In the past two days I have played an impromptu blues jam at a travellers bar, eaten the best fresh fish I’ve ever had, heard the most ridiculous violent dialogue not in an arnie film, and ridden an Elephant through the Thai jungle. It’s been a busy 48 hours.
Two nights ago Alan and I decided to move a bit further on from Lonely Beach, where we’d spent three days, and took a taxi down to Bang Bao, the fishing port town on the southern end of Ko Chang. Here we found a peaceful rest from the dusty main roads that snake through every settlement that we’d seen here so far, making way instead for sheltered wooden walkways lined either side with souvenir stalls and restaurants. The whole area is built along the main pier, and every so often we’d pass a gap between two buildings wide enough to look out across the bay, where fishermans lights twinkle in the distance as they float on the water.
After wandering up and down the pier for a while we stopped for a bite to eat.
Now, I’m not normally a great fan of fishy food, but with me being there right on the riverside amongst the boats and barges, unlikely to ever get an opportunity to eat fish as fresh as this, it would have been plain rude not to. There was a good choice of places to eat here, each one exhibiting that days catch in large tanks at the front entrance – sea bass, lobsters, and things I don’t even recognise swimming around the busy containers.
We sat at the back of our chosen eatery, right on the edge of the waters, and ordered our food. Alan went for “Deep fried fish with lemon grass & Thai herbs”, whereas I went for “Stuffed squid in sweet sauce”. Being stupid farangs we also ordered a bucket of rice, not realising the enormous dishes that would soon be coming our way, and even the waitress gave us a frown as we asked for it. The fish was eaten with great enjoyment, the additional steamed rice left unfinished despite our greatest efforts and belches. I have a feeling that very few places in the UK can possibly compete with the food we had that night but if they do I’ll be eating a lot more fish from now on. Probably not for the ridiculous bill £10 for two meals plus drinks however!
We took a taxi back to Lonely Beach after this and visited the Sticky rice blues bar again, much quieter now than it was the night before. We ordered two bottles of Chang and sat down to watch the performers tonight – the same bass player from before and an absolutely hilarious old Thai guy playing guitar, who had Alan and I in stitches from the moment he opened his mouth to the minute we left. Alan became very brave whilst I was away at the bar, and told the guitar man that we’d get up and do a song…so I managed to find myself up on the stage area a few minutes later with a bass guitar in my hands, playing a completely random blues jam with Alan in front of a small, but completely dumbfounded, bunch of travellers. I shouldn’t have been surprised really – in a venue where a random guy can stroll in from the street, playing the banjo as he walks, and get waved straight up on stage to join the band midway through a song, it’s probably no mean feat at all to be able to request a go in advance!
Sticky Rice Blues bar, Lonely Beach
After finishing up at the Sticky rice blues bar, we wandered for a while before finding an absolutely packed place around the corner, with the usual thumping music, cushions and hammocks for seating, and the same carefree barefoot hippie traveller gang lounging around enjoying their evening.
Yesterday morning we packed our bags at the Siam Beach Resort and made our way into town. We stopped at the same expat bar, where I treated myself to my first English fry-up, leaving me feeling horribly dirty and narrow-minded, yet most satisfied at the same time.
We opted for a different part of the island and so got a taxi to White Sands, which wasn’t the best choice but we never planned to stay here for long. It’s a horribly touristy place, and it’s easy to gauge the clientele from the surrounding sights – families who couldn’t care less about Thai culture and just want to spend the whole week sitting on the oversaturated beaches, drinking Budweiser, watching football and eating steak and chips every night of the week. Watching some of the passers-by would lead you to believe that they were having some sort of personal contest to see who could have the most PAINFULLY RED looking skin of all. Some of them gave me burning sensations just looking at them. Why would you sit in the sun for that long?!
My experience at an internet cafe later would also lead me to believe that they have no idea how to do business with the Thais – whilst I was online a German man came barging in, and proceeded to shout at the worker there with a level of intensity and anger that I’ve never seen in a shop before – and bear in mind that I did 11 years in retail. I couldn’t fully understand him as he spat at the assistant in his ridiculous over the top voice but it was something to do with the bike he’d been loaned. As he vented an obscene amount of spleen I honestly thought he was going to fling the poor unsuspecting Thai guy across the room like a rag, but instead he grabbed his money back and stormed out. I couldn’t see any blood stains or murdered German family members outside, only a neatly parked line of mopeds, so can only assume that this was a pure example of the arrogance of White Sands tenants. Come to Ko Chang, but don’t bother with here.
After our hilarious, but rather unnerving internet cafe incident, we took a taxi up to Bang Kwan Chang Elephant Trek, in order to add the giant jungle beasts to our list of unusual foreign transportation methods.
Paying 500 baht each, we settled into the somewhat wobbly looking seats as the keeper leapt up on to the elephants neck and gave it a poke with a stick to get it moving.
For 40 minutes we were carried through the Thai jungle, passing streams, sandy plains, and steep rocky pathways. The ride from the elephants back felt a little jumpy and unstable at first but considering the sheer size and power of these creatures, they move with surprising grace. We hopped off at the end and got a chance to feed them from a basket of bananas before climbing into a taxi back to our hotel, happy to have ventured on an experience that we’re never likely get to do anywhere again other than this crazy wonderful place.
Our time in Ko Chang ended with a visit to the Sabay bar situated across the road from our hotel here at White Sands resort. We spent a lazy relaxing evening lounging at one of the many tables scattered across the decking area and on the beach itself. The fire dancers put on another mightily impressive show, and another covers band, this time from the Philippines, played two sets of well rehearsed songs from the usual Thailand repertoire of Bob Marley and Nirvana tracks.
Perhaps most impressive, or surprising at least, was the service from the toilet attendant. I was greeted at the door by two polite workers, followed by a third inside, all of whom stood and waited for me – a little bit unnerving but one learns to deal with such things. As I then stood at the sink the tap was turned on for me, and after I’d finished with the soap and water a damp perfumed flannel and paper were passed to me. Whilst this was going on another man patted my back down and rubbed the knots out in my shoulders, before asking me to interlock my hands behind my back so he could lift me and lean back to crack my spine joints for me. This somewhat unusual service was finished with him cracking the joints in all my fingers and finally massaging out the tensions in my arms and wrists. I came out feeling as chilled as a polar bear, and all I can say is that the average attendant in a London toilet with his green paper towel and bottle of Davidoff spray has a lot to live up to when I get home.
We have now left behind the memorable beaches of Ko Chang and made our way to Pattaya. The resort itself has nothing of interest for me, and I’ve already seen more than enough single old white men sat at sleazy bars to know what this place is all about to most, but Alan and I plan on staying just for the water-sports. We both want to try parasailing and boogie-boarding if possible, before Alan has to make his journey back to Bangkok to join you all back in the UK.
So that’s Ko Chang for now. Highlights: the view from the bungalows at Siam Beach Resort, the entertainment at Lonely Beach, the elephant trek, and a special mention for the random toilet treatment at the Sabay bar. Lowlights: the tourist element at White Sands – whose snappy tempers, Hawaiian shirts and lobster skin, and incessant desire to stare at Alan and I as we went about our business didn’t do much to win me over. Still, I’m sure I’ll see plenty worse amongst the crowds at Pattaya before I tick the water-sports off the list and head off to greener lands…
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Tagged: elephant, food, Ko Chang, Lonely Beach, Thailand, White Sands
