Deciding where to ride to next can always be somewhat challenging. Not knowing where you want to go, making choices when you don’t know anyone who has traveled there, or even if you can do it.
Ko Chang, located off the coast of Trat is one place I wanted to visit. Being Thailand’s second biggest island behind Phuket, it seemed like as good a place as any to spend a relaxing few days and explore on the Versys.
I jumped on the bike early in the morning ready to leave Ban Pong Ratchaburi, and head up through Bangkok. Unfortunately as the highways go in Thailand, I actually needed to go through the guts of Bangkok and head towards Bang Na as the elevated bypass roads do not allow bikes on them, not even ‘big bikes’.
Getting through Bangkok was ok, and off down the coast towards Chonburi, taking a bypass of Rayong and ending up in Trat about 2pm in the afternoon. All up the ride to Trat took 6 hrs, with a couple of stops for food and drinks.
On this particular day, the wind was pretty extreme, with the head being thrown about, and I was feeling like I was constantly riding left pushing into the strong gusts.
Once at the ferry near the village of Laem Ngop. it was a matter of paying the 200thb for the bike and two passengers, then waiting a short time to board.
With the ferry’s running every 45minutes, 365 days a year in all weather, your wait time if you miss one ferry is minimal.
Riding onto the ferry is pretty straight forward, and they will park you over in the corner and surround you with cars and mini vans. The travel time on the ferry is pretty quick, once loaded, the ferry only takes about 30 minutes until it’s time to ride off.
Being my first time on Ko Chang, I had pre-booked accommodation at The Stage Kai Bae Beach, which is about a 30 minute ride from where the ferry docks.
The terrain on Ko Chang is nothing short of mountainous, with some of the steep climbs on the roads requiring 1st gear on the bike and with the added weight of a pillion and gear, the front of the bike does get a little light.
One beach on Ko Chang I found that is definitely worthy of a visit, not only for the rocky road you get to explore on the way there being about 5 km long, is Long Beach on the peninsula where the Naval Battle Memorial is located. It will take approximately 30 minutes to ride there but well worth the time to explore.
If you venture down the road to get there, keep going past all the signs for the beach and bungalows, right to the end where the trail stops.
Here you will find a beach that is approximately 80 meters long, fine white sand and not many tourists due to the difficulty in getting there.
The island is littered with waterfalls due to the amount of elevation it has. The most popular waterfall due to it’s size and accessibility is Klong Phlu Waterfall. Khlong Phlu waterfall is the highest waterfall on Koh Chang towering above at over 20 meters.
Another worthy thing to note is watch your speed, the amount of people I saw racing around the island like they were qualifying for the next Indy race was staggering.
When your sitting for dinner at night and witness someone on a scooter getting pealed off the pavement, covered in blood after being hit by a taxi, it makes you realise how bad the epidemic is and how you need to be vigilant with your own safety.
If you find yourself in Thailand and wanting to hire a big bike to explore the country, feel free to drop me a message as I would be more than happy to go for a ride and show you around.
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