From Koh Tao via Chumpon to Bangkok, Thailand

    

The last few days on Koh Tao were beautiful. We met some nice people there, a transvestite who was doing Maria's hair and gave Irina a face mask and manicure. Some nice people we met over at our favorite restaurant and some people we met while being out at night. The most fun part was probably our quad, a four-wheel-drive that we rented out. It's awesome to drive across the island with those things and you have access to most places that you can't go to with a regular car. The roads to some of the beaches are only made from dirt and you have some 3 feet deep cracks in them that are created by the corrosion. We have not had many rainy days but still when it rains occasionally, it pours down at you like it's the end of days.

Anyhow, the quad was awesome and we were able to do some awesome snorkleing at some awesome beaches.

We left Koh Tao last afternoon. We took the express boat which is quite convenient. I even saw some flying fish which was quite cool. We arrived in Chumpon around 6pm and I was once again amazed by the maze of a harbor you see there. It's full of fishing boats and there is a stink in the air that makes you want to throw up, but the rather interesting site keeps you out on deck observing the ever changing scenes.

Once we were off the boat, we took one of these little pick up trucks, quite fun... The driver simply yelled " chiildren and women first... everybody else Spiderman!", that said, the women and children occupied the inside of the truck and the guys were standing on a little desk in the back outside the truck and holidng on to the roof. This is a very common way of traveling here, and it's fun. We definitely had the best view and always fresh air during the 20min drive into the city. After arriving in the city we stopped at a travel agency where everybody was redirected to taxis, trains, buses etc. I had not booked a train ticket nor a bus ticket, because the good buses that have the best seats (like 1st class airplane seats) are not bookable anywhere but locally. We got our seats and then went off to walk around on the night market a little. We had awesome food... a Pork salad, Mango Salad, Intestine Soup, Catfish, some drinks and more food...

After dinner we briefly stopped at a place that is manufacturing china. We bought a pretty tea set and left. Chumpon is not a touristy place and people treat you just nicely... they are very polite and always help out, something I cannot claim anymore about the islands:(We even received gifts at the china manufacturing factory. At the restaurant strangers talked to us, wished us luck and were simply curious to ask questions.

The bus ride back to Bangkok was nasty and tiring, even though the bus was really good, the roads really blew all comnfort away. Yikes, I did not sleep at all and we arrived in Bangkok around 5am and could not check into our hotel until 10am. We still went to our hotel left our luggage and went off to the city which I will write about later...

Amazing Thailand - overview

1. Aug 18, 2007 Arriving back to Bangkok (Bangkok)  ( 13)
2. Aug 19, 2007 A little more of Bangkok (Bangkok)  ( 31)
3. Aug 20, 2007 Still in Bangkok (Bangkok)  ( 31)
4. Aug 21, 2007 Adventures in Ao Nang (Muang Krabi)  ( 7)
5. Aug 22, 2007 Railay Beach - Nice Place (Ban Khlong Yang)  ( 63)
6. Aug 23, 2007 The best beaches and islands of Thailand (Krabi)  ( 87)
7. Aug 24, 2007 A quick stop and great food in Surat (Surat)  ( 11)
8. Aug 25, 2007 Koh Tao - My favorite Thai island (Ko Phangan)  ( 72)
9. Sep 4, 2007 From Koh Tao via Chumpon to Bangkok (Bangkok)  ( 52)
10. Sep 5, 2007 Back again in Bangkok (Bangkok)  ( 185)
11. Sep 9, 2007 Traveling to Siem Reap, Cambodia (Siem Reap)
12. Sep 10, 2007 Siem Reap, like in the tales (Siem Reap)  ( 71)
13. Sep 12, 2007 Experiencing Angkor Wat (Puok)  ( 204)
14. Sep 13, 2007 Great days in Phnom Penh (Phnom Penh)  ( 81)
15. Sep 14, 2007 Adventurous vacation in Sianoukville (Sihanoukville)  ( 39)

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