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April 23, 2005
Vietnam | Hue | 14-16 March 2005
From the arrival back in Hanoi from Halong Bay, I had a couple of hours to get sorted before the 12 hour bus to Hue.
Hue is a really pretty, rich and interesting city that can easily be overlooked in the wonder of other cities of Vietnam. Its not a huge tourist destination, but the citadel, the Emperor tombs and the new-found ‘cultural development’ does draw some tour buses.
Hue (pronounced ‘hway’) sits on the Perfume River, the riverside of which has an arrangement of natural beauty in the form of gardens, artistic sculptures, walkways and pagodas.
I found the citadel walls, the moat, the gates, the flag tower and the remains of the Forbidden Purple City (where the Emperor kept his concubines) to be all extremely interesting to visit, great places to relax, walk around and soak up the atmosphere.
Flag Tower | Street to Gate | Gate and it’s bridge
Moat, now filled with some kind of lily/plant | Ngoc Mon Gate to palace | More moat
Thai Hoa Palace, behind it is where the Forbidden Purple City is/was | Roof structure of Thai Hoa Palace | Seriously Cool Hedging
The beautiful girls in beautiful, traditional Ao Dai
More of inside the citadel and around the Forbidden City
Check out some of the cool stuff the Emperor had!
After lunch with the guys I met in Halong Bay (we were on the same tourist path now…) I decided to walk the 4km to the Thien Mu Pagoda, which is an impressive tiered pagoda around which many anti-government protests occurred in the 60s.
Aesthetically pleasing canal I saw on the walk to Thien Mu Pagoda| Thien Mu Pagoda
There were some cool buddha-figurine-thingys – very detailed and expressive!
Beautiful things around the Pagoda
I was too wacked to go anywhere after my walk to and from the pagoda, so I missed out on the tombs, but from what I hear, they’re quite impressive!
What Hue has in culture, beauty and history, it lacks in modern ‘young’ entertainment – nowhere to be found interesting or open after midnight – typical of still being pretty far north (although technically in southern Vietnam). Worth a visit if you have the time!
Posted by Dan at 04:03 AM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2005
Vietnam | Halong Bay & Cat Ba Island | 13-14 March 2005
Halong Bay is one of those internationally well-known sites that everyone MUST see on a journey through northern Vietnam and I was no exception. Unfortunately, I was there at the wrong time of year, with loads of fog and mist around to block much of the distant views, quite different from most of the postcard pictures. I had been told by some other travellers that when they went the week before, they couldn’t see A THING! Fortunately it wasn’t as bad as that for me, distant formations visible, but not especially clear and the mist clearing around the formations once we got within a few hundred metres.
After getting to Halong Boat Station (3-4 hours by bus), we had an organised group lunch at a local Chinese restaurant.
I met the four other people who were doing the same 2 day, 1 night trip that I was taking – a Dutchman and an Italian, both on holiday from their Japanese University studies as well as a Vietnamese couple apparently on their honeymoon. I say ‘apparently’ because it is a well-known trick for young couples to say they are on a honeymoon, or recently married, so that hoteliers and police don’t hassle them about staying in the same room together.
We were put on a ‘standard boat cruise’, simply purchased from a ticketing window (if you decide to DIY) at the entrance to the jetty system, so we were effectively herded onto a boat with a bunch of other tourists from various other tour groups. Fortunately it wasn’t too crowded, there were seats for all.
The first thing we realised was that we were glad we weren’t doing any snorkelling or kayaking, as it was COLD! Clearly another reason why we were there in the wrong season. The second thing we realised was just how many (mostly tourist) boats there were in the bay. Literally hundreds of them, going every which way, all over the place… It was astounding!
Hang Dau Go, the most popular tourist cave, was the first stop. I don’t remember ever seeing such touristed caves that are actually real caves. The caves themselves were reasonably impressive, notwithstanding the NEON lights of various colours that were lighting up the massive structures and coming out of random mini-caves… I did feel that the penguin-garbage-bins were possibly slightly out of place however. This cave is definitely a mass-tourist cave, the small bay filled with tourist boats coming, going and waiting for their payload, the caves also offering multi-linguistic tour-guides (at a price).
In the same bay, some of us also visited the second set of caves – Hang Thien Cung, which was similar but less visited, less made-up and more spacious.
The next destination was within a cluster of islands, a typical tourist stop, as we saw a turnover of about 3 boats in our 1 hour stay there. The boat anchored next to some others and we were offered (for an extra fee, of course!) a mini-boat tour of one of the local Coves ‘inside’ one of the islands. It was pretty impressive – we went in this little boat through a cave-like entrance into the middle of the island.
While moored, many fruit-sellers offered their wares from little row-boats – as you can see below, some of the sellers are surprisingly quite fashion-conscious!
The rest of the afternoon we spent inside the boat (it was too cold to sit outside) while it slowly made its way to Cat Ba town, on the opposite side of Cat Ba Island.
The five of us, plus a new tour guide took us to our hotel, where we were piled into two rooms. We went for a quick (but horrible) coffee on the waterfront before going back to the hotel for a similar dinner to our lunch. We drank some wine with the ‘newlyweds’, before going out for more drinks at ‘the local bar’. After happy hour had finished, we went to the nightclub that we passed on the way to the bar. It was quite large, and in peak season could hold quite a number of people. In low season it could hold just as many people, just that there weren’t that many people there… Including our group, there were a maximum of 13 people there during out stay. The music was good, the venue quite good, but the atmosphere was somewhat lacking. We then decided to check out the Seaview Bar, on the 8th floor of a hotel, which we had read about in the Lonely Planet, and had noticed on our way to coffee – unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there.
That was pretty much it for the night, and although not a lot was happening, our little group had fun.
The following day’s journey back to the mainland was pretty similar to the trip to Cat Bat. Cold, a little sleep and uncomfortable, and long.
I really enjoyed the trip - Halong Bay is a definite must-see and would be fantastic in a warmer season.
Posted by Dan at 06:17 AM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2005
Travelling Alone
I didn’t feel so great travelling alone, especially around Hanoi, Sapa, etc. Worse is travelling alone and on a reasonably tight schedule and even more-so doing ‘non typical’ routes, thus not meeting people on the same transport system. With the lack of flexibility come fewer opportunities to mingle and interact with other people – or at least, that’s how I felt at the time.
I guess it’s another moment of learning about myself – that I much prefer travelling with someone else if possible. Not that I didnt know that already :P
Posted by Dan at 06:22 AM | Comments (0)
Vietnam | Sapa – Day 3 | 8-11 March 2005
This day would have to be the most disappointing of the trip – Mr Dien was replaced by another guide, which was not so bad, but the entire ‘walk’ was just to the surrounding touristed villages (Sin Chai and Cat-Cat), taking an entire hour to complete – and that was dawdling! I could have done that part on the previous day and left with the other guys on the night train!! I’m not sure how that’s supposed to be ‘a day’ trekking, even being marked as a 4 hour day!
At least I got to see where Fanxipan Mountain is (The tallest mountain in Indochina), which might a cool 3-day ‘hard slog’ trek option for next time. I saw some Fanxipan’d Travellers – they looked absolutely beat. Perhaps there IS some adventurous hiking to be done :)
Oh yeah, I saw a mountain goat as well. That was cool.
The rest of the day was ‘well used’ at the internet again, finishing my book (Lord of the Rings Book 1) and just waiting for the bus to take me to the train in Lao Cai.
Overall, it was a worthwhile trip that I don’t regret, even if the way I did it wasn’t worth the money, planning or time that was taken, nor was it as satisfying as it could have been – at least I learned something… Not to book treks like that again. It’s worth visiting Sapa and the surrounding villages, the scenery can be awe-inspiring. If you are fit and eager, perhaps organise a Fanxipan Mountain trek once you get to Sapa (don’t book anything from Hanoi, except maybe the train – which is cheapest from the station itself), otherwise the local villages are accessible enough for ANYONE who wants to check it out. The hill-tribe villages are pretty similar to most in Indochina, so don’t expect radical differences if you’ve been hill-tribe-hopping before :)
Posted by Dan at 06:21 AM | Comments (0)
Vietnam | Sapa – Day 2 | 8-11 March 2005
We woke in the morning to the sounds and smells of Mr Dien cooking again – this time a ‘western breakfast’ of pancakes!! Although not traditionally Vietnamese, the pancakes (with chocolate syrup, banana, sugar, lime, etc) were very tasty.
Compared to the first day, rhe second day was significantly:
- More Challenging, yet shorter and finished quicker (left at 10am, finished before 1pm)
- Less Touristy
- Less Frequented in General
- More fulfilling
- More Adventurous
- More Hilly
From our homestay, we literally went over a couple of worthy mountains before arriving at ‘the road’, where we had lunch (again, cooked by Mr Dien, using the restaurant’s facilities – this is a very interesting arrangement, especially at a local restaurant, where each of the guides prepares the food for their group).
During the hike, which I would actually consider a hike – as opposed to the previous day’s walk – there were times at which I felt real pleasure at being able to stop and take in the scenery. It was really really cool. I looked over a valley, which was just as one might imagine it centuries or even millennia ago. Local Hmong people walking their donkeys up and down windy tracks, carrying water and foodstuffs, dressed to kill in their traditional outfits, others working the hillside, ready for the next crop (slogging away, still in their hot black outfits). The paths they trod barely wide enough for the donkeys, which amazingly managed to scale very steep hills and avoid scrambling down the same paths. The only sign of modern technology being the materials used to construct the bridge – even then I could imagine it being replaced by a similarly well constructed bamboo equivalent.
It reminded me of one of my favourite old computer games – Settler – the creation and construction of villages from basic land – it was very, very cool to see it in reality.
I felt strong during this part of the hike, remembered the days of Scouts, 3 day hikes, camping, the feeling of being in touch with nature, pushing on through incredible scenery.
We went through a Red Zao village, again being guided through the house, having the differences between Zao and Hmong pointed out to us. One really impressive thing they showed us was a really worn, old Taoist Manuscript. This thing looked like it should be in museum somewhere marked as being an ‘original copy’.
After lunch, a Jeep took us back to Sapa, or tried to. We were stopped for more than 45 minutes at one stage – where there was active construction work happening on the road we were driving on. That was pretty strange. Cars, bikes and trucks stopped and just waited for them to finish that section of demolition, then slowly filed through once it was cleared. At least I got the opportunity to get some photos of the valley around us.
Once we got back to Sapa, the other guys were herded off to get back to Hanoi (they were only doing 2 days, not 3). I had the rest of the day to myself, so, not having prepared for this time and having nothing ‘to do’, I went and caught up on my web browsing – shame I didn’t have my laptop or anything else I would normally have had with me.
The evening passed with a little local food and beer, followed by some reading (So glad I brought THAT at least, The 3 TV channels were all Vietnamese!).
Posted by Dan at 06:18 AM | Comments (0)
Vietnam | Sapa – Day 1 | 8-11 March 2005
I wrote out on paper a couple of pages of notes for reproduction in this electronic format about my trip to Sa Pa (that’s the way it was written originally, and how it’s pronounced), but most of it is in a pretty negative tone, so it’ll stay private.
Ever since doing the hilltribe trek in Laos, I had wanted to go to Sapa (North West Vietnam) to do some more. The Laos days were quite challenging and I was hoping for more of it.
Feeling pushed for time, I decided to organise a trek from Hanoi. I figured there wouldn’t be any delays with time in Sapa finding treks, as well as the likelihood that I’d meet people on an organised trek. I took the Lonely Planet’s advice and avoided the fast-food treks, going for one place that was more independent and recommended. Unfortunately, the trek was very expensive (I think they somehow got an extra $20 out of me with all the breaking of notes and changing the Dong deposit to dollar payment – still uncertain about that; plus, I’d already paid for my hotel room when we left that evening – doh!), there were only three of us (the other two a couple – they were quite nice people) and there was enough ‘spare time’ in Sapa that I WOULD have been much better off doing it on my own and organising any treks from there. Live and Learn!
We caught the evening overnight train from Hanoi, which was decent and comfortable enough, (they gave us some free water and horribly sweet buns – left untouched), which arrived at Lao Cai at some unearthly hour in the morning. We were bundled into a minibus which drove us the next hour to Sapa. It was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING! This I was NOT expecting from Vietnam (however, I was told to expect cold before I left for the trek). I mean, we were standing around when we got dropped off, and every breath was a huge puff of cloud. We were given the opportunity of a shower before a set-menu breakfast.
As you can see in the pic, once we got walking, we noticed that we couldn’t see anything due to the mist – we were all hoping it wouldn’t be this way for the entire trek.
Most of the initial leg of the journey was pretty touristy as we were still close to the town, so there were plenty of Black Hmongs trying to sell us their wares along the way and in the villages. “Hello, where are you from?”, “Australia”, “KangarooKoalaTwentyMillionPeople!” Our guide, Mr Dien, showed us through various Hmong homes, explained their traditions and even played one of their bamboo-pipe instruments!
As you can see in the following picture, this village is quite close to the main road being carved out of the other side of the valley, so it’s very accessible and therefore has all kinds of tourists wandering around.
To be honest, this wasn’t a very long or difficult day (supposed to be 7 hours). We left Sapa at 10, had long breaks, including a large lunch, arriving at our homestay at 3:30. So really only about 4 hours of walking. Perhaps one of the reasons for it was that we went some different routes because the ‘normal’ village we would have stayed at was having a ceremony and no foreigners were allowed anywhere near it.
The homestay village was also only a couple of hundred metres from the aforementioned road, which probably explained why it was the most developed homestay I’ve had! Large well-built houses, a reasonably sized loft for each of us with mattresses, heavy doonas, pillows and mosquito nets (mine even had a TV!). Not a typical picture of a homestay, but it WAS nice.
Perhaps I’ve been living in Cambodia, with far poorer people (knowledge, not just finance) for too long, but the Vietnamese are amazing! The infrastructure they create and the resourcefulness of the locals is quite astounding… From waterways made from bamboo, guiding water from the hills into water-driven rice mills to reasonably constructed concrete paths in some of the more prosperous villages, they make the most of what they have. They have thriving gardens and pigsties as well as drying vegetables (a lot of corn) so that when the rice runs out, they can still eat. This in direct contrast to many provincial Cambodians who still don’t know how to effectively manage a home-garden! These guys know how to farm and how to survive.
Our first evening was spent chatting with the locals (or rather, them looking at us, trying to sell us things, while we sat around talking and taking photos), then sitting in the kitchen watching Mr Dien and our host preparing dinner. We snacked on hand-made wedges, before 90 minutes of feast preparation. Being his birthday, and a generous soul, our host cooked up half a leg of smoked pork, beef, pork mince, tofu, tomatoes, lettuce, rice and various other veggies. EVERYTHING was fried or grilled, including the lettuce! It seemed like they were cooking for the entire village, but it was just US!
We really struggled to even get through half of it – there was just SO MUCH! The introduction, mastery and onslaught of local rice wine helped gain more appetite. Being the hosts birthday, we were obligated to finish the half-empty 2L bottle of the stuff, before he brought out another half-bottle, which also got demolished, before he brought out a large round tray of candy!
He also showed us how to use the tobacco pipe, which is basically a large bamboo bong. It’s the most efficient way of smoking the local tobacco, which a 1000 dong (6c) handful-sized bag can be consumed by a fair smoker in a week.
We all went to bed pretty early (thanks to the rice wine), although it seemed so much later than it was.
Posted by Dan at 05:58 AM | Comments (2)
April 17, 2005
SE Asians and African-Americans
The more I travel around SE Asia, the more I find facial similarities between SE Asians and Africans/African-Americans…. Most of my African/African-American imagery is from TV, but it’s surprising how similar they’re possible to be. The Khmers are supposed to have origins of the Indian kind, but it’s pretty difficult to find visual similarities there. Then again, I haven’t spent any time in the Indian region, so I really dont know.
Posted by Dan at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)
Vietnam | Hanoi Part 1 | 7-8 March | Hanoi Part 2 | 12 March
Hanoi is a really beautiful, eclectic, relaxed city (especially compared with the hustle and bustle of Saigon!). The ‘old quarter’, which is the central area for tourists and backpackers surrounds Hoan Kiem Lake, which has plentiful walking (and Tai Chi’ing) footpaths around it, along with broadly scattered trees and modern art sculptures. In the middle of the lake, on the northern end is the Ngoc Son Temple, on a small island, accessible by a small bridge. The temple is dedicated to the Tortoises in the lake, which are mostly fiction, although there are apparently sightings and photos around the place.
Legend goes that in the 15th century, the Emperor had a magical sword (to drive away those pesky Chinese). After the war, The Emperor was cruising the lake and came upon a giant golden tortoise, which snatched the sword from his grasp and took it to the bottom of the lake (presumably to eat it, don’t all golden Tortoises eat magical swords? – Editors Note). Thus the lake became Ho Hoan Kiem – the Lake of the Restored Sword – as it had been returned to its ‘divine owners.’
Ngoc Son temple, in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake | Cool Pathway around Ngoc Son Temple | The old East Gate
The lake makes a nice, albeit not ‘very’ lengthy walk, which is nice at 6am when you arrive back from a 3-day trek and the travel agent with your bags isn’t open, nor your destined hotel – more on that later :)
Hanoi, the current Capital (Emperor Ly Thai To had a dream, and proclaimed it to be lucky, so moved the capital there) has plenty to see and do. You can do a walking tour of the old quarter (as in the Lonely Planet - mostly covering all the different types of traditional shop and shop-areas), peruse plenty of museums and galleries as well as Pagodas and Temples, and last but by NO means least – Go visit Uncle Ho himself!! Yes, you can, if you get there early enough, get a glimpse of the Frozen Body of Ho Chi Minh in his Mausoleum. It was kinda weird but kinda cool at the same time. Its very formal, pushed through (you cant stop walking), guards everywhere, no talking, no bags, definitely no phones, nothing but respectable attire, etc. I thought it was cool, seeing as he’s almost considered a God to most Vietnamese, so I definitely recommend it.
The markets around Hanoi, similar to the rest of Vietnam are vibrant, colourful, surprisingly clean and presents an amazing feast for the nose and eyes. The amount of tofu there is incredible – the fried stuff VERY tasty :). Speaking of food, the north does have a certain difference in flavour… My major comparison is the pho, being my daily sustenance. In the north, I found the phos to be darker, heavier and little or no bean sprouts and greens to accompany them. Still clearly very tasty, but I’d have to favour the Saigon phos if you asked. There’s an area on the edge of town, which I didn’t have the time/opportunity to visit which is known for the dog meat they sell – its apparently good luck to eat it during the first half of the lunar month. I did see, in Sapa, dog meat for sale in the market, and that was more than enough for me. In each of the smaller towns, there’s usually at least one ore more specialties - the north, eg. Hue containing hundreds due to the Nguyen Emperor’s demands for variety.
Hanoi isn’t the cheapest place to stay in Vietnam – you end up really pressed to find single fan rooms for less than US$7, that being said, Saigon is only a dollar or two cheaper. Most of the smaller towns are better value, mostly because they are less frequently visited en-mass.
There is a definite difference between the people and culture of the north compared to the south. The southerners ARE more open and welcoming of different cultures, and often willing to exploit it for capitalistic gain. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, as it gives relatively open reign to us westerners to do what we want to do – and it doesn’t seem to have ‘overtaken’ the local culture either which is good. In the north, however, things are a little more conservative, and restricted. For whatever reason, the nightlife in Hanoi sucked, even though I’m sure there were plenty of like-minded tourists and backpackers there. I went out on a Saturday night (9-10pm, and most places still close at midnight), and out of the nightclubs/bars/cafes I went past, one was filled with guys (and I found out later that its ‘that’ kind of bar), another filled with no-one, and the final one with just a few guys (and its NOT that kind of bar). Compare this to Saigon, and there’s simply no comparison. You can party hard and as long as you want in Saigon, albeit you may have to go to certain bars after 1-2am. Even in some of the smaller towns like Hoi An there was a definite party-zone, as well as an after-midnight venue.
In a similar vein to ‘nightlife’, I found that Hanoi wasn’t a very accommodating place for a single guy with no friends in town. The backpacker ‘area’ is pretty well spread out, more hotels than guesthouses, thus not that many communal areas or meeting places, etc. Then again, this was just my limited 3-day experience, but it was enough to make the decision to base myself in Saigon (plus I already had friends there).
All in all, a beautiful, rich, historical Capital with plenty to see, do and relax to – just don’t expect it to be a party town :)
Posted by Dan at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)
Vietnam | Saigon weekend with the boys | 3-7 March
Upon arrival in Saigon I bought myself a Vietnamese sim card and tried to get in touch with Brandon (who I had taught with in Cambodia). After a time, I got through and we planned to meet up after his classes (9pm). This became a common meeting time (and still is to the day I’m writing this – he’s a hard working machine!).
I quickly met many of Brandon’s teaching friends and other local friends, and just like in Cambodia, most of them know very well how to party. Needless to go into the descriptions, but the weekend had already been planned to be a big one and I joined in the fun – Some of the locations including: Heart of Darkness, Bia Hoi (local beer), Lost in Saigon, Apocalypse Now, Sahara, Kim Bar, GO2, local houses and the strangest ‘late night room’ I’ve ever been to.
The ‘late night room’ is one of a bunch of single rooms in a 5 storey apartment building (most at the top), with lounges, a hefty sound system, drinks on order and a cubicle of a bathroom. The shades are drawn, the lights go almost out (or, as in one case, completely out with the addition of candles), the heavy beats and breaks inside and daylight breaks outside. A pretty cool place to hang out if you want to stay up after a big night. The cubicle, which I had to frequent, consists of literally that. There’s a hose, a bucket and a small hole (like the size of a coin). This is a shower, toilet, etc. I couldn’t believe it, not even a full drain, or squat toilet – just a hole! I didn’t have my camera with me, but one of my friends took a pic with his phone – I’ll have to try and get a copy of it…
Seeing as Kel would be arriving on the 20th and I wanted to see most of northern Vietnam before she got here, I flew straight to Hanoi (train/bus would take more than 48 hours) on Monday evening.
Posted by Dan at 08:08 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2005
Cambodia in Transit | 28 Feb-3 March 2005
This time in Cambodia was pretty much just a transit stop, the cheapest and most convenient way to get to Vietnam – as well as being able to catch up with all my mates after a great holiday in Laos!
I didn’t do much there apart from hang out with friends, watch movies and resolve a few things with Lydia.
It was good to see everyone again, life not really any different for all the expats (nor would it be if I went there again soon!), the government situation still shite, the incredible goings-on of Cambodia still being incredible.
Fortunately this time wasn’t based or focussed on negative things, I was able to acknowledge to myself the uniqueness of Cambodia and able to leave with a good feeling towards its inhabitants.
I got my Vietnam Visa (with TWO months on it, SWEET!) and caught the early bus to Saigon (via lengthy wait at border) on the 3rd.
Posted by Dan at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
Thailand – Bangkok and Koh Chang | 21-27 Feb 2005
Sorry this log is so late – both for your AND my sake…. So much that I’ve clearly forgotten – Does that mean it wasn’t/isn’t important? Anyway…
Bangkok was Bangkok, as Bangkok is known to be. Nothing extraordinary, but I did spend the time to explore a bit more and find more shopping centres that I hadn’t known about :) I bought a replacement DVD drive, stayed at the Shanti Lodge (worth checking out if you’re gonna stay in Bangers), saw a movie at a real theatre, caught the trains and riverboats, ate mostly cheap local food, and planned the next few weeks.
I originally thought that I had HEAPS of time before Kelly (sis) would get to SE Asia, so perhaps I could even head down to Koh Pha Ngan for a couple of weeks partyside. After some planning and calculation, however, even spending only a short amount of time going through Cambodia, I would only have a few weeks in which to explore Vietnam before Kelly arrived. I had planned that we would probably do some exploration near Saigon together, so I wanted to do the rest of Vietnam before then.
However, I DID want a few days of R & R on a Thai beach somewhere, so, having not been there before (as well as it being directly on-the-way to Cambodia) I went to Koh Chang.
Having experienced only the islands of Koh Pha Ngan & Koh Samui, I would say that Koh Chang is most like Koh Samui – developed, package-touristed and full of traffic. You can get to Koh Chang from Trat via a 45 minute Ferry, of which they also have car-ferries (to get your Jeeps and Honda CBR-600s there – yes, I saw one of them!). The roads are very good, albeit still windy. The ‘main’ beaches are chockas and there are more than enough large resorts full of seedy old men if you like that kind of thing.
I went straight to Lonely Beach, which is known as the backpacker area, although the whole place is pretty well developed with backpacker things that it’s definitely lost the Lonely factor now. All the places mentioned in any guide are pretty expensive (>400 baht), as they’re usually right on the water as well, but fortunately there are still some cheap bungalows (1-200 baht) tucked behind these places, so its not as expensive as it could be.
I spent enough time on Koh Chang to relax, meet some cool people, enjoy some Thai curries and seafood, go out a few times at night, write up my Laos logs and even ride around the island. I didn’t have enough time, however, to visit any of the islands, do any diving, or partake in any of the other cool activities available there. From friends who had been there before, the other local islands are some of the best part of Koh Chang, so it’s a shame I missed them – there’s always next time :)
Koh Chang IS a typical Thai island… Beautiful beaches, bars and babes (and of course boys, but that’s clearly not my thing). However, if you’re looking for a recommendation… If you CAN get south to Koh Pha Ngan/Samui/Tao, DO it. I still much prefer them. Having said that, I can see why the proximity of Koh Chang to both Bangkok AND Cambodia attracts people that live in the area, as well as those that don’t want to make an overnight trip to go south.
Lonely Beach (looking towards the small sandy part of the beach) and the sunset (from both lonely beach as well as the Treehouse – a major backpacker institution there)
I left Koh Chang, spent a night in Trat (not too bad a place for a night), then did the Minibus-Border-Taxi-Boat to Sihanoukville (Cambodia), then lunch at the Bamboo Light Café before a bus to Phnom Penh. Pretty good distance for one day.
Posted by Dan at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)