I arrived in Koh Chang off the South coast of Thailand three days ago. (when I began writing this post!)

After a very comfortable first class bus journey from Bangkok then a short ferry ride to the island loosing our squishies and my expertly crafted pillow case along the way when we got to Koh Chang we headed straight for a beach called Hat Khlong Phra. The travel guide recommended this as one of the nicest beaches in the island yet less comercalised that its neighbour white sand beach.

Seeming like an ideal palace to spend the next few days we headed for KP huts the cheap traveller orientated accommodation situated just off the beach and recommended by the guide book.

We were dropped off at the top of a long dirt track leading down to the accommodation. We walked for about 15 minutes carrying our bags until we came to the huts. Three young Thai girls were sat around a table in the middle of the reassurance that served as their reception desk. We said hello and asked for a room just about rousing a response from one of the girls. She told us the price was three hundred baht a room, then as she saw there were three of us the price increased to 600 baht a room! Tired and having already carried our bags a long way we decided the best option was to stay for one night then move on in the morning.One of the girls lead us across a coconut grove to a large wooden hut standing partly over a small river leading to the sea which was less than 100 meters away.The location was very pretty although would probably have been a lot nicer in the tourist season when they probably put more effort into maintaining the grounds.

The room was basic but had plenty of sleeping space and a large bathroom. We dumped our bags and went down to the restaurant to get some lunch before going for a walk along the beach. The food was nice but they had clearly not heard of service with a smile. It was a much as the girls could do to speak to us!

The beach was disappointing. Far from one of the nicest beaches on the island we were faced with a beach of grey sand covered in debris that has been washed in from the sea. We walked along a bit to see if it would get better and came to a large river that was far too deep to cross. Most of the nearby entertainment was on the other side of the river so we decided to head up to the road to see if would could find a way across. At the top of the road were a few bars, restaurants and shops but all were well spread out and none of them looked particularly interesting. Just down the road was an elephant camp full of very agitated of looking elephants. They were all chained by the leg, had very little room to move around and were pacing and swaying. They were very different to the elephant we’d seen the in jungle in Chiang Mai.

We wondered up the road for what turned out to be three hours in search of something more lively than where we were staying. It eventually became clear there wasn’t anywhere and we headed back to our hut stopping to buy some Malibu and coke along the way.

The area was a bit dull and the taxis were wanting to charge a fortune to take us anywhere so we decided to spend the evening sat on the veranda playing cards and drinking Malibu then move on in the morning.

In the morning we got up early, troubled the girls some more by expecting them to serve us breakfast and left. We went to White sand beach, the most commercilised on the island, in search of better service and some more people.

We were dropped off at the end of the beach and began walking along it in search of accommodation. We couldn’t find the one in the guide book but came across a place that looked a little like a wrecked pirate ship set into the cliffs. As we looked at it a Scottish woman shouted to us saying they had room. She came and met us at the entrance helping us over a large rock in front the doorway that served as a very slippery step. She told it was 300 baht (about 6.00GBP) a night and showed us to a room on the front of the cliff overlooking the beach.

The room was basic, the bathroom miniscule but it had two large beds and was fine until we noticed the massive amount of ants all over the floor! But as long as our bags stayed on the beds we could almost forget they were there until they came crawling up our legs as we changed and put make-up on! Even so the Scottish lady, Fiona, sprayed the room with some ant spry that didn’t rally help but for 2GBP a night each we couldn’t really complain.

The night we arrived they were having a Mongolian BBQ so after topping up our tans on the beach we went down to the BBQ. There was a table set up with one BBQ dish at each end. The dishes were a little like Korea style galbi but were in a pyramid shape with a rim around the bottom. In the bottom was some water where veg and noodle were cooked. Then in the side of the pyramid the meat was cook. Everyone was given a bowl of rice and helped themselves to meat, veg and noodles adding ore to the BBQ as they took some off.

It was at the BBQ we realsied just how high the place was and how far up the cliffs the huts stretched. Loads of people kept arriving for the BBQ and it was a good opportunity to get chatting to a few people. We spent the night chatting to two English boys who were stopping of in Koh Chang before going up to Chinag Mai to voulnteer in an orphanage. Then as the evening drew to a close Yut, the (very fit!) Thai guy who we’d assumed was the husband of the Scottish lady running the place, Fiona, took an interest in Emily. It tuned out Yut wasn’t Fiona’s husband and he spent the next three days desperately trying it on with Emily and getting nowhere!

Our next three days in Koh Chang were fairy uneventful. Emily had a bad ankle – an infected insect bite – so after a brief trip to the hospital was ordered to rest it. That however didn’t stop her clambering over some rocks to a rather unspectacular waterfall that afternoon. Our last day in Koh Chang was spent chilling out and planning the next leg of our adventure in Cambodia.

Which is where I sit as I finish this post. Hopefully I will now have time to write about crossing the border and the rater adventurous journey getting to Sihanouk Ville.

* Posted by j150vsc on 11/07/2007.