Sea breezes and secrets
I’ve discovered the secret to staying sane while living in Bangkok, and it’s called Ko Si Chang. Ko Si Chang is an island in the gulf that takes only 2 hours to reach by bus from Bangkok; by car it takes nearly half that time. I heard about it through a friend who was taken there by some of his Thai friends last month, and it sounded too good to be true – a quiet island in a weekend-trippable location?!?
In any case, the time had come for some REAL time away from the city – my recent excursions have been 80% travel and haven’t offered any real respite. A few other friends were planning to go as well, so the timing was great! We took it easy Friday night and headed out after my run on Saturday morning.
It was nearly painless to get there – we took a taxi to a bus station where we got onto an 8 a.m. bus that was headed straight for the pier in Siraicha. There was just a small hiccup in the form of the bus breaking down halfway there…luckily there was soon a second bus pulling up behind us, ready to take us the rest of the way. We took a 40 minute ferry ride to the island, memories of Bangkok fading with every minute that passed…
The island was beautiful and I found it hard to believe that it was so close! It’s largely a vacation spot for Bangkokians – very few foreigners or even Thais from other areas. This means that it is super quiet and has less traffic than any place else I’ve been in Thailand – in fact, we saw hardly any cars whatsoever, just motorbikes and bicycles.
We got a ride to the place where my friends were at, thinking that we’d put our bags down and scope out other options. As soon as we walked up and saw them eating lunch at a table overlooking a gorgeous rocky coastline and a wide selection of empty bungalows with views of the same, we decided to stay put. The son of the family showed me a bungalow with a balcony and an amazing view of the sea – we moved in, paid for a motorbike rental and then all six of us took off to go swimming.
My friends had found a quiet, rocky little swimming area off of a dirt path – I couldn’t believe how clear the water was! There was no one around and we enjoyed it for a bit before moving on to a sandy beach. We all had a few beers, hung out, then left when some storm clouds moved in, stopping along the way to buy dinner and bottles of whiskey.
The evening was wonderful; the storms never materialized but we had an incredible ocean breeze as we all enjoyed drinks and conversation on the balcony. I decided that I would definitely be calling in sick on Monday! One night couldn’t possibly be enough…
Once I made that decision, karma struck – I woke up Sunday morning with a high fever and heavy cough. It took me all morning to get out of bed, but eventually I made it up and we joined everyone for breakfast on the other side of island. I never hit a point of feeling great that day, but I sucked it up and enjoyed myself anyways. The others were going back to Bangkok that afternoon, so Gabe and I struck out alone. We drove our motorbike to the ancient palace, beautiful grounds containing tons of old royal ruins. Gabe had heard mention of a ‘secret’ beach that could be reached from this area and he was determined to find it!
It actually didn’t take that long and thanks to his hand-drawn map and superb navigation skills (I wasn’t much help considering the fever and sweltering day) we headed down an overgrown path that eventually spilled out onto a completely secluded little beach! It wasn’t exactly pristine – the proximity to Bangkok results in a significant amount of garbage washup – but the water was beautiful and there was no one else in sight. We spent several hours there and I couldn’t get over the seclusion of it all!
Eventually hunger and thirst got the best of us, so we hiked our way out. We made a detour along the way, as we had also read of a huge cave that could be reached from somewhere along this little-used path. We were rewarded twice; first with a gorgeous rocky overlook high above “our” beach and then with the actual cave entrance, which was quite big at the opening. Supposedly this cave extends all the way to the opposite side of the island, but it quickly narrowed off and we didn’t go too far.
It had been a great day with some neat discoveries, and I was feeling much better by that point. We showered then went to a cape on the island, reputedly a great sunset spot. It was another short hike out over a surprisingly overgrown path; there were a few fisherman around, but no one else. We settled on the rocks at the very end, with waves crashing below, and enjoyed a brilliant sunset and complete solitude.
Once darkness set, we decided to try the little restaurant at the top of the cape. We expected it to be a bit pricey, but we were pleasantly surprised! We had a table set out over the water, again completely to ourselves, and ordered incredibly fresh seafood from the incredibly inexpensive menu. On the way home, our motorbike ran out of gas right in front of a minimart, stocked with bottles of petrol. It was, without a doubt, a near-perfect day.
I woke early on Monday to take care of a few chores (ie calling in sick), then decided to spend the beautiful morning playing with my camera. Eventually my batteries died and Gabe was out on our balcony, so I climbed back up the steep staircase and we started our day. After breakfast we packed our things and made sure that the bungalow owner didn’t mind us staying until late afternoon (of course she didn’t – she also didn’t care if we turned in our motorbike at 3 instead of at the noon ‘deadline’).
We then drove to the main beach to rent a sea kayak. For $12 we got a kayak, two snorkel/masks and three hours of play time. It was my first time paddling anything, and although Gabe was very encouraging (and I’m very sore), I’m sure that he did most of the useful work! It took about an hour to get to Bat Island, and it was a great hour! The coastline was rugged, the sky was bright blue and the water was wonderful. Bat Island has a few bungalows, but there was no one there; we pulled our boat in and spent the next hour exploring the water off of the beach.
It was crystal clear and lots of neat stuff to see – innumerable fish, sea urchins, crabs, coral, neat shells and other crazy sea life. We headed back around noon and had a much easier return trip, as we were no longer fighting against the waves. There was a storm brewing, however, and I prayed we’d beat it in – I’m sure they were unfounded fears, but I couldn’t erase mental pictures of our kayak getting pushed into the rocky sea cliffs! Luckily the rain gods smiled on us once again and we made it back smoothly. We stopped for more seafood then ran out of gas yet again (not in front of a minimart this time). Once that problem had been solved (thanks, Gabe!), we showered, dropped our bike at the pier and took a ferry back to the mainland, where we reluctantly boarded a Bangkok-bound bus.
It was so refreshing to find a place where one can actually be alone (such a rarity in this part of the world!) and to discover that there really are secret beaches and secret caves and secluded islands, all within reach. We are back in Bangkok now, but have less than four weeks to go – I can’t wait for all of the secrets yet to be discovered!
note: I recovered from my brief illness, but passed it along to Gabe, who was hit twice as hard. Luckily it is possible to find Campbell’s soup in Bangkok and luckily I’m a good enough girlfriend to make the journey and find it 😉 He’s doing quite well now!
Tags: bangkok, Beach, cave, food, island, Ko Si Chang, Photos, quiet, thailand, Travel, weekend
allisonrae
August 27th, 2008 at 12:25 am
I like it, although I cant believe you left out “running out of gas” not once but twice! You also left out the part of giving me your SICKNESS! I will let it slide since you brought me medicine, sprite, and campbells chicken noodle soup 🙂
August 27th, 2008 at 1:28 am
What do you mean, I left it out? 😉
Also, why does your comment say that you posted from Australia? What have you been up to today??
August 27th, 2008 at 6:11 am
[…] Original post by allisonrae […]
August 27th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Sounds like a great get away and almost as pretty as Surfside! Hope your both feeling better.
Love,
Dad
August 31st, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Great post!
I could picture the places very well, but now as well as being there!
What will you do after four weeks?
John
September 1st, 2008 at 3:29 am
The exact path that we will take still remains to be seen, but we will be fleeing Bangkok as soon as my teaching is complete (september 30)! We’re planning to cover more of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and, if money allows, would love to see Malaysia. I’ll let you know as it all pans out!
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