The Island Life

By Matt

Koh Sichang: not to be confused with Koh Chang

Shelly and I have had the chance to visit two of Thailand’s less frequented islands during the last couple months.  In July, we headed to Koh Sichang, a small island about 100km southeast of Bangkok.  From the port town of Siracha (if you’re thinking of the hot sauce, that’s where it originated), it’s an hour ferry ride to the small island. 

Looking back towards Siracha as we head west towards Ko Sichang...

Koh Sichang has remained off the beaten path and doesn’t suffer from the same outside development problems that the more touristy Thai islands have.  Instead, Koh Sichang has a few temples, palace ruins (one from King Rama V who maintained a summer home here), kayaking, biking, and a few swimmable beaches that were nicer than the guidebook let on.  We only noticed 4 other white people during our stay.  Schweet.

The large Chinese Temple is front and center.  Buddha's "footprint" is above the temple at the small white shrine on top of the hill.  More on that in a second...

We spent our weekend:

1. Visiting the hillside Chinese temple on the northern end of the island which draws, you guessed it, the Chinese tourists.



Feeling strong after our duck and curdled blood soup as we walk up to the temple.



What?  No fortune cookies?



Another photo ruined by yours truly.....why didn't we rent a motorbike?



Don't worry Mom, I waited until the other tourists left before being sacreligious.

2. Visiting a large yellow Buddha that sits on the grounds of the island’s monastery.  We were chased out of here by a few of the monastery dogs.




3. Relaxing on the beach on the Southwest part of the island.  While small, the beach had sunshine, beer, and salt water.  Pretty much all you need! 

Taken just above Hat (Beach) Tham Phang

I had the choice of kayaking or drinking a beer.  The beer won.

4.   Eating at the only western restaurant on the island.  We splurged on some of the only pasta, garlic bread and red wine we’ve had since being here.

5.  Exploring the rest of the island by foot….the entire place can be walked by foot in 3-4 hours.

Enjoying the surprisingly peaceful island.



This was probably the second nicest "beach" on the island.  Yeeeah.

6.  Enjoying the ocean-front view from our 800 baht room ($23).  The room was built into the side of the rock cliff and was decorated inside and out with seashells.  Thailand is a silly place. 

Zee view from our seashell encrusted room. 

We’re hoping to head back for another weekend during the 2^nd term simply because it’s an easy, relaxing trip….that, and so we can rent some mountain bikes to cruise around the island and a kayak to paddle to another island just off the southern edge, Bat Island, where there is some good snorkeling to be had. 

Koh Chang: Not be to confused with Koh Sichang

Island stop #2 was Koh Chang (“Chang” translates to elephant) over the long Mother’s Day weekend in mid-August.  Mother’s Day is a 3 day weekend that coincides with the Queen’s birthday and we were happy for another travel opportunity. 

Koh Chang is Thailand’s 2^nd largest island behind Phuket.  Koh Chang is also southwest of Bangkok, but is a solid 5-6 hour bus ride from BKK.  So, Shelly and I headed out on a long weekend with a few other fellow English teachers on an overnight bus and reached the ferry terminal at a cool 4:30am.  We waited around for the 6am ferry after a pork omelet breakfast.  After the short 30 minute ride, we arrived with quite a few other travelers and learned this island was a bit different than Koh Sichang.  We hopped in a shared truck taxi (songtaew) with 10 other travelers and along the winding road saw quite a few hostels, larger resorts, and Thai and western restaurants as we headed further south to Lonely Beach, a smaller, less traveled beach (but still had the required watering holes) which suited us perfectly.

We arrived at our hotel at 8 in the morning but were able to drop our things into our oceanside-ish bungalow.  This place proved an even better deal than our Koh Sichang room as we only paid 400 baht a night, which included a plate of eggs and bacon in the morning….a welcome change from the typical Pad Krapao (pork, holy basil, and rice) I eat at school for breakfast.  The hotel also had a few thatched huts with hammocks to relax water-side…the hotel’s mascot seemed happy to join us:

One of the few dogs in Thailand that didn't immediately try and bite me....I like this guy.

Shelly soakin in the view...

OK, so full disclosure. Shelly set her camera to 'miniature'.  That's why the trees look 2 feet tall. 

After taking a well deserved nap, we set out to soak up some rays on Lonely Beach. Thankfully, the morning mist had burned off and resulted in some rather intense sun.  The water was perfect, as it seems to always be here, and we spent the afternoon reading, swimming, and running after Frisbees that Shelly ‘accidentally’ kept throwing into the ocean.  Later that evening, we caught up with our fellow teachers for dinner and drinks on the beach.

View on Lonely Beach

No large resorts taking up the beach or ruining the view...

 

Day #2 was almost an exact copy of Day #1 but when you’re spending it on a sun soaked island, that’s not such a bad thing.  We also did a little shopping in the small street stores for some fake havianas sandals and ray-bans.  Nothing says Thailand like cheap, knock-off merchandise.

Battle wound sustained on Day 2.  Her 2nd camera didn't survive the fall so we're down to my waterproof one.  Again.  :)

On Sunday, I forced Shelly to wake up early so we could start earlier than most travelers in an attempt to beat the traffic back to Bangkok on the holiday weekend.  My idea eventually paid off as we were able to get home by late Sunday night while some of our other teacher friends weren’t so lucky and were stranded. 

Since Thailand has over a thousand islands, we have our pick of places when we’re ready for more beach time...

Thailandisms

By Shelly

You know you're in Thailand when...

You go for a run and can't go 2 blocks before you have 4 dogs chasing you (true story). 

You feel like you are killing the earth every time you eat food with the multiple plastic bags and styrofoam used. 

You cut your nails all the way down on Monday and by Thursday, they are back to the same length.  Same goes for how fast your hair grows too. 

You can't tell if a young Thai woman is actually a woman.

You freak out when you realize you don't have any toilet paper or tissue in your purse and you are already going to the bathroom (yes, a rare find in bathrooms here).  Soap is also hard to come by.

You see a bunch of white people and get irritated because you didn't know you were in a tourist spot.

You go out to eat in said tourist spot and the prices are 5-6 times higher than the food you can get anywhere else and is usually not even half as good.

You can find a 7-11 within 50 feet of where you're standing.

You get your feet soaking wet on a dry day when walking on the sidewalk.  Sidewalk tiles are usually loose and tend to retain rainwater.  Think Indiana Jones for this one.

You have perfected the art of carrying an umbrella while riding a bike.

You are openly laughed at any time you speak.

You see entire families riding on one motorcycle. 

You go to the beach and Thai people are fully clothed.

You feel ripped off anytime you have to spend more than $1.50 US for an entire meal.

You try to deposit a check at your bank, but are told that can only be done at the branch you opened the account.  Or, you try to cash a money order and the banks don't know what it is. 

You are riding your bicycle down the street and out of nowhere on loudspeakers you have no idea the whereabouts of starts playing some lovely sounding Thai music and you wonder who is behind this music in the sky. 

You step out of your house and within 2 minutes have already had 3 kids say Hello and tell you how beautiful you look today. 

You get used to eating with a spoon.  A fork is used only to help push the food onto the spoon.  This actually is a much more efficient way of eating believe it or not!

You see a vendor on the street selling very preserved meat on a stick and Thai people eating it like it's candy.  (ICK!)

It takes you 5 hours and 3 buses to go somewhere that would take you an hour and forty-five minutes to drive yourself. 

Thais walking next to you are practically walking backwards they walk so slow.  We walked slow one time and found we didn't sweat nearly as much.  Noted.

You get the same exact allergy medication as you would in the states for $20 cheaper. (seriously?!!)