It took an entire day to get to Koh Chang from Cambodia, but it was a day well spent. When I have planned vacations for myself in the past, I have always chosen to go to places with historical, natural, or educational merit. I am not really an all-inclusive resort kind of person. However, I do love the ocean (Jersey girl over here) and I really wanted to relax by the beach after doing so much in Chiang Mai and Angkor Wat. I was exhausted!
Brie and Soph’s Excellent Adventure Part IV: Island Girl
Koh Chang is an interesting island. There are lots of different beaches: “White Sand” beach is for resort lovers, Klong Prao is nicely secluded for couples, and “Lonely Beach” is for young backpackers. You can guess where I went.
The three main types of establishments on Lonely Beach were travel agencies, bars, and tattoo parlors. I was definitely in the minority with my un-inked skin. I stayed at Ice Beach hostel, the cheapest of the cheapest places we could possibly stay. I think it was about $3 a night. We stayed in a bungalow that was so small; all it fit was the double bed that Sophie and I shared. It had a mosquito net full of holes and one dinky light: we used our phones as flashlights. There was a shared outdoor bathroom for the group of bungalows, where the toilets didn’t have plumbing and the showers didn’t have hot water. Those things would have bothered me five years ago, but I’m a whole new person: it really wasn’t that bad.
The first two days, we drank fruit smoothes and relaxed by the beach. All I did was nap, swim, and read. It was perfect. The water was so blue, and once you were in ocean there were great views of the mountains of Koh Chang. Sitting on the warm sand and doing nothing: I forgot how great that is…
The walk from our hostel to the beach
There were a lot of friendly backpackers staying in Koh Chang. A lot of them were resting on the beach and had been there for a week or two, since they were doing one year backpacking treks around Southeast Asia. I am not sure I could ever live out of a backpack for an entire year! There was a lot to do at night, a million little bars all in the same area, and my last night there was a huge party right on the beach.
On our last day, we did a half-day of snorkeling before getting on the bus to Bangkok. We went to a really small, private island off of Koh Chang (with a Chinese tourist group that snorkeled in their jeans and a very tacky, very Russian family.) At first, I was a little bummed because I couldn’t really see any fish. Our Thai guide would swim down and pick up cool shells, coral, and other giant spiky sea creatures… but no fish! However, I ventured off pretty far away from the group (I was actually worried the boat left without Sophie and me!) and I finally got to see some awesome, colorful fish. I had snorkeled before in the Caribbean when I was nine, and I remember seeing schools of small, colorful fish. This was really different. I saw lots of giant, colorful fish swimming alone. One was green and pink, almost zebra striped, with a yellow fin. One looked like it was hounds tooth patterned! I also saw a fish that was the brightest blue I had ever seen, it looked electrically neon. I’m glad I swam away from the crowd, because I think the group of people was scaring the fish away!
We left Koh Chang sunburned and rested. By that point I was getting pretty excited to go back to Nanjing to see my friends and sleep in my own bed. But I still had a long journey ahead of me…
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