Travel Bangkok - Koh Chang
BANKOK-KO CHANG
We are a family from Minsk - husband, wife and son 10 years old, traveled to Thailand on our own for the first time. We flew from 23.02. 2009 to 08.03. 2009 on the only possible option by Turkmen Airlines from Minsk with a stopover in Ashgabat. I booked hotels in advance on sawadee. Thai baht exchange rate - 1 dollar = 35 baht.
We arrived in Bangkok at 12 noon, reached the Bayoke Sky hotel in 30-40 minutes, without a toll road, for 180 baht without traffic jams. The shopping streets of the Pratunam district lead to the hotel in the city - shops, mobile fruits, a bunch of rags, shops, some local hairdressers, laundries, even dantis rooms - everything is mixed here. Having got out on foot in 10-15 minutes, running across the streets with a wild number of cars, tuk-tuks, motorcycles and mopeds, we reached the Central World Plaza. A giant mall with normal European brands, quality toys, cosmetics, interior items, spacious and beautiful, with a very pleasant atmosphere.
The Siam Paragon shopping center, which is located nearby with a huge oceanarium (there were also there, I liked everything very much, the complex ticket is about 750 baht), collected more expensive brands - Dior, Gucci, etc. , where somehow there are no discounts observed. Later, on the way back, in Bangkok, we ended up in several more centers - MBK (a huge amount of locally produced items), Central, but CentralWorld is definitely the most suitable both in terms of saturation with goods and location. It is also very convenient for those who live on Sukomovit and Silom, there is a Sky Train station nearby. Bayoke Sky hotel is not bad, a bit old, the rooms and bathrooms are large, the plumbing is all fresh. We were on the 39th floor and had a view of Amari. The choice of dishes for breakfast is large - European, Thai, Japanese cuisine. But I would not say that the restaurant itself is cozy. We climbed several times to the observation deck - it is free for residents, moved down from the 77th floor in a transparent elevator - it's not scary at all.
The next day we left the hotel and took a taxi to the Ekkamai bus station - just in time for the bus to Trat, which left at 9-30, tickets were about 250 baht per person. I draw your attention to the fact that immediately after us there was a direct bus to the ferry in Laem Ngop, which is much more convenient. Landing on it was right near the entrance to the bus station, and not on the back side, where all the buses are. I only noticed it when I left. Our bus is clean, air-conditioned, with a functioning toilet, ruffled curtains , the stewardess delivered wet wipes, cookies, bottles. water, and then constantly offered Coke with ice. There were several short stops along the way. We drove for about 4 hours, slept and saw the poor life of the province.
Then we waved another 15 minutes on a pickup truck with a roof for 50 baht (this is the main means of transportation on the island, in addition to scooters, of course), and then on a ferry for 150 baht (round trip ticket) for 40 minutes sailed to the island, which turned out to be from the continent not far at all. Pickup trucks are already waiting for the newcomers there and transported to the places of their future deployment. On the way to White Sand Beach, we met wild monkeys, they are not harmful and there are not many of them, they live mainly in the depths of the island, they approach people only in those places where they are expected to be fed. In short, we left the hotel in Bangkok at 8-15, we were at the hotel on the island at 17-30.
Our hotel is at White Sand Beach Kacha Resort & Spa. It is, of course, very beautiful there. In these places, the mountains come close and if you stand with your back to the sea, the view is amazing - high peaks covered with dense jungle, sometimes wrapped in a veil of clouds, sometimes darkening against the blue sky. Well, sunsets, they cannot be described ...Every day on Koh Chang they are different.
Our hotel is very nice with a cozy small area, clean, with a wonderful pool with elephants, where the mattresses on each sun lounger were carefully covered with elastic covers at night. The hotel, like most on the island, offers a variety of accommodation options. There are also villas near the pool and near the sea, and we booked almost 10 days before departure, and we got only the standard, but I can tell you, the room was cool. The hotel must have recently been refurbished. A large bathroom with beautiful tiles in emerald black, no bath, shower behind a tiled partition, water runs to the floor, but this fact did not bother me at all, everything is very clean, there are no smells. The room is not small, given that we ordered an extra for the child. bed. Beautiful Thai surroundings, all solid wood furniture, even trash cans and tissue boxes. Everything is as shown in the picture on the internet. Nice balcony with wooden table and chairs.
I repeat that this is the easiest accommodation option in a two-story building near the reception. The hotel also offers one building rooms for 30-40, all with balconies overlooking the sea. Also in the tropical garden there are two-story bungalows, all with terraces, and if the sea is not directly visible from there (although it is actually 50-70 meters away), then you can enjoy the view of outlandish plants. Around the pool and on the beach - villas, family accommodation is supposed there, which is really beneficial for adults with more than three people. The breakfast is good - meat, sausages, pasta in different forms, various omelettes, salads, yogurts, jams, buns, etc. There are a lot of fruits - pineapples, papaya, guava, watermelons, melons (however, in Thailand it’s different, probably , can not be). Sun loungers from the array stand around the pool and facing the sea. The staff is trying very hard, I think that in the future they will increase prices in the season.
To be honest, walking along the entire coast to the northern part of the beach (the kamini begins to the south), our location and the pool are the most beautiful. I also visually liked the Kacha Grand Resort & Spa in the north, a very decent hotel, but the price was much more expensive than ours. In general, White Sand Beach is one large common beach, the bottom is sandy, flat, the water is very clean. There are no evil creatures. In the evening, each hotel puts its tables and chairs on the beach for dinner for vacationers. Some people like it, some do not, but in the evening the beach is given over to restaurants, and in the morning nothing resembles the traces of an evening meal. The prices are different, the food is tasty or very tasty. However, for ourselves, we have identified a restaurant on the only main street of the village. The village - normal sidewalks, tiled, many street shops, cond. shops and restaurants, tourist offices. Although there is no hype and movement. We chose a place where there were always a lot of people, even at sleepy hours (it's 14-16 hours).
It looks unpresentable, but the food is just amazing, the service is fast, the menu with pictures, for starters, you can evaluate everything visually. Tom Yama (60 baht), necks (30-40 baht) - this is something. All seafood, meat, chicken, vegetables, rice are cooked in different styles. For example, I didn’t even suspect how addicted I would be to spicy and fresh seafood, I don’t eat and don’t cook such food in Belarus, real ingredients shouldn’t even get into the refrigerator - only then it’s real Thai food. However, for my child there was a choice of European cuisine. Chicken pieces, french fries and vegetables on one plate cost 130 baht, which is much more expensive than Thai-Chinese food. In general, the prices there are all right, not expensive. For three of us with beer, with shakes and fresh juices, everything usually cost 500 baht - it's overeating.
The name of the restaurant is some kind of Thai word, and the location landmark is written in Thai - opposite the entrance to the Alina resort, a chicken is drawn at the entrance and on the T-shirts of the waiters. We stayed at White Sand for 3 days. Next, we booked a room in Kai Bay at the Chang Resort. Moved things in literally 20 minutes.
What can I say, Kai Bay is a killer place compared to White Sand Beach. The road is narrow, there are no sidewalks, the infrastructure is much weaker. Restaurants and cafes are closed at lunchtime. We were unlucky with the hotel I booked in advance. The Chang Resort hotel is old, unkempt, with some kind of dumps on the territory, unpleasant bathrooms with mold, a balcony with ant tracks, a gap between the front door of the room and the floor of 2-3 centimeters, where a vile creature did not fail to crawl at night (we are in the rooms themselves never eat). The pool is dirty, some kind of disinfectant was poured into it from bottles right in front of the vacationers. Do not enter the sea - stones.
The beach is littered, umbrellas and sun loungers are broken. The staff doesn't care about their jobs at all. Really nice people working at the reception. I just cried. Fly and drive so far and end up in a rare hole for a week! And it costs no less than Kacha Resort. Before I booked this before leaving, I read a lot of positive reviews - God, who could write them! In general, after half an hour of searching for at least some positive moment on the territory and the beach, and having nevertheless made a strong-willed decision to give this hotel the money paid on the Internet (for modernization ), we went to an Internet cafe (1min-1bat), quickly threw fishing rods As for the hotels I liked in Minsk, almost immediately a positive response came from Sea View Resort & Spa to check in from tomorrow. Fortunately, it was within 30-40 minutes. walking distance through the village and along the beach line past the houses of KB Resort, Mam Bungalow and Porn’s Bungalow.
As soon as we got to the territory of the Sea View Resort & Spa, a wonderful lagoon closed by islands, we realized that we were going to Koh Chang precisely for this beauty. We approached the reception and asked to show our De Lux room in the new building. The room is gorgeous! Very large, made in a modern Thai style, beds strewn with flowers, transparent walls in the bathrooms (when taking a bath, you can see the seascape with islands), which, if necessary, are closed with roller shutters, a transparent sliding wall separating the room from a large balcony, the sea and huge palm trees directly in front of the balcony. What beauty there, what sunsets, this is one of the most beautiful places on the island! The sand on the beach is starchy, not the same as in Chang Resort. Territory well-groomed, clean. Plants that we groom and plant in pots at home, here, in natural conditions, reach a height of 2-3 meters. The hotel also has different types of accommodation.
But I looked into the rooms and the bungalows and the standards in the two-story old building - everything is very worthy, I even liked the bungalow more. Everything is clean, Thai style. Free sun loungers are always available. The pool is not small, there is a part with a jacuzzi. Breakfasts are sumptuous! We spent 7 wonderful days there. I will add that at this time there was a promotion for several days - you pay 3600 baht per day (for a room and 2 adult breakfasts) + 180 baht for children, and the next day you pay only breakfast (about 900 baht for three). In general, we are also lucky financially here. According to the ebb and flow - they were both barely noticeable and quite noticeable.
From excursions - we took elephant trekking with swimming in the lake - a sea of new sensations (500 baht per hour, 900 baht two hours per person); a sea trip on a Thaifun boat around the islands - a very picturesque underwater world, corals of intricate shapes, huge underwater purple anemones, such as I have not seen in Egypt, beautiful archipelagos of islands where you can also live boats or boats). Our boat is comfortable, with soft comfortable seats, a good buffet. Starting from White Sand Beach, it stops offshore in front of each hotel on the coast, from where tourists sail, a motorboat sails to the hotel. This is an expensive boat compared to others - 1250 baht per adult. I consider it an advantage that you go directly from your hotel, and not from Bang Bao.
Friends from the hotel went on a similar route in a speedboat, but even without the excitement of the sea they were pretty sick, they give food there in prepared boxes. A couple of times we rented kayaks for 1 hour - 150 baht and swam to the coconut island next to the hotel. There, during a good tide, the husband and son dived with masks, there are no corals there, but there are enough living creatures - there were many fish and sea cucumbers. My husband took simple fishing tackle with him, managed to catch a dozen fish for pieces of octopus, we let them all out, sorry : ). From where we did not go - Adventure park. In the jungle, on the highlands, various ropes, cableways, etc. are stretched. You cling to the carabiner and move through the air between the trees. We are sorry, but my son did not have sneakers (he flew in boots with retractable rollers), and sandals and flip flops are not allowed there. The husband did not go fishing at night on an equipped boat (from 18-30 to 23-00).
Everyone said that there was really no big fish, and people caught barracuda before we left the hotel. We didn’t go to the waterfalls, even though it was 15 minutes from us - we wanted to be at the sea to the maximum. Yes, there was still a lot of very interesting things, everything is transferred to the next time.
Separately, I would like to note the rest on the island according to the budget program. About half of these tourists, if not more. Of course, this option is not very suitable for families with children. But for adventures and new sensations - great. People take scooters en masse. Models are all good, not wrecked. Dangle around the island, it's very convenient. They live in bungalows, of which there are a huge number - both along the road, and with pools, and right at the edge of the sea. These can be huts without electricity, or they can be fully equipped normal bungalows. For example, next to our Sea View is Porn's Bungalow.
There are plywood houses there for 350 baht per day, there are also good houses right 10 meters from the sea with new clean bathrooms for 950 baht, no refrigerators and, of course, no TVs. Fans may be used instead of air conditioners. True, visually at first they all look ugly, but I somehow went inside - it turned out better than I could have imagined. All this is located in coconut groves with lush greenery. They don’t reserve places in advance - you come, then check in. Porn's loves a restaurant with cushions on the floor and low tables. The food is delicious, the prices are normal, all cocktails and shakes are served with orchids, although the amount of food on the plate may differ from the previous time. A couple of kilometers from Kai Bay is Lonely Beach, there is also a pilgrimage for budget tourists, all sorts of lunar parties are arranged. I highly recommend trying pineapple (white) and mangosteen (red) wine on Koh Chang, it is very tasty, the average price of a bottle is 300 baht.
I also bought on the island (there is no such thing in Bangkok) all sorts of scrubs based on sea salt and aloe vera with mangosteen, tamarin, etc. , 100% coconut oils of different extractions, suitable for both hair and body.
We returned to Bangkok by minibus from the travel agency, which is located right at the entrance to the hotel. You don’t carry things, but you immediately load up and drive from the hotel to the Bangkok hotel. It cost 900 baht per person. We left the hotel at 9:30 am, arrived at Khaosan at 4:00 pm. We arrived at the Vientai hotel (I chose something closer to the royal palace), which is on the street next to Khaosan. I didn’t know anything about Khaosan, I fell right into the abyss of a backpacker party. But I really liked everything. Such an indescribable flavor, it is also worth a look ...True, the hotel itself is old. The next day in the morning we reached the Royal Palace, the entrance is 350 baht, the same for a child above 120 cm. I took an audio guide in Russian for 200 baht for 2 hours. Very convenient, enough time.
Then we went to the wat to the reclining buddha for 50 baht, the child is free. They left coins, made wishes. The husband and son were no longer enough for the historical part - they did not swim across the river to the Wat of the Dawn. We took a taxi and went to the Central World area. In the evening we decided to take a taxi to the Siam Niramit show. I don’t know how much it costs in a group, we paid 1500 baht for each and for a set dinner for 350 baht, 250 baht per child. The stylized village is pretty, but small, after the island I was not particularly impressed. The show itself was very enjoyable. These are not transvestites with feathers. This is a national theater with scenes from the history and life of Thailand with an admixture of myths. We are glad that we diversified our program by staying in this place.
And in the morning, by taxi, having passed all the sights of the northern part of the city, we quickly rushed to the airport.
In anticipation of a long flight, I forgot to put stamps on the papers from the stores about the return of Tax Free before immigration passport control. Back, of course, I was not released. Dutik, for example, compared to the Arab Emirates, is not cheap. Souvenirs for those who did not have time to stock up, dear. At a normal price, there were various sauces and spices in gift sets. Many people bought orchids in packages.
And the last. Thailand is open to everyone, for every budget. Traveling alone is easy and not scary at all. The main thing is to have information and be confident in what you are doing. The Internet is always there. Yes, there is both brilliance and poverty, but this is a good, kind and very beautiful country, where you really want to return more than once!
