Not so sunny Koh Chang

What a spew. We arrived in Koh Chang last night, found out that the bungalow we wanted to stay in isn't any longer there, so we found a place, went to bed, and got up today to find that we have windy, cloudy and quite cool weather (keep in mind that Ko Chang is an island that has white sand, crystal clear blue water and palm trees everywhere). And it's the only full day we're going to be here! We have to leave tomorrow morning for Bangkok, so we are a bit pissed. But we decided that we are going to go swimming anyway, despite the coldness.

We left Ko Lanta on Saturday and spent the day on a bus and a train to get to Hua Hin (a town about half way up to Bangkok). We arrived at 4:30 in the am, and caught a cab to the hotel that our friends at Fisherman's Cottage booked for us. However, he took us to the wrong hotel, and at 4:30 in the morning, there aren't too many people around to give you directions. So we drove around for about half an hour, and then he turned down this dark side street, crossed some railway lines, and we were convinced he'd had enough of us and decided to finish us off. So we banged on the window, told him to take us to this other place we had read about in the Lonely Planet, for him to reply with "We are here". Phew! So we checked in, went up to our room, put on the AC, and watched tellie for a few hours before passing out from tiredness.

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day (prob the first one we've had since coming to Thailand) and deiced to go for a stroll down to the beach. Not bad - very busy with older people and not the nicest looking beach, but because of the head we didn't care and proceeded to splash around in the waves like 10 year olds. Fun. We also went to some markets (where I found a way cool watch), ate some dinner (where we needed to walk down the side street at 10pm, which was quite scary) and slept some more.

We were up at 6am so we could get to Bangkok at a decent hour before more bussing to Tran (where we needed to catch a ferry to Koh Chang). So we got to Bangkok and caught a cab to the Eastern Terminal, which was about half an hour away. Man, was this the craziest cab ride I've ever been in. I stupidly sat in the front, so I could see all the mayem that was unfolding. We were going down the main streets at over 90 kmh. Bloody insane. We had so many near misses that I lost count, and by the end I needed to change my pants. But the excitement didn't end there. We got to the bus station, and found out that the express bus to Trang was leaving in 15 mins. I hear you thinking "what's the big deal? 15 minutes is heaps of time". Well, yeah, normally it would have been. Except that the boot wouldn't open, and all my stuff was in it. We were quite a hit with all the officials, so at least it was entertaining. Anyway, they were trying everything to get it open, but in the end they had to just keep pulling at it until it broke the whole boot and ripped the lock out of the car. Poor guy... but we ran onto the bus at 10:59am (the bus was leaving at 11am). Good story huh?

The rest is pretty boring. Caught a speed boat to the island, just to be cooler than the others, and found a bungalow to stay in, did some shopping, and now telling you all my crazy adventures. Again, the island here is picturesque. White sandy beaches, perfect blue water, just the way you expect Thailand to be. So we'll make the most of it by doing something to make the most of it by.

Health - I haven't been doing as much as I should, so no surprise I'm not the best I could be. But I figure I'm home in a few days, so not alot to worry about. Alley is feeling quite a bit better, and she thanks all of you for your well wishes.

It's weird having a beard - everyone is staring at me. I feel like a Western girl in Morocco wearing only a bikini top and a mini skirt. The woman at the airport in Bangkok said I looked like a monkey. Not that that has anything to do with Western girls in Morocco, but it was another random fact that I thought you all needed to know.

I'm off now. I've said too much. Or not enough... I haven't decided yet.

Rating - 5.9

What I'm listening to: System of a Down - Hypnotize

Gross white men chasing young Thai women: 62