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South-eastern tip of Koh Chang |
Observing the traffic as it comes of
the ferry you notice that 95% of the vehicles turn right and only the odd
minivan, delivery truck or local's pick-up turns left. All the
songtaews carrying backpackers and the vast majority of other vehicles turn right.
There is a reason for this.
The east coast has had a road running
from the ferry piers down to the south east of the island for quite some
time but visitors to the island shunned the east coast since the paved road
down the west coast from White Sand Beach to Bangbao opened. Evidence that
the east coast once attracted a few holidaymakers is seen in some of the
decrepit bungalows roadside, ones which 10 years ago may well have been
nice, if uninspiring places to stay.
Way down in Baan Jek Bae, overlooking
Salakphet bay a few resorts catering to weekend Thai visitors with their own
transport or tour groups who are shipped in by minibus have sprung up in the
last couple of years. One reason is that land prices in this part of
the island are still relatively cheap and there are undoubtedly good views
to be had. However, the tradeoff is that unless your resort is
something special it'll be a while before you can make a profit.
Anyone heading left out of the ferry
piers will soon pass a couple of bungalow complexes on the sea shore.
Funky Hut is apparently a nice, quiet - if a bit overpriced - place to stay and offers a range of over 600 cocktails (i.e. they have a big cocktail
book). From this shoreline you can easily see the mainland, which
unfortunately isn't particularly scenic or inspiring in any way unless spotting mobile
phone relay stations is your thing.
Moving on you'll head past the small
Nonsi waterfall and the administrative capital of Koh Chang, Dan Mai, home
to a police station, a hospital and the seat of power for the local
government. The frontline staff at the local govt. offices now wear
blue batik shirts with multi-coloured fish on them in an effort to appear
'fun & friendly'.
Near Dan Mai you'll pass the entrance
to Thanmayom waterfall on the left hand side. Until the west coast
road was built this waterfall was the highlight of a visit to Koh Chang for
many Thais. If you've got nothing better to do you can also camp here
for the night, but the adventurous will press on with the journey south.
You'll pass loads of fruit and rubber
trees as the road moves away from the shoreline on the way south.
Getting nearer to Salakphet you'll also notice inland prawn farms.
(Look for the large man made ponds with mechanical aerators in them.)
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Southern end of Salakkok Bay. |
Finally you reach a junction in the
road, a left turn signposted to Salakkok. For your first adventure
head down this road, about 500m down the road you come to a 90 degree left
hand bend in the road, which takes you over a bridge and past a few wooden
bungalows built on the edge of the mangroves, opposite are a couple of small
restaurants. The main road then heads round a 90 degree right hand
turn and most people doesn't give a second glace to what appears to be a
dirt track heading off in the opposite direction as they are too busy
looking out for crazed local Schumacher wannabes in rusting pick-ups heading
in the opposite direction. Take my advice and take a detour along this
dirt road.
The road is about 1 km long and is
lined by mangroves on it's left side, it ends with a few fisherman's houses
built on the shores of a large sheltered bay. The opposite side of the
bay is all mangrove forest, behind that are jungle covered mountains.
Whip out your camera.
Getting back on the road, following
the signs for Judo, Ploy Talay and other resorts will take you to Ban Jek
Bae, a 'blink and you'll miss it' hamlet a few kilometres down the road.
The road becomes a dead end after you pass these resorts. However, if
you've ventured this far you'll have noticed a signposted left hand turn to
Long Beach. The road still appears to be under construction, and after
the first couple of kilometres is unpaved, but ignore any signs you see
saying 'No Entry' or 'Road under construction', you are allowed to use it.
You'll also see signs for 'Treehouse', a backpacker bungalow resort that's
relocating from Lonely Beach.
Once you get on the road the rollercoaster begins as it's path hugs the
sides of a mountain overlooking the shore below. With the sun shining
and a clear view of the islands to the south of Koh Chang in front of you
and views of Salakphet bay and the mountains of inland Koh Chang behind you
this is a good trip for anyone who appreciates nice scenery and Kodak
moments. Needless to say, at present there's nowhere to stop and eat
and no toilets etc unless you call in at Long Beach Resort, a rundown resort
a kilometre from the end of the road.
The road ends at the naval memorial
at Had Yuthanavy. This memorial was built to commemorate the loss of
the ship 'Thonburi' during a fight with the French in WW2. You wont find any
information in English here about it though. The only other thing of note
are the rapidly disappearing hillsides next to the memorial. It
appears as though someone plans to remove the entire hillside truckload by
truckload.
Now you have to U-turn and retrace
your steps back to the junction with the main road. Turn left again
and head down towards Salakphet. You'll notice after a few kilometres
there is a road signposted to the right to Salakphet. In fact the main
village of Salakphet lies straight in front of you, follow the road straight
and it terminates at a temple. From here you can follow a path that
will lead you to an estuary lined with fisherman's houses. However,
most people will turn right and follow the road that winds up in the car
park of Salakphet Seafood restaurant in he fishing hamlet of Baan Rong Than. (Before you get here you'll pass
the grandly named 'Koh Chang Marina' which I'm sure will be filled with a
flotilla of sailing craft any day now, but hasn't been every time I've been
past. Still they have some new bungalows with good views of the bay and for
anyone who's into sailing this would make a nice place to stay.)
There are quite a few nice photo
opportunities if you walk through the restaurant and onto the jetty.
You get a great view of the bay and the privately owned Koh Sai Kao (White
Sand island) from here. Renting a canoe for an hour is a good way to
pass time if your looking for a bit of exercise. You'll also notice a path
leading from the carpark, you can walk this path for a couple of kilometres
if you have time. It passes several fisherman's houses and follows the
shoreline, again there are great views of nearby islands on clear days.
If you still have time on your hands
before you head back around the island you can take a look at couple
more waterfalls which lie down unsignposted roads before you make the 40-50
kilometre journey back to your west coast beach resort. If only they
built a road around the island . . .well they have, kind of.
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Luxury Long Beach accommodation |
A kilometre or so before you reach
Baan Rong Thian, you'll notice a narrow tarmac road leading up an incline
on the left. This is the new road. If you find yourself passing
a national park ranger station on the Salakphet road then you've gone too
far, double back a little ways.
The curious should take a look, it's unlikely you'll meet any other traffic
using it. In all seriousness this road is earmarked as a bicycle and
motorbike route but unless your name is Lance Armstrong you'll end up
pushing your bike more than riding it. So take a look by motorbike and
see how far you get. You wont get to Bangbao as the road was never
completed :-), you could have guessed that, couldn't you?
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