Very confusingly, there are actually two Ko Changs in Thailand. This is the one on the eastern coast of Thailand, near the Cambodian border.
"Ko" means "Island" in Thai, and "Chang" means "elephant", so this is Elephant Island. It's an unspoiled island being rapidly spoiled by commercial development--so go there soon, if you can. It is in a malarial region of Thailand, so you'll need to take antimalarials--but it's worth it for the unspoiled beauty, complete quiet, and tropical beach.
I stayed in a bamboo hut for most of my five days there--you can also stay in concrete bungalows complete with air conditioning, cable TV, and so on, but why? (Okay, if you want to impress your S.O., I can understand.) Still, I think much of the charm in Ko Chang is its simplicity, and the chance to get away from annoying Western intrusions. Living with TV, cable, etc. it's hard to get away from the Western sense of urgency and time. (The bamboo hut is also cheaper--I think my room and board for five days was maybe $25. Next time I get laid off, I'm coming here to spend an entire month just lazing on the beach.)
On one of my days here, I went on an elephant trek. For 1000 baht ($25), I got a three-hour tour, a swim in a tropical pool, and some great pix. :-)
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| My bamboo hut on the beach in Ko Chang, Thailand. | The beach at Ko Chang, Thailand. | A very nifty crab on the beach. The pellets you see are all from little crabs excavating their holes. | Hermit crab in the water. Every sheltered cove abounded with them. Reflected in the water is a coconut palm. |
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| The ferry over to Ko Chang.v | Various sunsets on Ko Chang. | ||
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| More sunsets on Ko Chang. | Elephant with her twelve-year-old mahout on top. | Elephant drinking on Ko Chang. Notice the bench on top: this is a two-seater elephant! :-) | |
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| For the record, I was not the only one running around in body paint here. (Note the elephant goad slung nonchalantly over one ear!) | Mahout with his painted elephant. | Mahouts playing "King of the Elephant". Unfortunately I didnt' get a shot of them diving off the elephant... | Me on an elephant. Elephants are quite easy to steer: put one foot behind each ear and nudge in the right direction. Whack with elephant goad when they misbehave. |
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| You know how some girls have a horse fetish? Silly girls. Elephants are WAY cooler. :-) | For the record, I'm riding an elephant in AIDS Lifecycle 2. No more worries about inconsiderate drivers! |
