Ko Chang

On the first full weekend of 2012, I took Monday off from school and went to the island of Ko Chang.  After another overnight bus from Thawangpha to Bangkok, followed by a shorter bus ride from Bangkok to Chonburi, I met up with Jill and two of her American friends, Jack and Alyssa, on vacation from teaching English in China. The four of us took a four hour bus ride to Trat, where we hopped on a ferry for an hour to Ko Chang and then spent another hour on a hilly taxi ride from the pier to our bungalows on the opposite side of the island.  With the 20 hours of traveling under my belt, I was ready to finally undue my belt and switch into a bathing suit.  Once I stepped onto the soft white sand and saw the plentiful palm trees gazing at the tropical waters and sunset, my senses were cleansed and the inherent hassles of traveling for a day seemed trivial.

We awoke moderately early the following morning because we felt the urge to make the most of our limited time and explore (one of the few reasons that I can justify waking up early on vacation or a weekend).  We rented two kayaks and paddled to one of the three islands that graced the beach view.  The sunshine, sea breeze and salt water insured a great day, but discovering that we essentially had the island to ourselves made it especially memorable.  My own paradise island?!  Thank you, Thailand, for completely exceeding my expectations.  We hiked through the jungle from one side of the short island to the other and swung from dangling vines.  Kayaking through rock formations without another soul in sight seemed like we were living our own Planet Earth episode (sure beats living your own Twilight Zone episode, as in last week’s Thaiventure).  It felt incredibly timeless. 

That night we celebrated at a full moon party on the beach.  Explore and chill all day, party at night.  Yeah, man!

The Ko Chang weekend gave us a greater appreciation for Thailand’s nickname- “Land of Smiles.”  Check out the corresponding Ko Chang video!