it was less expensive than the Quantas ticket (even with the credit for what I already paid).

If you count up all of the time I lost (30 minutes taxi, 50 minutes ferry, 40 minutes drive to Trat, 1.5 hours waiting to leave Trat, and a 5 hour trip instead of 4), you can see that I had factored in more than 4 hours of extra time to get to the airport in case I ran into problems.  I am a seasoned international traveller and never have things gone so incredibly wrong.  I blame myself a little for not getting a second opinion on the travel options back to Bangkok but really, the concierge at the hotel told me that when he goes to Bangkok, he does exactly what he advised me to do, and helping me is supposed to be his job.  I'm not sure that I could have done anything differently. 

Anyway, I found myself with an extra day in Bangkok so after leaving my luggage at the airport, I went to Siam Centre and walked around a variety of air-conditionned shopping malls.  I enjoyed a performance for the Chinese New Year, and thought about watching a movie. 

For dinner I had some wicked-awesome street food (something I will really miss) of freshly-fried chicken, fried noodles, and some fresh fruit of a variety that I have never seen in Canada.  I then headed to the airport and checked in so early that I even had a choice of window or aisle (aisle of course for this long a flight).  I wandered around and bought some stuff in duty-free, and that was it. 

You know, life is funny sometimes.  As I was sitting in my seat and watching the other passengers walking down the aisles, I recognized the Spanish guys who were with my mother and me on the Halong Bay boat trip.  They were leaving Asia and on their way to Barcelona via London.  In fact, they were sitting right next to me so I had somebody to talk to and share a few stories.  That was a pleasant surprise.

Russell met me at the airport and we arrived at their house in London just after 6am.  I have now been in London for 36 hours and all of this seems very distant.  It must be the weather.

As always, thanks for reading.

Leslie