Exploring the island

A gas station looking like it was home-made.

Yet another picture of the landscapes.

Fisherman's village Ban Bangbao.

Fresh seafood.

 White Sands Beach.

Ban Bangbao.

Joni went to get us a scooter yesterday morning. After staying in Lonely Beach for a couple of days we were excited about seeing more of the island. Renting the scooter for 24 hours cost us 200 bahts plus gasoline.

Koh Chang is a mountainous island so it was pretty cool to drive the serpentine roads. Parts of the route were very steap with several hairpin turns. The scenery was quite breathtaking as occasionally the road had jungle-covered peaks on both sides and then suddenly we reached an isolated lookout from which you could see to the sea and down to the beaches. We drove for almost 80 kilometres during the day and we could definitely feel it on our backsides..

We took the course to the South in the morning and drove all the way to the end of the road on the southwest side of the island. There was the Grand Laguna resort Åke was telling us about but we decided not to go in because we wanted to see as much of the island as possible during the day. Visitors can get in to the Grand Laguna Resort by paying a 130 bath visitor fee. There are swimming pools etc so it might be a nice way to spend a day in case you do not feel like lying on the beach anymore. On our way back we stopped at the fisherman's village called Ban Bangbao and stayed there for lunch. If you are staying in Koh Chang you should visit this village if you want to see something more local stuff for a change.

We had a little rest at our bungalow because it was starting to be so very hot during midday. We headed to the North during 3pm and passed thourgh the other beach resorts that are on the way to the Koh Chang ferry station. The biggest and the best beach in Koh Chang is called the White Sands Beach and it seemd like a nice place too. If you are looking for an easy and more luxurious vacation on this Island, White Sands is your location. Nevertheless, Lonely Beach is our favourite beach because it is rather small without missing any necessities. We drove past the ferry station but turned around quite soon because there did not seem to be that much anything there. We were back in our bungalow before sundown.

We have decided to start saving on our food expenses now that we are staying in one place for a longer time. This is merely because we would like to include all the travel expenses into our daily budget of 20€ per person. Saving does not mean starving however. We have breakfast at the bungalow instead of eating out, we will have a smaller lunch from the local kiosks or we will share our dinner because the portions are usually quite big. This way we spent only 200bahts for food yesteday where as we have spent almost the same amount of money at breakfast, lunch and dinner. One big saving comes from changing the drink at dinner from beer to water. :)

There will be some sort of full-moon party on our beach tonight. The party starts at 6pm and will continue until sunrise. The weather forcast promises rain showers for the next few days so we will see if the dancing on the beach turns into mud wrestling. Should be fun either way. :)

koA new place to stay

Walking Street, Pattaya. Yuck!

 Koh Chang.

Taking the taxi.

This guy was waiting for us to come home the other night. It was at least 50cm tall.

 The Yellow Mango bungalows.

This is where the bars are at..

Taking the shortcut to the beach.

Lonely Beach, Koh Chang.

Janine's Resort.

We stayed the first two nights in Yellow Mango's bungalow which cost 550baht per night including private bathroom and a hot shower. It was ok, but we thought we might find some place cheaper or better quality at the same price. And so we did! We checked in in Janina's resort this morning and this place is really nice (still at Lonely Beach). The bungalows are spacious, very tidy and you cannot even see through the floor! The resort itself is very peaceful and the owner lady could not be more sympathetic and friendly. This bungalow costs 500 bath per night, including a private bathroom, a hot shower AND a TV and internet! Well we could do easily without the TV (although the local music videos are quite fun) but the internet is awesome. We booked the next four nights from here.

Our plan was to go to the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan after Chang, but it seems the weather is pretty bad over there: it is raining and the mudslides have cut roads etc. What a fortune we decided to come here first! It looks like the weather will not change before the 18th of Dec on Samui and Phangan, so we might stay here for a while. Also, we might take a little trip to the north of Thailand if we get bored of the beach life.

There is one thing I can not understand. How do the Swedes get such a perfect tan?? I already got a comment about my plae skin yesterday as this stoned and happy man asked me: Hey lady! Don't you wanna change colour?? (after this he said I look like I am from the 70s). And so we went to the beach. Joni was reading underneath a tree and I was sweating in the sun for about an hour. The same thing today. I guess the only difference between my tan and that of the swedes is that they actually are able to spend seven hours more in the sun per day. Oh well.

Tomorrow we will rent a scooter and drive around a little bit. Oh, and the bird that was making a really weird noise was not actually a bird: it was an enormous gekko living underneath our previous bungalow.

Pattaya & Koh Chang

Terveiset Koh Changin -saarelta. Meidan bungalowissa on ainoastaan hyonteisia, ei nettia, joten tama paivitys tulee nettikahvilasta. Se tarkoittaa myos sita, etta kuvia ei saada viela tahan postaukseen.

Taalla on todella kuuma, varmaan ainakin 60 astetta ja kivet kiehuu jos niille heittaa vetta. No, ei nyt ehka ihan, mutta kylla tama helle jotenkin paasi vahan yllattamaan. Koh Chang on siis saari taalla Siaminlahden itapuolella ja turismi ei viela kukoista samalla tavalla kuin perinteisimmissa Thaimaan rantakohteissa. Majoitumme Lonely Beach -nimisella rannalla, jossa ei kuitenkaan tarvitse olla yksinaan.. kylla taalla on kuultu jo suomeakin. Ranta on aika kiva ja meressakin tuli pulahdettua. Sitten kun siellakin tuli hiki, lahdimme takaisin meidan mokille.

Matka tanne saarelle meni kaiken kaikkiaan seuraavanlaisesti: lahdimme Noomin kyydilla eilen aamulla Bangkokista kohti Pattayaa. Pattayalla olimme ainoastaan yhden yon, jonka aikana saimme kylla jo muodostettua kasityksen yleisesta meiningista. Illalla kavelimme Walking Streetia pitkin ja tulimme kutsutuiksi mita ihmeellisimpiin esityksiin.. Huh huh, aikamoista menoa.

Pattayalta lahdimme tana aamuna puoli kahdeksan aikaan minibussin kyydilla. Matka Changin-saarelle vievalle lautalle kesti noin nelisen tuntia ja sen jalkeem viela puoli tuntia lautalla. Matka maksoi 600bahtia per henkilo, eli noin 13euroa yhteen suuntaan.

Vahan aikaisemmin istuskelimme mokin terassilla kun gekko hyppasi Jonin syliin. Vahan jannittaa mita kaikkia elukoita tulee sisalle ensi yon aikana.. Pihalla on myos todella kummalista kurnuttavaa aanta pitava lintu! Tai kai se on lintu..? Matkavasymys meinasi iskea tanaan, mutta nyt illan tullen viileassa on sekin mennyt tuulen mukana mennessaan.

Terveisia sinne kaikille tosi paljon! Te, ketka luette blogia saannollisemmin, laittakaahan valilla kommentteja! Niita on tosi kiva lukea, eli kiitos paljon Okelle, Tiinalle ja Tapulle! :)
_______________________________________________________________________
Greetings from Koh Chang! We do not have internet in our bungalow, only flying little creatures, so this update is written in an internet cafe. That means there is unfortunately no photos in this update. Sorry!

It is really hot in herrrrrrrr! Oh my goodness. And as silly as this may sound; I was a little surprised about it! However, we wanted to escape the cold so here we are and we are not complaining. :)

Noom took us to Pattaya yesterday where we stayed for one night. One night was enough to see what Pattaya seems to be all about..You would not believe in what kind of shows we were invited! Joni said all the bling bling -lights reminded him of Las Vegas. Anyway, this morning we took a group taxi to the Koh Chang ferry and the ride took almost 4 hrs. The ride and the ferry cost 600baht so 13 euros per person. Not too bad I think.

We are staying at Lonely Beach which used to be a famous beach among bagpackers but nowadays there are all kinds of tourists here. The beach itself is quite nice, white sand and the see is turquoise. We went swimming in the afternoon but after we started sweating in the water too we came back to our little bungalow.

We really are enjoying ourselves here! :)

If you read this blog frequently, please do leave a comment every now and then. We really like those! And also, we get to find out who are we writing this to (at least to Julie!).

Ayuthaya

From the river boat

Christmas is coming

The elephant farm in Ayuthaya

Pieces of the world heritage

Happy birthday dear king of Thailand! Today is the king's birthday and at least 11 tv channels are broadcasting the same show from the festives..

After we had had breakfast Joni came to the hotel room to read and I went to get a thai-massage across the street. The whole episode had a funny start: My masseuse was a determined looking little man who went to get me an cotton outfit for the treatment. He was taking the clothes from the shelf when the old lady from the reception screamed: "No! Big size!" and started laughing. Thanks a lot. haha. It is okey though, most thai women are a lot smaller than I am (and if they are as tall as I am, they are not actually women..if you know what I mean).  Anyway, while I was waiting for my massage I could hear the man next to me making painful noises and I could hear the same sound if someone is cracking their knuckles (and his masseuse was a woman..). The massage was rather painful but I also felt rather good afterwards. The one hour massage cost 159baht so that is about 4 euros. Not bad at all.

Ami came to pick us up from the hotel at noon as promised and she told us two of her friends would like to take us to Ayuthaya later in the afternoon. We were happy about these news because we were not able to go there on Friday as I was feeling a bit sick. So, we first took the river boat to the fashion mall called Platinum and then headed to Ayuthaya by car with Ms. Ami, Ms. Jeab and Mr. Dang.

Aythaya used to be the capital of Thailand and it has been registered as a world heritage by the World Heritage Comittee (UNESCO). The ruins of the city were quite impressive and it was nice to get out from the busy Bangkok. We had a great time with our new Thai-friends and hopefully we will get to hang out with them if we come back to Bangkok in January. Also, Ami called pretty much all of her friends all over Thailand and told them we might be paying a visit to their cities. She was a great travel guide all in all.

Noom will give us a ride to Pattaya tomorrow and we will stay there for one night before going to the island of Koh Chang. Today was a great day and now we are quite exhausted, but very happy!

Ihmeellinen Bangkok - The wonders of Bangkok

The Mall Bangkapi

A request for the westeners travelling by taxi

Chatuchak -market

Khao San rd.                                                            

I am NOT thinking about work

Christmas lights in Bangkok

After sleeping almost one 24 hours we have been exploring the city almost all day today. The Mall Bangkapi is quite close to our hotel so we walked there this morning. The mall is huge, at least 4 floors and it is full of really cheap stuff. The prices start from 2,5€ and there are cool brands which you can not find in Finland.

Mr. Oa and Ms. Ami came to pick us up from the hotel in the afternoon and they took us to the Chatuchak -weekend market. That outdoor shopping mall is humangous as well and the prices start from 50cents! And what is more; the clothes are at least the same quality as in H&M. Maybe here those clothes are actually worth their real price... Anyway, after the first 30minutes we were just exhausted because there were so many things to see and to buy. Crazy.

After Chatuchak we took the taxi to Khao San rd. which is the famous backpackers area. Nowadays it is more of a tourist attraction and you can see it from the high prices they have for clothing and food (well, it is still very cheap compared to Finland, but very expensive compared to the local prices). Khao San was full of people and we realized how pleased we are with our hotel which is almost a 40minute drive away from that tourist area. We had dinner at this Irish pub in Khao San. This Irish restaurant had a mexican interior, thai food and american rock music. I love the fact that these guys do not stick to the minor details, same same as they say. This kind of attitude should be welcomed in Finland too.

Ami promised to take us to the city again tomorrow and this time we will ride the river boat. Should be fun. All in all, Bangkok has appeared so cool that we probably will come back before going back to Finland.

First day at the hotel

Happy because...

... the food was so good.

We are here!! Bangkok is hot and busy and surprisingly organized!

The flights were ok and we were able to sleep during the Paris-Bangkok flight. The weather was pretty bad in  Paris and apparently quite a few flights were cancelled, but luckily not ours! Noom was there to meet us at the airport and the ride to the hotel in an airconditioned car was more than welcomed. It is +35 degrees celsius here.

Our hotel is quite far from the actual city centre but this is a very quiet and a nice location. There seems to be only Thai guests here, plus us. Last night we went to dinner with Noom, Mr. Oa and Mr. Pop to a restaurant nearby. We ate pretty much everything; fish, pork, duck, papaya-salad, chicken soup with rice and sticky rice. Mr. Oa and Mr. Pop loved Joni, they thought he is a very handsome man... :)

We were supposed to go to Ayuthaya with Noom today, but I was feeling nausiated and quite dizzy this morning. It probably is just jetlag but we decided to stay at the hotel and get some rest. After a couple of litres of different kinds of drinks I feel a lot better already. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to start exploring the city!

At the airport

We are now at the airport waiting for take off. Yayy!! We're finally here and the trip is about to start! Luckily we did not need to cancel the trip because of the air hostess' strike, but we do need to fly to Paris via Stockholm. That is more than ok if all the flights are on time and we get our backbags to our destination.

We stayed at Tiina and Vili's in Espoo last night. Thanks again for your lovely company and your hospitality!

Noom will be meeting us at the airport in Bangkok and he will take us to the hotel he and Oa have booked for us. Apparently it is cheaper for us that they booked it there instead of us booking it online. Yay, more money to spend on food. :)

My backbag did not weigh more than 10kg and Joni's was 8kg. I still cannot believe how we were able to pack in such a smart way!

Now it is time to head to the gate. Next update will be from Thailand!!! And off we go! :)

The gingerbread bungalow we built with our friend Ilona.

Testing the hammock...