As an Italian guy told Josh and me on the plane from Yangon to Bangkok, Koh Chang was like an island in the tropics and Koh Samet ( which I adore) was like an island in Italy! The problem was that because of the New Year break, there were no rooms to be had on Koh Chang and when Josh changed his flight it sort of screwed up any chance for reservations.
About ten minutes before we left, I asked the superintendent at my building in Bangkok if she knew of any place in Koh Chang ( which means elephant island) that was good and available. She immediately phoned her friend who in turn made a reservation for us at someone’s home. I thought this was absolutely great as we would be on this wonderful island in a Thai home just a bit back somewhere from the beach. After our neat experience in Bago, I thought how could we lose?
However, the older you get in life you realize that sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some. The first indication that this was a "lose one" occurred when I noticed all of the taxis lined up at the pier going the opposite direction from the one we were going. Our host met us, did not smile, put us in the back of the truck and took off on the west side of the island where all of the beaches, I knew, were on the east side. I never assumed that she would put me in the jungle!
When we got to the house, if I told you there was no running water you would assume there were no toilet. You would be right…but when I say there was no running water I mean there was literally no running water. There were some taps Josh and I found, but no water came out of them. Josh immediately said let’s get out of here, but I was foolishly too embarrassed to leave because my friend in Bangkok set it up for us so I decided to endure for the night. The only good thing was that our room was on stilts overlooking the water and when you get to be my age, you have to urinate every few hours…which I did…out the window! What choice did I have
? I did have the choice of one of three windows you can see in the pictures.
At 7 the next morning Josh and I were out of there and went all the way around to the other side of the island on the most southern beach where the backpackers hang out. We are both staying in our own cabin, right on the ocean and we are both thrilled. We think we have reached nirvana, even though there is no sink, no hot water, sort of a shower and a sit down toilet, even if there is no handle to flush it. If we came here first we might have been appalled, hard to say, but for $10 a night we just love it and besides, there are no other locations available.
To-night, once I stop writing, we are going to have dinner and join other revelers on the beach to say good-bye to 2008, a little earlier than you in the west but should be good. I associate New Year’s Eve skating at City Hall with Irving and freezing my bum off. This will be a little different. I will try to take some pictures but probably won’t be too successful.
Josh is amazing in the way he talks to people and in five minutes we will have a group of friends around us. Happy New Year to all and have a great 2009. Hard to believe eh?
About ten minutes before we left, I asked the superintendent at my building in Bangkok if she knew of any place in Koh Chang ( which means elephant island) that was good and available. She immediately phoned her friend who in turn made a reservation for us at someone’s home. I thought this was absolutely great as we would be on this wonderful island in a Thai home just a bit back somewhere from the beach. After our neat experience in Bago, I thought how could we lose?
However, the older you get in life you realize that sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some. The first indication that this was a "lose one" occurred when I noticed all of the taxis lined up at the pier going the opposite direction from the one we were going. Our host met us, did not smile, put us in the back of the truck and took off on the west side of the island where all of the beaches, I knew, were on the east side. I never assumed that she would put me in the jungle!
When we got to the house, if I told you there was no running water you would assume there were no toilet. You would be right…but when I say there was no running water I mean there was literally no running water. There were some taps Josh and I found, but no water came out of them. Josh immediately said let’s get out of here, but I was foolishly too embarrassed to leave because my friend in Bangkok set it up for us so I decided to endure for the night. The only good thing was that our room was on stilts overlooking the water and when you get to be my age, you have to urinate every few hours…which I did…out the window! What choice did I have
? I did have the choice of one of three windows you can see in the pictures.At 7 the next morning Josh and I were out of there and went all the way around to the other side of the island on the most southern beach where the backpackers hang out. We are both staying in our own cabin, right on the ocean and we are both thrilled. We think we have reached nirvana, even though there is no sink, no hot water, sort of a shower and a sit down toilet, even if there is no handle to flush it. If we came here first we might have been appalled, hard to say, but for $10 a night we just love it and besides, there are no other locations available.
To-night, once I stop writing, we are going to have dinner and join other revelers on the beach to say good-bye to 2008, a little earlier than you in the west but should be good. I associate New Year’s Eve skating at City Hall with Irving and freezing my bum off. This will be a little different. I will try to take some pictures but probably won’t be too successful.Josh is amazing in the way he talks to people and in five minutes we will have a group of friends around us. Happy New Year to all and have a great 2009. Hard to believe eh?
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