Lazy, funny days
After beeing in BKK for a few days, getting to Koh Chang is like coming to heaven! I love BKK, but it's noisy, crowded and hot. Koh Chang is the opposite; quiet and cool.
We checked in at Star Beach, as one of my travel companions had been there before. I just love this place! It's all up in the north end of the beach, a little bit to itself, so it's really quiet. We got one of the cheapest bungalows, with one big bed for three girls and a stray dog. From here, we walked all over White Sand in the evenings, had some extremely good parties and met some of the best people ever.
In daytime, we dicided we were on holiday, and didn't do much. White sand might not be the best beach for swinning, since there are quite stong currents. The weather was a bit gray and dull to, so we slept on the beach without getting a sunburn.
Playing pool is one of our favourite things to do to entertain ourselves when nothing really happens while travelling, so we spendt more than a little time playing and drinking beer. And we got to eat a lot to! I love Thai food, and could eat it all day if my stomach would just make more room for it!
Already the first night, we found our favourite bar on this island. There were a lot oof books you could read in daytime, and in the evenings they made the best drinks, had live music, and invited the guests to play to. Fantastic atmosphere and wild people! After hanging out there for a few days, we were even invited to the birthdayparty of one of the people working there. The party were held in the jungle, with music and cake and nice food and drinks for everybody.
Koh Chang used to be the backpackers paradise, but I've noticed it's getting more and more of a resort place, prices going sky-high, and the typical visitor is changing from broke globetrotter to families with small children and more than enough money. Nothing wrong with that, it's better for the tourist economy, and it brings in more money for the preservation of the national park. But if you're up for it, you can still find the sort of secluded feeling, the weird partypeople, the cheap, half-dirty bungalows... All the things that I find the most fun!
When you get to the end of White Sand beach, you're at Star Beach. The reception is outdoors, just covered by a roof. The cheaper options are bungalows reminding a bit of tree-huts, where you have to climb wooden stairs up the hillside to get there. The bungalows are not in any way extraordinary, and no matter how well they are cleaned, there will always be sand inside...
There's a bathroom with cold shower and one of those toilets where you have to use a bucket of water to flush. If you're not to picky, this works very well!
Our bungalow was quite high up, so we had a fantastic view over the sea. A little drawback was that climbing the stairs in the middle of the night, after a very fin party, might not be totally safe. But no injuries here :)
There are a few chickens walking around, so watch out for chicken leftovers in the stairs, it could get slippery.
The location is perfect, you're at the beach, but a little bit away from all the party places, so you could get a good nights sleep if you'd like. Still there's a walking distance to everything.
Down at the beach there's a really nice restaurant with cheap, tasty food.
So, Star Beach bungalows might not be the clanest, most comfortable, but you get privacy if you want, superb location and very friendly staff! The atmosphere is perfect! This is probably one of the cheapest places left on White Sand, where the prices are getting less and less friendly.
For the high-class traveller, Koh Chang has better places to offer, but you'll have to pay for it.
With double rooms with private bathroom and fan from 300 Bath low season, this is a good option for the budget backpacker.
