Hat Tha Nam (Lonely Beach), Ko Chang, Thailand

I've been here on the Thai island of Ko Chang now for about 5 days already. Its real easy to kill time here doing absolutely nothing. Since I get can get free wireless internet (most of the time) from the bungalow that I'm staying in, a large chunk of my time during the last few days has been taken up trying to figure out how to set up this blog, with my afternoons being spent on the beach until the sun sets, and my evenings spent catching bootleg movies on the large screen over at this little place called Magic Garden and chattin' up Tanya, the cool Russian chick that owns/runs the place. The sunsets here have definitely provided some pretty awesome photo taking opportunities for sure!

Yesterday I was feeling a bit guilty for being lazy and not seeing more of the island so I decided to rent a motorbike and go riding around the island. The infrastructure here on Ko Chang is fairly well developed, to the point where there is a paved road that goes all the way around the island - almost. There is a small 2 Km gap where there is no road at all. The only way to get to where the road picks back up is to drive all the way back around - about a 2 hour ride!!!

I left Lonely Beach for my ride heading south and when I came to the end of the road I found myself at a place called Grand Lagoona Resort. The resort itself was closed off to the public, but for a small charge (150 baht - or $4) you could come into the resort as a guest. The fee included a soda/beer and a snack, use of the pool, a bicycle to ride around on, and access to the waterfall - which is dried up at this time of the year. Since I was at the end of the road I figured I would check it out. They opened the gate, I rode in, and about 400 meters later I parked the motorbike and traded it in for my trusty, rusty, bicycle to check out the rest of the resort on. The place is pretty big, but I was kinda surprised to find that it was almost completely deserted! Not sure what was going on but there were more staff than guests for sure, and so i practically had the entire place to myself, along with a couple of others who I'm sure just came across the place like I did.

The resort itself consisted of a couple of large lagoons (hence the name), one of which had several houseboats that were set up as accommodations, and the other lagoon had a large ferry/ship that had been converted into a 5 star hotel, which surprised me to hear because my first impression was that it had been shut down. All in all the place certainly had potential and had pretty much everything you need (If you like that sort of thing), the only thing lacking were guests. I had lunch, took a quick swim, and decided to move on.

On the way back, I ventured off on a little side road into the jungle that ended a few kilometers later with the road being washed out and eroded away apparently from the torrential rains during the rainy season. It was completely dry now, so much for seeing any of the waterfalls in the interior of the island. I ventured back the way I came and soon found myself in the little fishing village of Bangbao, took a quick look around and decided to head back to Hat Tha Nam (Lonely Beach) for a swim in the Gulf of Thailand and to catch the amazing sunset.

Thailand at last - Bangkok and Ko Chang

Aahhh the smells!!! As I left Suvarnabhumi Intl. airport in Bangkok, it was the smells that let me know that I've finally arrived on my long awaited trip to South East Asia. While on my last trip to Asia almost 8 years ago at times I found the smells to be somewhat nauseating, but as my nose and Thailand got reacquainted with each other, this time they brought about a sense of joy and happiness as the familiarity of it all came flooding back and i realized what an incredible journey I was about to embark on.

As I sit here in the restaurant of the Lonely Beach Resort in Ko Chang, Thailand, I realized that I've already been traveling for over a week and I've posted absolutely nothing about this trip! Well, it's now or never. A week has gone by and I've not made a single effort to make any sort of documentation of this trip and it is quickly becoming apparent that if I don't do something quickly, then this trip will soon become like the shoeboxes of pictures from previous trips that I've got stored away somewhere - dusty and unorganized! Here's the quick rundown so far...

I departed for this much anticipated trip from Vancouver, B.C. Canada on February 11, 2009 around 1:30 pm. I was traveling to Bangkok on Korean Airlines and so I was to have a short layover in Seoul, S. Korea. Traveling across the international date line is a funny thing. After traveling for almost 11 hours straight, I arrived in Seoul at about 5 pm the following day (Feb. 12), yet I still hadn't seen darkness since we traveled in the direction the of the sun. Somehow, somewhere, an entire evening just disappeared from existence for me. So does that make me younger, or older??? Hmmm...

Anyway, I arrive in Seoul Korea and after about a 2-3 hour layover I travel on to Bangkok and arrive in Bangkok sometime shortly before midnight. Now, my intentions were to have a place to stay already booked upon my arrival, but I ran out of time before I left and was only able to jot down the names of a couple of place that I thought I might like to stay. Normally this would be of concern for me, especially since I was arriving at midnight, but since I've been to Bangkok before and was familiar with the area I was heading to, I knew I would have little trouble finding accommodations once I arrived.

After clearing customs with no problems at all, I grabbed my backpack off the luggage carousel and take a taxi to the New Siam Riverside Hotel in the Banglamphu/Khao-San area of Bangkok. I had no problems getting a room that night, even at 1:30am. Now while the hotel was a bit more expensive - largely due its location right on the Chao Phraya River and the fact that it has a swimming pool - it was still very inexpensive by western standards. And besides, I was just arriving in Thailand and thought it would be good to have a nice place to stay for a few days while I got my bearings.

The first three days were spent lounging by the pool and checking out the walking streets of the Banglamphu and Khao San Road areas. Khao San Road, a major hub for backpackers on journeys in Thailand and SE Asia, has grown immensely since I was here last 8 years ago. All the bars, restaurants, shops, etc. that lined Khao San road have since overflowed onto all the neighboring streets as well. Overall, the feel of the area is still the same - just more of it. Or as they say here in Thailand... "Same Same But Different".

I needed to pick up a new battery charger after zapping it when trying to use it with the wrong current/voltage and was told the place I would find a replacement was at MBK center. So after lounging by the pool for a couple of days I decided I would relocate to the Sukhumvit/Siam Square are of Bangkok. I found a great little guesthouse called Suk11 - due to its location on Thanon Sukhumvit at Soi 11. (note to readers: Thanon = main street, Soi - side street). This is the shopping district of Bangkok so I bought the charger I needed and spent the next three days checking out some of the sights in the area. Thailands tallest building is also in this area, Baiyoke Tower II, where I spent an evening up top getting some photo's of the city. In addition to great shopping, nearby to here are some of the cities more interesting nightlife areas - Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, essentially the red-light districts of Bangkok - and a great place for people watching!

I flew to Thailand on a one-way ticket, and since I wasn't sure that I would be back through Bangkok for a flight home I thought I would spend a bit of time here doing some sight seeing. But after almost a week in Bangkok and spending day and night walking the city, my lungs were starting to feel like they did when I was a smoker - grey phlegm and all. I had developed a cough that could only be attributed to all the smog I was walking around in. I decided it was time to head off to the beaches and islands for some fresh air and more sunshine. I booked a bus/ferry ticket for the following day to the Island of Ko Chang (where I currently am writing this), and spent a nice evening on a dinner cruise that went up and down the Chao Phraya river. This provided me with an opportunity to get a few good night time photos of some of the temples. I also met this really cool couple from the UK who were on their honeymoon and were about to head off to Koh Samui. They invited me for a beer afterwards and we spent the next couple of hours shooting the shit and having a great chat. Thanks for the beers you guys! Hope your having fun in Samui!