"Koh Chang" a Ko Chang Travel Page by cybergenic

OK, it appears there are 2 Koh Chang islands in Thailand. One is inhabitted and one is uninhabbited. I will be refering to the inhabitted Koh Chang East of Thailand. It is 3 hours drive SE of Bangkok.
You can book your return transport including ferry transfers from any travel agency in Bangkok.

Before I booked my Koh Chang adventure I was shown photos of lovely beaches, lagoons, waterfalls and elephants. On arrival it was a different story. I got off the ferry at Khlong Nonsi pier and boarded a taxi. (Utility) along with 15 other people. We drove North West along the main road past cheesy 4 star hotels featuring white fibreglass elephants at their entrances. There were tacky looking souvenier shops and some boom boom bars. I was not impressed. I stayed on the taxi as it did the rounds and let people off as we headed South towards Whitesand Beach. At this point things started to look better. The jungle was thickening up and the hotels were thinning out.

I decided to jump off the taxi at Kai Bay Beach as it was getting dark and I had not found any accomodation yet. Kai Bae has a small set of shops, the last ATM, some typical outdoor Thai restaurants and many huts along the beach front. I enquired at a few and they seemed to be a little expensive. The guy would not reduce the price so I took a hut away from the beach for 1100 BAHT. The food in the open air restaurant was fantastic. I ate pad thai drank some Singah beer and studied my Koh Chang map to work out my next move. I decided I liked the sound of Bang Bao Bay. It looked 10-15 km away from where I was so I thought NO PROBLEM. I got up early the next morning and set out with my 20kg pack. 5 hours later I had only made it to Bai Lan Beach, this was only half way! Being the cunning backpacker I am I looked at the map and decided to leave the winding road and cut across the peninsular between me and Bang Bao to save time. DONT TRY THIS, IT CANT BE DONE!
As the sun set, I was neck high in vines and exhausted. Yes I was lost. I was then attacked by 2 wild dogs that I had to ward off with a heavy stick. They did in fact rescue me as I followed them out of the jungle back to the road.