Back To Thailand and Into Ko Chang

After crossing the border, we got to our group that we were riding with in the van. Now that we were back in Thailand, Taryn and I could refill our cell phone credits and talk till our hearts content. It was good to be back! After about 45 minutes our van finally arrived. However, to our dismay... They oversold the seats and I had to sit in a small excuse for-a-seat for 3-4 excruciating hours. We were refunded our money, for one seat ( about 300 Baht which is about $10) but it was not worth it! Well, we both got through it and got to the pier where we had to wait another hour for our ferry. While we were at the pier, we decided to book a bungalow ahead of time.

Getting on that ferry, I never thought would be such an enjoyable time. The ferry also took our van, so we left our backpacks in the van and went on top of the ferry. I felt so invigorated. We sat front row on the very top of the ferry and looked out to the dark sea. The moon and stars were shining brightly and reflected off the sea and the wind felt incredibly strong – after the long day of travel ( about 12 hours all together, including layovers!) I was just thrilled to be on the ferry and breathing fresh air. It's those little moments where you're not doing anything noteworthy, but you're just enjoying the moment of the journey. I thought about all the amazing things we had done over the last few months and I was hopeful and optimistic about the future. It was a long and great trip - I was looking very much forward to getting some much needed island time.

When we left the ferry and started driving through the island, I was surprised to feel just how steep the roads were. I literally slid forward as we made our decent down our first of many hills.We zipped around the island for about another 45 minutes and FINALLY got to our bungalows. Our bungalow was very plain and it was not overlooking the beach, but it worked. We ate our dinner at our bungalow's restaurant , w hich over looked the ocean. After dinner we walked over to Taryn's friend's Bungalows and later went to a popular watering hole “the tree house” where an international crowd was chilling to nice downtempo. I was surprised how many people were out, but I was so tired from the day of travel and I had to cut the night short to get to some z's.

The next day we woke up and had breakfast. Sadly, it was a little overcast and it appeared that it was going to rain. ( Rainy season was beginning when we returned to Thailand) It was still nice and it ended up not raining during the day. Taryn and I enjoyed our day on the beach and later decided to rent motorbikes. It was fun to ride the motorbikes this time, but MY, how the roads are so steep that I could feel myself almost slip off the seats and the bikes as we made our ascents over the hills! It was a nice ride, but it started to get dark and there wasn't a lot of light on our part of the island. We ate a lovely little spot on the pier area. It was really windy – and then to our dismay, it started to rain. I, being extremely cautious, did not want to ride a motorbike in the rain – much less on the steep roads the island had. Especially after listening to the many stories of the foreigners who injure themselves on motorbikes. Luckily, a kind staff member agreed to give me a lift and Taryn braved the road on her own. After getting back to our bungalows, we decided to chill out and have dessert there – then went to bed. Koh Chang was all about relaxing after our long journey – and relax we did!