So Much For Sun, Mosquitoes Instead

View from Apple's Restaurant, White Sand Beach, Ko Chang, Thailand
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I only had a few days left on my Thai visa and after some investigation, had decided to enter into Cambodia from the South via Hat Lek/Cham Yeam. Given that decision, I decided on visiting one last Thai island for a day or two of sun. Leaving Ayuthaya I had two options to get to Bangkok where I needed to go to a different bus station. I could either take a bus that was two hours long and would drop me off at the Northern bus station or a minibus that would only take one hour and would drop me off at Victory Monuments which was more central and closer to the Eastern bus station where I had to go. My only reservation about the minibus was that they only leave when full and was concerned about how long it would take at 5 in the morning. However, when the time came, I only had to wait 10 minutes which was a pleasant surprise.

Beach at White Sand Beach, Ko Chang, Thailand
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Once in Bangkok, I once again had two choices to get to the bus station, either take the Skytrain or a taxi. I think the Skytrain would have been cheaper, but the thought of having to deal with rush hour and my pack didn't seem too appealing. I managed to find a taxi very easily and after some confusion about where I wanted to go, I believed that the taxi driver got it. As we drove through the city at least the sun was in the right position for heading south east. The traffic was pretty busy so early in the morning, causing us to have to come to a standstill quite often, which gave my driver plenty of time to pluck the hairs from around his chin and above his mouth. 100 Baht (approx $3.12) later and about 45 minutes I was dropped off.

View Heading South at White Sand Beach, Ko Chang, Thailand
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To get to Ko Chang required getting the bus to Trat, then making your way to Laem Ngop where the pier is. I bought my ticket to Trat for 241 Baht (approx $7.53) which left only 10 minutes later. I guess this was a fancier VIP bus which had the regular 4 seats across and air con, but we also had an attendant, all dressed up like a flight attendant and even wore a hat, who served up water, coke and cookies. Quite different from the local buses I had been mostly taking!

About 5 hours later and I believe just before Trat, the bus stopped outside of a tourist information center. I decided to get off hoping that the trip to the pier would be closer than having to go into Trat. Of course, the woman at the center was eager to try to get me to commit to a guesthouse, but since I really didn't know yet what beach I wanted to go to, I declined. Having about 30 minutes to wait for the next bus before heading to the pier, the woman suggested I grab lunch at a local place just up the road. The place ended being a roadside shack that had no menu. I thought I had asked for chicken fried rice, but instead got seafood fried rice. It wasn't worth trying to get it changed given the difficulty with the language barrier, so I picked my way around the calamari (especially the ones with the heads) and other nameless items.

View Heading North at White Sand Beach, Ko Chang, Thailand
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Back at the tourist information center, the bus had arrived and we were piled into the back of a truck, with myself and a German girl being the last ones in. My first impression of her as we talked was not a really good one. She sat there smoking, speaking loudly, snapping pictures and really seemed to have no clue how close her arm kept getting to the Thai person next to her. We made it to the pier and just made the boat that does the 8km crossing to Ko Chang in about 25 minutes or so.

Once at Ko Chang we had to get transportation to the beaches. I had decided to start off at White Sand Beach, the most popular and closest to the pier and I would figure it out from there. The woman at the tourist information center said it would cost 40 Baht (approx $1.25) . Well, apparently that wasn't the case, it was 50 Baht (approx $1.56). The German girl started to explode yelling at the driver that she was only going to pay 40 Baht. Now, I don't like getting ripped off, but really, 10 Baht? Plus, the one truck was already full of people, all having to pay 50 Baht. After about 5 minutes of yelling, she finally conceded and we got into a second truck. All was fine until the driver wanted to put more people into the truck and she didn't want to put her bag on the roof. Once again, she started yelling at the driver. He finally gave in and she managed to give enough space to fit one more person. I was embarrassed to be a tourist at that moment, given her ugly behavior.

Beach at White Sand Beach, Ko Chang, Thailand
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Arriving at White Sand Beach, the German girl asked where I was staying. I really didn't know yet for sure, but I thought it was best if we parted ways. The place I had finally decided upon was at Long beach at the bottom of the island, but I found out that I could only go there the following day and since I was only spending two nights, it didn't seem to make a lot of sense. I then wandered up and down the main street trying to find something that was suitable. The one place that I thought might be a good contender was hard to find. But eventually I did find it and took the bungalow. The bedroom had a mattress on the floor, a mosquito net and a jerry-rigged floor fan on the wall. The bathroom was an outdoor bathroom but covered and quite large. However, the best part was the hammock on my small veranda. After a an hour or two of reading, I headed for an early dinner since my lunch hadn't been too appetizing.

My Bungalow at Tonsai Guesthouse, White Sand Beach, Ko Chang, Thailand
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The next day, the weather wasn't any better, having started off with rain. Thankfully, by late morning it had subsided but did not lead to any sun at all. I had a leisurely breakfast at Apple's Restaurant which was right on the beach. Needless to say, given the bad weather, there weren't any people walking around. I then ventured out to see what White Sand Beach was all about. The one main road was pretty much the same all the way down with shops, restaurants and accommodations on either side. I walked quite a ways before heading back to my guesthouse. There I spent the afternoon reading in my hammock, that would have been a little more relaxing if it hadn't been for all the mosquitoes trying to bite me, despite having covered myself in insect repellent. But I really wanted to be in my hammock, so I stuck it out.

Having enough hammock time (and mosquitoes) I went to spend some time on the internet. As I was writing my blog, a 60ish Scotsman carrying a beer came in with his Thai wife. He was being very loud in the very small shop. He kept trying to engage me in a conversation by asking me lots of questions that I politely answered in as few words as possible, hoping he would get the hint and leave me alone. However, it was very obvious that at 4pm he was already quite drunk. His wife left and on his way out, he came over to see what I was writing. I told him his wife was waiting and kept on typing, trying to ignore him. The next thing out of his mouth was "Nice breasts!" as he peered down my tank top (which wasn't that low cut at all). With that comment he left. Thank goodness. However, 5 minutes later, he came back in and started talking to me again and telling me to come visit whatever town he and his wife live in (between his Scottish accent and slurring from drinking I have no clue what town it was, not that I would ever have gone). With that, he finally left, for good. Ugh, so there was my second ugly tourist experience.

There really wasn't too much to do on the island, so for dinner I opted for a place that was showing a movie, which happened to be "Collateral". With dinner finished, I headed back for the night. I guess I must have caught a mosquito under my net because the next morning I had been eaten alive. My legs now looked like I had measles. Surprise, surprise, it was raining again, so I decided to wait it out on my hammock. Finally around 10am the rain stopped which allowed me to get breakfast/lunch before heading on my way to Cambodia.