Return to Paradise - Saam

Sept. 1, 2017

The first morning on Koh Chang - some who were fighting jet lag were up before sunrise, and enjoyed an early morning walk on the beach.

jellyfish

lots of hermit crabs

 We had rented a motorbike for K. Mick and K. June to use, to make travel between the properties a little more manageable.  They came by in the morning, and told us that the TV didn't work and that they were the only ones in the entire complex.  It was clearly not the experience we were hoping to give them.  I felt really bad - the place looked so nice online.

Tim and I discussed the difficult housing arrangements with K. Mick, and we decided to try to cancel the remaining nights at the deserted condo.  The local manager said she couldn't give us a refund, of course, but let Tim talk to the owner over the phone.  The guy was a first-class jerk, and saw no reason he should refund anything.  The local manager wound up giving us a partial refund from her own pocket, I think because she recognized the unfairness of the situation.

That morning, nearly everyone piled into the van to go shopping for food.  They came back about an hour later with enough food to feed an army!  We crammed everything into the fridge as best as we could, and everyone grabbed some breakfast.

Soon after, a makeshift game of water volleyball was arranged.  No net was available, so they used the rope attached to the property's kayak and stretched it across the pool - clever.  Tim Jr had picked up a small ball from the store, so they were all set.  The game was well under way when a mighty downpour moved in.  The players were undaunted, and continued playing in the rain, "big ol' fat rain" splashing water up into their faces.  It reminded me of the scene in Forrest Gump when the title character describes the different kinds of rain in Vietnam.  "Sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath."

The rain (literal and metaphorical) soon cleared, leaving some nice, wet sand for sculpting.  I love the feel of wet sand and seeing what takes shape.

The sun was soon setting, and K. Mick had just gotten his fishing line in the water - K. June stood at the shore and he rowed out in the little kayak with the line - when we announced it was time to go.  (Guess we should have communicated our plans a little better.)  We heard about a fire show on the beach further down the coast, and decided it would be a fun place to have dinner.

When we pulled up in front of the Sabay Bar, the staff gladly helped find us a parking spot.  I'm sure they were happy to have a van full of customers.  The Tiki-style front is decorated with walls of bamboo, and leads to the beachfront dining area.  Everyone ordered drinks, and took some time pouring over the large menu.  The waiter had jokes, ones I'm sure he'd used a thousand times before, but I was amused.  Some people ordered chicken pad thai, and he asked them if they didn't want pad thai chicken.  Colored lights that looked like jellyfish hung from the trees.  A good soundtrack added to the ambiance.

No babies under twenty?  No grenades?
No eating poison??

Always time for a dance on the beach...

Before the fire show began, we watched a man stack wine glasses into a pyramid.  He poured some kind of alcohol into the top, and watched it cascade down into the other glasses, then set the alcohol on fire.

The food was pretty good, but the fire show was the highlight for sure.  Young men spinning and whirling with flaming props - hoops, swords, ropes, etc.  It was a feast for the eyes.

After the show, we took a walk along the main street, and some picked up some souvenirs.  Hiustyn decided she needed a giant floating donut for the pool.

We enjoyed sharing the evening with great company.

Return to Paradise - Sorng

August 31, 2017

When our guests were planning their Thailand invasion, someone asked each person in the group to rate the things they wanted to do while in country.  Nearly everyone put "visiting an island" at the top of their list.

Koh Chang is a picturesque island off the coast of eastern Thailand, one of the largest Thai islands in the Gulf of Thailand, and not far from the Cambodian border.  The entire island is part of Mu Ko Chang National Park, with steep hills, waterfalls and jungles, and has some of the best beaches within driving distance of Pattaya.  This is where we would be spending the next four days.

Another early morning walk with my entourage - this time we hiked up to the top of Kao Pratumnak Hill and the Scenic Lookout.  Already the place was busy with Chinese tourists posing for their kooky group photos.  We enjoyed looking down on Pattaya bay, and got some pictures by the temple.

Everyone helped themselves to an impromptu breakfast, then we packed up for our road trip.   Our driver and his wife were able to join us, making it an even dozen in our rented van.  The three-and-a-half hour drive gave us a good chance to see the Thai countryside.  The bumpy ride was a bit much for the backseat passengers, however.  We stopped for "benzene" and got some snacks at the 7-11 before turning off the main road to the village of Trat, where we would catch the ferry across to the island.

The ferry runs every forty-five minutes, so we could have been in for a long wait; fortunately, we drove right onto the ferry when we arrived.  We piled out of the car and climbed the stairs to the passenger deck.  From above, we had a good view of the vehicles below, including a truck piled high with lobster traps.  The blue skies and puffy white clouds above the island made for perfect photo opportunities on the thirty-minute trip across to the island.

Chloe and Tim

Mick and June

Katie and Evan

Tim and me

Hiustyn and Ted

Jenna and Mike

lobster traps

heading back down to the car

From the ferry, it was a short drive to the resort.  We had booked a condo for our driver and his wife, since we were only allowed ten people in our Airbnb house.  The manager of the condo met us on her scooter and escorted us to the property.  The drive in was pretty rough - unfinished roads and messy construction.  The condo seemed deserted when we arrived, but we didn't want to be swayed by first impressions.  We climbed the stairs to the third-floor unit, and paid for the three-night stay.  The manager informed us that we would be charged extra for water and electricity - I never heard such a thing before, and we were pretty unhappy about it.  (I missed it in the fine print of the booking.com listing.)

We had booked the condo because it was inside the same resort as the house, and expected it to be easy traveling between the two properties.  But because of all the mess with the roads and construction, we had to drive all the way back out to the main road and down a different road to get to our rental house - very disappointing.

The house was lovely - a five-bedroom villa with a private pool and the beach just steps away.  Our early afternoon arrival allowed us to enjoy the pool and the beach for a few hours.  The local pooches welcomed us and kept us company for most of our stay.  One was dubbed "Sansa" (Mike's girlfriend has a dog of similar color named Arya.)  The beach was splendid, with more beautiful shells than I have ever seen on a beach.

the ornate front door

our first look

 

 Unfortunately, the first swimmers in the water spotted some jellyfish, so we kept our exposure to a minimum.  It was a good opportunity to practice my Thai writing in the sand - I tried writing everyone's name in Thai.  Our driver's wife helped with a few corrections.  It seems "Ted" is spelled with the "ay" sound in Thai - who knew?  Not Tayd!

"Ted + Hiustyn" 

"Tim + Chloe"

"Mike (kinda) + Jenna"

"Evan + Katie"

"Liz + Tim"

It didn't take long for Tim and Mick to pull out the backgammon set.  It was a fierce battle, with the winner being dubbed "The Boss."  Mick was wearing his "Boss" shirt, which I think gave him an unfair advantage.  The rest of us enjoyed the beautiful sunset.

I'd read about a good Mexican restaurant nearby, but after driving around for a bit, we discovered it was closed during low season.  Instead, we stopped into the first place we stumbled upon, since by that time everyone was starving.  The Shambhala Bar served drinks, and had food delivered from another location, so it took awhile for the food to arrive.  Some of the group enjoyed a game of pool in the meantime.  The food and the service were so-so, with drinks slowly coming out one at a time, and the food being delivered in shifts.  But we were happy to be fed so we could go back to the house and crash.  "After all, tomorrow is another day."