After another brief sojourn in Bangkok we took a bus to Survanhabumi, got in a mini bus that went to Trat. Then the mini bus took us on to a ferry to Koh Chang. On arrival in Koh Chang we were transferred to a taxi and dropped off at the Nest Sense Resort.
Lonely Beach
Lonely Beach, although we never saw the beach, is anything but lonely. It's more of a hippie, backpacker village which we later discovered has a techno party soul. The Nest Sense Resort is located on a hillside overlooking the sea. As we were celebrating my big birthday here, I opted for the sea view, pool villa. It was a delight!
We checked in, we marvelled at the loveliness, we took advantage of the cocktail happy hour and retired to our private pool to watch the sunset. Then it was time to hit the strip, we ventured out to a typical Thai kitchen - a kitchen with an extended corrugated roof under which there are tables and chairs. When we ordered The Beard lamented that thus far his food had not been spicy enough and asked for extra spicy, I thought, gourmand that he is, he must be right! What we were given was essentially sourced from the devil's cauldron, however we gave it our best shot, washed down with several Leo beers.
After a wander about we found a "reggae" shack playing some good tunes and serving up some damn fine gin and tonics. Next, we found ourselves at the Q Bar for more cocktails as by now it was midnight and officially MY BIRTHDAAAY! So good, so drunk.
The next morning, still somewhat inebriated, I ordered everything meat free on the breakfast menu, twice. On returning to our villa, The Beard cracked open the Laurent Perrier as the staff popped round with a birthday cake and candles - huzzah, yes?!
No! The devil's cauldron took it's revenge on both of us. I bounced back but The Beard said he felt tired and went for a siesta, he didn't look too good. After a while I attempted to entice him into the pool, "in a bit" he replied. Our next conversation went like this:
Xarini - "Are you alright?"
The Beard - "I want to go on holiday"
Xarini - "We are on holiday"
The Beard - "But I want to go on holiday"
Oh dear, he had a fever. The next day I hauled his ass to the pharmacy and got him some antibiotics. I put him to bed as I finished the Laurent Perrier.
The next day, I was sad to leave Nest Sense, my birthday stay hadn't quite been what I imagined it would be.
Kai Bae
Kai Bae is a little further north on the west coast of Koh Chang. Here, we stayed at The Stage, not as fancy as Nest Sense but what it lacked in luxury it made up for in location. Kai Bae beach is split into north and south with a road of bars, shops and restaurants running behind the beachfront properties, The Stage is slap bang in the middle of the road. With The Beard feeling better we mooched about getting massages, eating seafood, drinking coconuts and getting howling drunk first at Hurban Lounge.
The Beard and I have been told our sparkle dust is infectious, well at Hurban Lounge we met a younger, sparklier couple Jimmy & Nice. They have recently opened the bar, selling designer cocktails, fancy tea and cakes, served up with good tunes and a lovely ambience. Just our kind of place. That night was an impromptu leaving party for Cliff, a Canadian who had come to the end of his time on the road but was heading to a new adventure back in Canada.
We drank, we danced, there was shot roulette.... A top night out!
The next evening, we took a taxi up to White Sands beach to Sun & Soul a beach lounge with an alright dj, good drinks but terrible food. A nice spot to watch the sunset. Then it was back to Kai Bae as we had been invited to dinner by a drunken Yai the night before. He has a restaurant, The Lobby, a couple of doors down from Hurban. After dinner we had planned to see Jimmy & Nice again, "they're closed" said Yai and pointed us down the road to Jonas Jonasson.
We had already met Bang the night before, he was there working with Baz and Nia. Propping up the bar was Jonas, but not the Jonas, especially as a few weeks later we discovered his name was actually Johan... We whiled away the evening drinking beers and playing old school reggae tunes.
At closing time Jonas/Johan suggested a party in Lonely Beach so the six of us on I think only two scooters (relax Mother, we had helmets!) were off down the road. The techno party was madness! Young Thais fuelled by beers and cocktails going nuts! We had a great time.
The next day suitably hungover, we planned to (the day after) move on to Bang Bao.
Bang Bao
Bang Bao, in the South of the island, is a former fisherman's village built on the pier where most boats leave from destined for other islands in the archipelago.
After our excesses in Kai Bae we wanted some romantic remoteness and had booked the Resolution Resort. Remote it most certainly was, after the road ran out the taxi took a rough track for too long, down to the resort. The view was incredible, that's where the romance ended.
Reception is next to the pool and you are asked to remove your shoes, normal practice in South East Asia, right? Wrong, the deck of the pool was filthy dirty as well as having pieces missing, a health and safety nightmare!
Next, the room, obviously the photos on the website were taken when the hotel was built back in the early 90s and nothing has changed or been maintained/renovated or cleaned since. Xarini was not happy. "It's ok" said The Beard, "There's the taxi service".
The resort offered a taxi service to Bang Bao pier three times a day, great, right? Wrong! The last taxi was at 18:30 meaning they would pick you up at 20:30 once you've finished having tea with the kids or your grandma. However, we had a superb, albeit early dinner of soft shell crab soup and spicy raw prawn salad at Chow Lay, a seafood restaurant on the pier.
They also offered a boat service to Ko Kloi beach. Great, right? The morning we decided to avail of this service was a little overcast and breezy. As we and an extended Russian family boarded the small boat, the wind picked up. "Will it be alright?" I asked The Beard, after all he knows about these things, "Should be" he replied.
Needless to say, it was not as the two guys operating said boat lost control of it in the swell and nearly drowned us all. La Xarini arrived at the beach drenched, but thankful to be alive.
That evening we dined at Buddha View a modern, stylish place with a solid menu and a damn fine wine list. "I like this place" I said to The Beard, "Me too" he replied. When perusing their website, I noticed they had rooms too, it was a done deal.
The next day, in need of exercise, we took the taxi to the pier The Beard booked a dive and then walked down to the beach for his and hers massages. On the way we passed the obligatory Thai reggae bar, "We should check it out" we said in unison.
Bruised from the massages we walked back to the reggae bar for an aperitif. An aperitif that turned into cocktails, beers, dinner more beers and missing the 20:30 pick up, we felt like rebels! The music was great old school classics mixed up with new stuff, Tarrus Riley, Chronnix etc. The location is perfect, built into the hillside the bar affords a lovely view of the bay. A very good time was had by all.
The next day we checked out of Resolution Resort - "I have only one resolution and that's never to stay here again" I sneered. Remember the taxi service? The first departs at 11:00. At 10:50 we were packed, breakfasted and ready to get the hell out of there only to be told it had left already, WHAT???!!! Eventually, it was summoned back for us.
Checking in to Buddha View, The Beard said, "I don't feel so good" I suggested we have a siesta, he looked a tad clammy. Without wishing to go into full details, although believe me, he will if you ask him, it's fair to say he had a full body evacuation. This continued all night.
The next morning I had to explain to the dive centre, The Beard was going nowhere. I spent the next two days, resisting the gorgeous handbag in the leather goods shop on the pier and lounging on a sun lounger on the Buddha View's deck.
As The Beard recovered, the weekend approached. Not sure that he could manage a ferry journey but determined to get off the pier as he was convinced it was making him sick, we headed back to Kai Bae.
Kai Bae
Creatures of habit that we are, we stayed at The Stage! Upon check in I said, "I don't feel so good" and went on to suffer the same affliction. The Beard spent the next day and a half talking to himself and failing to get drunk at Hurban Lounge because, "It's not the same without you".
When I recovered, I demanded we stay an extra night as I had missed the weekend's drinking. So we did and had another nice evening at Hurban.
Then it really was time to go, we jumped on a speedboat bound for Koh Kood.
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