We had decided to travel from Bangkok to Koh Chang by first class government bus which was more comfortable and trustworthy then using the private operators from Khaosan road. The only problem with this was that we had to get up pretty early in to catch a taxi to the bus station which was slightly tricky with our pattern of getting up around noon and partying until late at night. We ended up being stuck in traffic for most of the cab ride and stopping in front of the bus just as it was getting ready to depart. Luckily our mates taxi driver had taken them over the express way which meant that they had arrived early enough to buy us a ticket and hold up the bus a bit.
Vip bus from Bangkok to Koh Chang
A bus ride, ferry crossing and about 7 hours later we found ourselves within the palmed surroundings of Koh Chang (island) where we hitched a ride on a songthaew (communal taxi service) to Lonely beach. As many places had been booked out due to high season Vourneen had booked us in to a place called Sunflower bungalows, which was run by a very relaxed German guy and his Thai staff. The place had a very nice atmosphere and bungalows of various quality and price, set in a landscaped garden. We got comfortable and then headed to the beach – which was a couple of hundred meters away for our first sunset across the sea. One thing that amazed Vourneen and me is the sheer amount of development that happened since our last visit to the island in 2007. Lonely beach a very laid back area back then is now a big party place full of late night parties, bars with even an open air cinema screen on one of the beach resorts. It was as the owner of Sunflower aptly said no longer lonely in any way. We went on to have some nice food at nature rocks – a beach front resort with a good restaurant and the beach front and ended up back in our usual evening pattern of bars and cocktails.
Sunset splash Lonely Beach Koh Chang Thailand
The next 2 or 3 days or so were spend in the increasingly routine way of getting up late, some hungover lazying at the sunflower restaurant with a fruit shake and breakfast. Then heading for the beach, going for a swim, heaving a beer, going for some food, watching the occasional monkey play at the roadside, and heaving a party at varying bars and at our bungalow.
After these days we decided we should get a bit more active and agreed to do some beach kayaking the next day to one of the uninhabited islands of the beach. What we had not foreseen however was that there was another party going on that evening at the Magic Garden bar and resort, which would get quite out of hand, particularly as Chris ordered us 5 buckets of Long Island ice tea by mistake (he had wanted to order 1 bucket and 5 long island ice teas). Needless to say things went downhill quite quickly from there and we ended up getting to the beach kayak place after 4PM which didn’t leave us with a hell of a lot of time to chill at the uninhabited place. We did our little excursion none the less and felt a bit better for it. After this we decided that it became time to actually start doing something during the day from now on..
Magic Garden Bar Long Island buckets Lonely Beach Koh Chang Thailand
The next day we agreed to rent a motorbike and set out to explore a bit more of the islands different beaches and nature. We drove south to find some very chilled beaches, and then drove on to basically the end of the road. Where I gave Hans some driving lessons on a quiet patch of road as he had never driven a scooter or motorbike before. All of us really enjoyed the drive and we decided to the the same thing again the next day. We rented slightly better quality motorbikes this time from one beach up and circled all the way to the southeast side of the island and back, stopping of at various sights along the way.
The motorbike crew Koh Chang Thailand
We had an early night after this as we had decided (for the 3rd time) to go to the Island of Koh Wai tomorrow. The next day we indeed made it to Koh Wai and enjoyed the great hospitality and pristine beaches of Pakarang resort (one of only 3 resorts on the island, which had pretty much no roads and only generator electricity). Koh Wai was pretty much exactly as we had remembered it from our 2007 visit, the ultimate laid back island with pristine quiet white beaches of which some where only accessible buy climbing through thick jungle or kayaking to them. As it was still early in the day and we would be staying only one night we jumped right in to the sea – did some snorkeling.
After the snorkeling we rented kayaks again to explore some of the beaches. After a few deserted beaches and a couple of stops we found another resort on the opposite side of the island where we had a beer. We had about another 90 minutes of daylight left and after being told by a local that both directions were equally long we decided to continue on in the direction we were headed. We had 2 problems however. The Kayak shared by Tommie, Chris and Hans, seemed to be slowly sinking and the seas where a lot rougher on this side and 2 contrary to what the man at the resort had said the distance on this side was quite a lot longer. After 90+ minutes of extreme speed kayaking and emptying kayaks we made it back to our resort just as it got completely dark. That night didn’t get very late and the next day we set back for Koh Chang and we’re headed on to Ayutthaya through Bangkok the day after on the 17th of January.
