Dec 30 - Jan 6 2023 |
After a superb stay in Siem Reap, it was time to re-enter Thailand, via Poipet, the main border crossing between Cambodia and Thailand, the crossing I had defined in writing when I entered Cambodia, as one must do at immigration on entry. Now, the uncomfortable part of departing for Poipet was that the day before, a fire had ravaged a casino and hotel there, and 20 people had died. Though I wondered if I would see the complex, it soon came into focus as I rode into town, located at the border crossing. So, 100 meters from immigration, there was a smoldering skeleton of the casino and the hotel with many broken windows. A bit unsettling, to say the least.
Crossing the border was fast and easy, took less than 1 hour. Next up was getting a SIM card, went with DTAC, though not the same excellent “Happy Tourist SIM” as I had a couple of months previously in Thailand. Next came insurance, which is mandatory in Thailand. I managed to find a great local agent and bought 3 months of coverage for B165 (honestly, this seemed ridiculously cheap, and the staff could not explain details, nor could I read the policy…).
At this point, I still didn’t have a clear route plan in place: go north on a loop around Isan and on to Bangkok, or head south to Koh Chang. Went with the latter. So, I drove until it was dark and stayed in a place called Soi Dao. After a month of mostly flat Cambodian scenery, with some hills in the southwest, it was surprising to quickly ride through decent limestone mountains in eastern Thailand, a surprisingly scenic and nice area. The next day I rode on to Trat and caught the ferry to Koh Chang, B165 one way.
I had been to Koh Chang 3 times before, in 1994 2x, and in 2007. Obviously, one would expect considerable development - and there was. But that said, the island retains vestiges of Thailand of the past. After a hiccup with Agoda, whereby my confirmed booking was deemed non-existent by the hotel (“we don’t use Agoda...”), on New Year's Eve, I managed to find a great stay next door with my new friend Nola. After a couple of days I moved to some old-school accommodation at Tiger Hut, right on the beach, a fan room with no hot water - perfect.
One highlight of this trip was a day out with Koh Chang Divers. While the diving and trip was great, including the impressive wreck of a WW2 Liberty ship, it ended a whale shark sighting. I swam with it for about 15 minutes (perhaps not ecology sound, but I wasn’t thinking in those terms at the time). The “Wally the Whaleshark” story was in the news in Thailand, including this coverage.
One lowlight of the stay was waking up and discovering one of my New Balance TCS NYC Marathon limited edition shoes was missing. Not sure what happened, but there had been a certain (furry) culprit hanging around my bungalow for a few days prior....
Ride: 267 km | 7 hrs & 168 km | 3 hrs
Stay: Tiger Hut | $20 | 4/5
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