Journey to Koh Chang

I guess I should give a little background to Koh Chang. It's an island located in the province of Trat, in the northeast area of Thailand. We'll actually have to backtrack a little later on in the trip, but decided it would be best to start here to avoid the end of wet season in the south.


Transportation options are limited to planes and mini-buses in this area of Thailand. We didn't bother looking into flying since Koh Chang was only a 4-5 hour trip by mini-bus & ferry. Plus the buses are more like large vans but super comfortable and air conditioned.

The buses stop along the way letting people off to use the washroom or smoke, but mostly just to refill gas. The vehicles are strange here come to think of it. I'm not sure if they use for fuel here but the tank is under the hood opposed to the side, like in western countries. The also drive about 130km on highways. It felt a little dangerous but everyone else on the road seemed to drive the same speed. If we didn't stop for gas and pee breaks we likely would have made the 4 1/2 hour trip in 3 hours.

I wasnt sure what to expect once we reached the ferry, but it looked like something you would see on the smaller islands in BC. Not the huge ones that go between Vancouver and Victoria, but large enough for passengers and their vehicles. Erin won the bet on that subject. Jordanna and I expected smaller boats for some reason. We departed around 5:30pm just as the sun was setting. It was pretty stunning. In someways reminded me of home, but with different species of trees.

The ferry trip was a lot shorter than we expected. We were told it would take an hour but I would say it was no longer than half an hour. That was great though. All of us were exhausted from travelling all day and relieved to get out of the cities. The thought of reaching our jungle huts near the beach was becoming more real. As we approached the island we could see the "Welcome to Koh Chang" it the distance. We lined up the exit in anticipation with the other travelers and rushed off once the gates opened.

As I mentioned in my last post, the tuk tuks are always waiting to take you to your destination. Unlike Pattaya the experience wasn't overwhelming though. We piled into the back of the truck with the rest of the travelers and headed to our resorts...