a few semi-delayed stories from koh si chang

sorry i suck and didn't write about si chang until just now, four days after we returned from little koh si chang. nicki fail.

anyway, we left suphanburi friday evening around 6 pm. since we couldn't make it to the island (koh=island in thai, btw. and you thought you'd never learn anything from this blog) on friday night cuz ferries don't run at 10 pm, we decided we'd stay on si racha, which lonely planet and other travel guides made seem like a small fishing town with nothing in it. i was expecting one or maybe two hostels/hotels/places for strangers to sleep, mostly for one night before they hop on the ferry (just like we were doing).

so when we pulled into a town that had a brightly lit town square, multiple bars/dance clubs, and more than a couple thai hookers, i thought for sure the driver had taken us to the wrong place. i was convinced he was in pattaya. he started to guide this huge 8-person van down a tiny road that i would've struggled to put the xa down. we were absolutely convinced he was going down the wrong road, but alas, there at the end of the alley was the siriwatana hotel, our home for the evening.

GROSS. that's what the siriwatana hotel was (that it even tried to parade itself around as a "hotel" is laughable). it was on stilts over water, which sounds really nice, and would be, if there wasn't pee and poop and trash directly below. the ocean was a trashcan mixed with salt water. soupy disgustingness. the rooms were small; the beds were not even double-sized; cockroaches were abound. but it was after 10 pm, and we were tired, so we paid a guy some money and went two to a room. we pissed into a hole in the ground, watched in go into the ocean, and fell asleep.

the next morning we were up and on the ferry by 10 am, on the island by 11 am. we made our way to our hostel for the weekend, which was a huge upgrade from that siriwatana crap. we stayed in a hostel/hotel that was actually boats-turned-rooms.

 

the rest of the long weekend was typical. we mostly hung out on the beach in some floppy beach chairs, drinking fresh fruit smoothies, eating delicious thai food, and lazing around in the water. we explored the tiny island (maybe 15, 20 minutes to drive around the whole thing) a bit, but really, we mostly just hung out at the beach. it was a perfect way to spend the king's birthday.