So, I’ve just returned from a two days weekend vacation in Shimla and it was a great relief from the high temperatures at my place (though we’re back here and there is no sign of rains (<_>))
I brought some pics:
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As beautiful as the valleys were, the roads were as curvy. Even a normal person, who doesn’t get motion sickness shouldn’t eat anything before travelling on these roads. Rest is awesome!
I forget a lot of things (including my camera’s charger with zero battery! Yup, that’s me (#／。＼#)). So I had to use my phone’s not so good cam. Best thing on the whole trip was visiting Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. Awesome building and very rich history associated with it. Not to mention 100,000+ books in their library (*¬*)). The design of the building and intricacy are totally fascinating!
Alright, before starting, I need to say some things first. If you don’t want to hear my story and want to know about the the places I went in Kanchanaburi only, skip to third para. And if you specifically want to know about the waterfall, then you may skip to sixth para directly.
Hello all. It’s been a while. I’m taking break from blogging, coz I’ve got tons of work – final reports + A daily journal by college which has to be completed no matter what + last experiments + last sightseeings in Thailand. I’ve got 15 days left and now I want to cover as much Thailand (and work too) as possible. I haven’t visited any of the mainstream places nor have time for that now – Pattaya, Phuket, Krabi etc. etc. Last trip for me in Thailand would be Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, if we are…
We had plans to go for snorkeling but the accident last night left us with no choice. We didn’t want to really leave our friend behind and have fun. So we decided to go for elephant jungle trekking. It was around 500 Baht initially (probably) but after some insistence and persistence, we bargained for 450 Baht/person. The arrangement was done by the resort people only. To tell you the truth, we would not have got the deal if we would have gone on our own.
The taxi came to pick us up and we reached the place, full of big and small elephants. We were offered water first. Oh, I remember, there are two choices you can pick – One hour or Two hours. The one we took was one hour one. The Two Hour program would have cost 650 Baht/person. In one hour, we were taken to the mountain and in the Klong River. That’s it! But it was really fun ride, you see. The elephant went into the water, deep down. We didn’t get water splashed on us (Thank God! Otherwise, I didn’t have any other clothes ‘NOT’ intended for beaches since we were going back after this). And the scenes! When you reach almost top of the mountain, you can see whole island in front of you. Felt like touching the sky!
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We were photographed by the camp people and by the time we reached the camp, it had been prepared and framed. We could buy it for 200 Baht. The fruits had been prepared for us already and then the baby elephants came out. He was sooo cute!! He took me by surprise when he suddenly lifted me up on his trunk! And when his master used to say “Khorp Khun Khrub” meaning thank you (said by males), the baby use to bow down by stretching his front legs. We took some clicks and had delicious fruits. The fruits and water were included in the ticket itself and we were not charged for them separately.
Now in two hour program, they take you to the beach with the elephants and you can have a lot of games and rides with them. We did want to do that but time constraints were there. You can feed the elephants too! Baskets with small bananas are kept for 20 Baht/basket. It could have been free if we went to hotel back, but we had to go back to pier for ferry. So for there, they themselves brought a taxi and with heavy heart, we started our journey back to our home. Once again roller coasters and a lot of tourists in the taxi, we reached the pier, took the ferry and…… sigh!
And this is how, we ended our memorable trip. (Lol! While writing this sentence, I suddenly remembered “How I Met Your Mother”)
Alright, time to complete the task which I have been procrastinating from long time (one week, that is). Yup, it’s been week since I travelled to this faraway land and I’m not able to forget the serenity and beauty of this place (not that I haven’t travelled to any seaside place before but this has been a particularly memorable one). And, this post is gonna be a long one!
Ko-Chang (meaning Elephants Island) is a district in Trat province located around 310 km from Bangkok and second largest island of the country (Source – Wikipedia……. Who goes on a fun trip and asks for geographical data?………Well, at least, I don’t)
Since, I’m living in Saraburi, I’ll describe my journey from here only. We went to Bangkok from our company taxi (which, obviously, cost me nothing). Reached Bangkok, roamed around, visited some malls and blah, blah, blah……..
Random Roaming and Clicking in Bangkok
Bus time! We took 11:30 p.m. VIP bus from Ekamai bus station to Trat. Awesome and comfortable journey. Good condition seats and AC. Best part, you have got toilets on board!!! (For Indians, it is a new thing). Four and a half hours and we reached Trat bus station (must have been the closest district to Ko Chang island but I forgot to see the name……. anyway, it will drop you at the right place, if you are in right bus, so don’t worry). Our ferry to Ko Chang was around 6 in the morning, so we decided to wait at the bus station itself, but the driver who was supposed to take us to ferrypoint kept pestering us to hurry up, hence, we had to leave the place earlier. It took us about half hour and we made a stop at the ferry ticket counter (which was about 15min away from actual pier). This lady, who was booking tickets, was very helpful (and real business-minded, I must warn). She not only booked ferry but convinced us to book ‘open’ tickets for returning bus from Trat to Bangkok, since 12th, Monday (the day we were supposed to return home) was holiday all over Thailand in honor of The Honorable Queen’s Birthday and many people would be going back. Since the ferry and bus tickets were both open, we weighed our options and decided to go with it. We just needed to inform the lady when we would board the ferry while coming back so that she would confirm our bus tickets. Not bad. Now, no tension and no hassle of buying tickets to our way back.
We were taken to the pier and we were lucky enough to see the sunrise (bumper bonus!). See for yourself. Although it was cloudy, sun came out for enough time to get clicked by us.
The sun is also a fan of being photographed!
Ferry took around half an hour to reach the actual island! Although slow, it was a fun ride, giving us a chance to feast our eyes on beautiful sceneries, never seen before.
Oh finally
Oh, prices…. I’ll make sure to ask coz till now everything was paid by one of my friends and I just received the cumulative bill in the end (Oops! that reminded me, i still haven’t paid her). From now on, I can tell you. After climbing down the ferry, we took a taxi who’s driver was charging 100 Baht per person from foreigners till our hotel (which was quite far, I must admit).
And trust me, that was one hell of a ride. Why, you ask? If you want a roller coaster ride without an amusement park, this is the place. The roads are so steep, so steep, that at some places, you are literally at a perpendicular plane to that of the sea you can see from there (Sorry if you are bad at maths, but this is the only way I can say that). Since we were moving, we couldn’t click the exact thing but I hope that these give you some idea.
The downward slanted road as can be seen from side wall
The angle !
The dangerous turn
Is it same as second one?
So, somehow we arrived at the hotel “Bai Lan Beach Resort” at 8 in the morning but our check in was at 11. And while my friends were talking to the receptionist, asking for information, I had a look over the place and it was really breathtaking scene.
Ok, so the resort was good. We had already booked the rooms since we were afraid of holiday season. We relaxed a little bit and rented motorbikes (scooties actually) and tried to find veg food. Now, it’s not like we were not getting veg food in the resort but it was a little expensive for people like me. Again, the roads are really up and down, so until and unless you have confidence to drive on such roads (where you can barely control the speed of the vehicle while going down), I would suggest you sit behind some expert. Keeping this in mind, I opted to be the passenger rather than driver. There are a lot of marts out there where you can buy various kinds of bread (without egg too) and frozen food. Meanwhile, we stopped in between to have a look on other small waterfalls and beaches (our resort’s was a rocky one). Here-
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A little more masti, some more clicks and we went to the resort again. Oops! 11a.m. was check out time for previous customer and check in time was 12 noon. One more hour we waited.
Rooms were good, clean bathrooms, mini fridge (equipped with beer which is NOT included in your room rent), TV, AC etc. Our room was with garden view and a double bed, so the price was around 1000 Baht for one night and it included one time breakfast and all the service taxes. Time to freshen up and leave all the tiredness of the whole night journey behind, to enjoy the day’s endeavours. And then we went for kayaking, since it was free and available at that time. Other sports were far away and their time was in morning. We had nothing to do so we went kayaking. And the whole team – amateurs! (Since there were no trainers or anyone like that….. you were free to go by yourself, which we did). It’s easy to see someone and analyze how they do the things they do but very difficult to do it by self, which was the case here too. We turned the kayak upside down a hundred times (a little exaggeration) but still had loads of fun. Then we went to a beautiful whitesand and clear beach called ‘The Lonely Beach’ (and it was exact opposite to it’s name). The tides are a little high in the afternoon. There are massage parlors too (genuine ones please, not those kinds). So while having a good view, you can have a good massage too. Lunch at 5 and then we took our motorbikes to explore more. A little unfortunate accident stopped our little expedition then and there, but you can still find lagoons, small streams and waterfalls to visit by the road itself. Many people were taking a bath too, in these fresh water streams. Went back and had dinner at some peaceful place. The place was a little empty, so it was nicer atmosphere. The prices were reasonable too, not very expensive but not very cheap either. Came back and relaxed on lounge chairs by the seaside till midnight. Had some drinks and the day finished. The accident did upset us a lot and how we wished, we could go further up ahead but, oh well.
Now, my dear vegetarian friends, if you are worried about your food, I suggest you don’t. When we were planning our trip, many people told me, I won’t get anything since I’m a person who doesn’t take egg even in cake. But, I did get fantastic food there, that too pure veg. Thai people call “no egg, no meat” food as “che”. All you have to do is, use this word, if they don’t understand, while ordering food and they will prepare it for you or tell you what are the dishes suitable for you on the menu.
Next part – Elephant Jungle trekking….. Coming soon
Sitting on the beach lounge chair by the seaside, I can see the vast ocean before me. There are three, rather four islands in the sea. People are playing in cold water on the beach. The sounds of waves are shadowing their joyful screams. It is drizzling; small droplets going through my hair and falling on the ground. There are big mountains in the background afar, covered with lush green trees, looking so fresh after heavy rains last night. Clouds are touching the top of the hills making them look like a factory where they are being manufactured, defying all laws of science. It is peaceful, it is relaxing. I have left all the worries of the world behind.
But why does it make me so sad? Is it because, it is almost time to leave this place? Just one day trip is not enough to grab all the gifts this place has to offer. I regret not taking more leaves now, as the time draws near. At this serene place, I can spend days sitting and doing nothing.
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Then, is it due to jealousy, I’m feeling against people arriving here and checking in to the resort now, because they can start enjoying and for me, it is the end? Or, is this vastness of the ocean making me feel so? Because, I can’t see myself anywhere. This does make me seem insignificant similar to those four islands which are looking like small dots from here, or the speed boats going to and fro, even smaller.
What is this feeling? I have never had any attachment to any place before, not even my college or school. But, why here? Why does it feel like my last trip I’ll ever have? Is it some bad omen? Female’s intuition?
It’s time to go on the last adventure for this trip – elephant jungle trekking. As I gather my thoughts and my emotions and my belongings, the sun is coming from behind the clouds, shining its hopeful rays on me, inspiring me to start anew and do something for myself and the world.
PS – I wrote this, when we were just going to leave Ko Chang as you can make out from above. I did not have any internet though, that’s why I’m posting it today. The review of the place is coming soon with lots of photographs. For now, enjoy these sceneries from where I sat and wrote.
Oh! And about my intuition, something bad did happen but that I will tell in other parts.
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