Ko Chang Adventures

So, Sam and I have been in Ko Chang, Thailand for the past few days. And have been loving it. Yesterday we spent the day kayaking and snorkeling on a tropical beach. And last night we had dinner over the sun setting... see photo above.

Today, our last day here, we decided to rent bikes. Renting bikes seems to be a theme (we do it on our last day where ever we are). BUT this time we rented a motor bike. We had a great time exploring Ko Chang. We ended up at this fishing pier, walking around and I did some shopping (I got two great dresses for the hot weather!).



Ko Chang has been great. Just what we have needed before heading to Bangkok. However, a few things we hadn't expected. Thailand is much more expensive than Lao and Cambodia were. Maybe this is just where we are... but we suspect it has something to do with the weak US $. Just a year ago the Thai Baht was 42 / $1 and now it's a meager 31 / $1... it may not seem like much, but in the overall scheme of things it does affect us. We are hoping that there is more competition in Bangkok, and the prices are lower on account of this.

Another thing we came across, we were only able to obtain a 15 day visa. Thailand only offers 30 day visas when you fly. Why? you ask... I asked too. Well, Thailand does not feel that backpacker dollars are good tourist dollars. And since only "poor" people would choose to take the bus over the boarder they want to discourage the poor people from hanging out in the country. This came from a local... so who knows how accurate it is. But it is still annoying. Mostly because Sam and I want to spend more than 15 days here. And we want to spend money here. We took a bus to see more landscape. Not because of a financial reason... well spending $10.50 as opposed to $100 was also nice... but that was not the sole driver of the decision.

Overall we LOVE Thailand. It seems to be much cleaner and better organized that any of the other countries we have been to. Even though it's a little more expensive and going to be a hassle to arrange to leave the country and re-enter, I think it will be well worth it. However, having had this information in advance would have also been good... it was not mentioned in any of our guide books. So for those of you planning a Thai trip, plan to enter and re-enter. This wont be a problem. And at the end of the day the visa (15 or 30 day, is free)... So there is always that!