The morning after the boxing I was up at 7am to shower and pack ready to spend the day traveling to Koh Chang Island to meet Steve and do some beach side relaxing.
When I got downstairs Nicole (the Swiss girl I met last night) was waiting there so we got a bite to eat in the 7 eleven shop and waited for the minibus to collect us. The German I was sat next to at the boxing was also there and had obviously stayed in the same hotel too!
WHen the tour operator arrived, it turned out the 'minibus' I was sold was actually a half hour walk to the bus pickup! Nicole was on another tour though, so I said goodbye and headed off. The poor German girls bag was really heavy... mine on the other hand being a 35 litre bag was quite nice to carry, haha! We got talking at various points on the trip after that, she was pretty cool. She is heading straight on from Koh Chang to one of the smaller islands to the south though.
I made good use of my ipod on the coach, which was a near 5 hour trip. The ferry was late leaving and took loads longer than advertised, which meant that Steve had been and gone from the port before I got there as I'd left my phone on silent, doh!
I missed the taxis to the resort as I was looking around the port area for Steve, so after a little wait I got on the back of one as there was no space inside. Back pack on my back, day pack on my front, standing on the back of a pickup truck full of bags and people for a 25 minute journey! I was fooking knackered once we got in to white sands resort! We got stopped by police near the end of the trip too, as obviously the driver isnt supposed to let people stand on the back. So everyone had to squeeze up in the back so I could park my bum in there for the last bit. The driver got a serious telling off and a ticket!
Once we got to the resort I met Steve and started looking for a place to stay. Pretty much everywhere in Thailand has rooms, but for some reason tonight, there were no rooms apart from the upper end of the price range available. We walked for half an hour or more (still with bag on back!) to find one, and in the end I plumped for a more expensive one near Steve's place, for 1000B a night. Turns out for the 400B more than it is for a room like Steve's, it is LOADS nicer. Full aircon, safe, fridge, tv, nice bathroom... think I might temporarily adjust my budget slightly... heheh! ;-)
Went out for beers and food on the beach after a shower, and found a place with cans of blackthorn, which were expensive at 2 quid a can, but were ice cold and VERY welcome!! Yummmmm
We went up the beach and picked some nice beef kebabs and jacket potatos from the bar-b-que and sat on the beach to eat and drink. Brill.
Steve got a bit drunk after a few beers, as he does ;-), but we had a good larf and went to a bar where his favourite Thai girl works and had some cocktails and played some world class jenga, connect four and heads-up poker! We ended up hitching a ride home from a couple of musicians who'd been playing further along the road, which was handy, and went back to the late bar right next to our bungalows and supped a few more beers.
I slept well! This room is very nice... think I might stay here for a week. The sea has yet to be sampled, but it looks amazing. Crystal clear (well, a little cloudy according to Steve), but flat and calm too and fringed with a white sand beach...
Off to put some laundry in the place down the road now...
Catch you later!
Sloggs :-)
P.S. the locals cannot say Sloggs. It is soooooo funny telling them my name, lol!! They call me slok and some of them can't even pronounce the 'L' heheheh ;-)
