Koh Chang

After a hard week partying in Mumbai, we were pretty tired, so we decided to move on to the wonderfull island Koh Chang. What we are starting to realize now more than ever, is that the world is a small place. At the ferry point, waiting for the ferry to Koh Chang, we met Maren, Max and Patrice. Maren is from Haugesund (Norway), but goes to school in Bergen, and of course she knows a couple of friends of ours (Ola og Hanne). We have decided not to be surprised anymore when meeting Norwegians, we might as well be staying in Gronland, Oslo. The world is the size of a pea!

Janith and I had decided to spend the first night at White Sand Beach, and then see what we wanted to do. We teamed up with Maren, Max and Patrice and two girls from New Zealand, Jemma and Fiona, to find a place to stay. We all ended up as neighbors at Rock Sand Resort, a nice backpackers place on the north side of the beach. We all got bungalows with a sea view, and let me tell you... waking up to the sound of the sea is fantastic!!! Even when it's raining, the view is amazing from this place! No wonder we fell in love with Koh Chang!

Rock sand resort

Our view from our bungalow.

A cloudy sky met us the next morning, but who cares when it's 30 degrees and the water is great! We weren't planning to stay on the beach for too long, but as the sun came out it was too tempting, and of course I (Kristin) ended up with a fried back (nope some Norwegians never learn). It looked like somebody had painted me with red paint, not very flattering. I looked like a boiled lobster, seriously!!!!

Janith loves the waves

While we were frying up on the beach (Janith did get a small sunburn too), Jemma and Fiona had gone out and arranged elephant trekking for us all later that day. We went to a place called Ban Kwan Chang Elephant Camp. Thanks for arranging this girls. It was a once in a lifetime experience! It is a little terrifying just as your about to jump into a river with two huge elephants (we had a couple of pictures in our heads of being smashed like a bug), but it turned out to be great! Janith and I also got the most lively of the two. During the whole time we were sitting on its back, he/she was scratching its belly on the rocks on the riverbed, so it was like being on a really slow ride! But it was FUN FUN FUN...

our elephant enjoying the refreshing river!

Bathing with elephants

We went on to an hour of elephant trekking, and let us tell you it is a bumpy ride! These animals are not comfortable to sit on unless your sitting behind its ears. Our elephant Tintala, (apparently a girl according to Jemma and Fiona who got a front seat view of her doing her business), was only 27 years old. A youngster just like us, but they look a lot older. An elephant eats around 200 kg of food every day, and they were not shy to ask for it (or grab it), when we fed them bananas. Especially Tintala was a greedy one, that may be why she was the biggest one of them.

Elephant feeding

End of elephant trekking

The night was always ended with some "chilling" at one of the many bars down at the beach. Football + Shisha or just sound of the high tides combined with some cold beers was a popular choice. We now understand why people go to Thailand!

GOOOOO KOH CHANG!

Coconut dring. Very Nice!!!