KOH CHANG

Woke up to rain in Trat this morning...Hoped that it wouldn't reach as far as Koh Chang. We picked up a songathaew (pickup trucks with an awning and benches in the back for passengers) in the centre of Trat and got dropped off at the ferry terminal. The ferry system here is not like BC Ferries--the terminals are just big cement blocks sticking out from shore or they are long rickety piers that feel like they are about to collapse under your feet. All types of traffic board at the same time--we walked alongside cement trucks and motos as we boarded.

A songathaew met us at the pier and after some barganing we got ourselves a pretty good price to get to the bungalows we'd chosen out of my lonely planet guide. We ended up switching songathaews twice of course, as this is Thailand.

We got a ghetto-esque bungalow the first night but managed to get the closest one to the water for the next 2 nights. The rain/greyness followed us to Koh Chang and unfortunately stayed for our entire stint there. We did get out into the massive waves, even with the less than perfect weather. The undertow is so strong there that they warn you not to go swimming, it was pretty crazy feeling how powerful the water can be at that shallow a depth. We had to experience the undertow that caused 20 drownings this year already (Don't worry we were careful).

One of the Thai guys who works at the "resort" (ANYTHING can be called a resort here) offered to take us to a waterfall that only the locals know about one afternoon for free. There are lots of waterfalls on the island but they're really touristy and cost about $6CAD to see (which is a lot of money in Thialand). Tos (our guide) warned us that it was a difficult hike in broken english but we thought he just meant lots of uphill which of course the girls and I can handle. Turns out we had to criss cross back and forth across the river and climb slippery rocks as well as climb up a steep quasi-trail (Tos went ahead with a machete to clear the "trail"). It was so worth the climb when we got up to the waterfall though. It was gorgeous and we were the only people within miles. Megan and I attempted to swim in behind the waterfall but the water was so black and it was so loud and the waterfall was pushing us back--it was pretty scary (but fun)! On our hike back down I was attempting to step across a slippery rock and I was holding onto a vine but I slipped and lost my grip of the vine as well. I bounced down about 4m of rockface and landed in the river on my side. If I'd landed a few centimetres over in either direction I probably would've been seriously injured. Luckily I escaped with quite a few bruises and some cuts/scrapes and a freakishly bruised ear. (Don't worry mom I'm okay)!

Went to a good party on our last night at Koh Chang--more buckets of redbull and vodka (you can't drink out of a glass here, it has to be a bucket). Next off to Koh Samet--the closest island to Bangkok and favourite weekend getaway for Thais.