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Family friendly ways
to fill your days
- from 'Pattaya & Beyond' magazine
If it’s July, it’s the
rainy season, although I’m sure the TAT would prefer to use the euphemism
‘Green season’ and therefore, (surprise, surprise) it’ll either be wet or
very wet on Koh Chang during your visit.
With the clear skies now
replaced by overcast grey and gently lapping waves by riptides Koh Chang
needs to draw on its wet weather attractions to pull in the tourists.
Unlike Samui or Phuket, shopping malls and world class adventure sports
centres have yet to be built, and therefore visitors are in a bit of a
quandary as to what to do before, during and after downpours. Wandering
around aimlessly seems to be popular as does checking and re-checking your
email.
Here are a few other
alternative ways to pass the time if swimming and sunbathing aren’t viable
options:
Waterfalls
As any student of outdoor
life knows, the amount of rainfall during the preceding week or so is
inextricably linked to how worthwhile a visit to a waterfall is on any
particular day.
During the main tourist
season, the waterfalls are often less than spectacular due to the phenomenon
known as “dry season” in which no rain falls for a period of several months,
thereby rendering a trip to the falls a rather dull experience unless muddy
pools and cliff faces get your juices flowing.
However, visit the large
falls at Klong Plu or Than Mayom during the rainy season and you’ll be
rewarded with gushing torrents. The drop pools are usually safe to swim in,
however each year there’s usually a visitor or two who don’t make it out
alive. Therefore, take care on the muddy paths and be sure to leave small
kids, old folks and anyone with suicidal tendancies back at the resort.
Pony trekking
In Hua Hin, on the
opposite side of the Gulf of Thailand, horseback riding along the beach has
long been a popular pastime. Here on Koh Chang, elephant riding (trekking)
is the thing to be seen doing. Therefore, it remains to be seen how popular
this small riding centre - midway between White Sand Beach and Pearl Beach -
becomes, especially as no riding will be done on a beach. This equestrian
centre comes with its own freeform riding 'track', which must be almost 100 metres in circumference. So, if pony rides roadside are your thing, stick
this on your 'Must Do' list.
ATVs
Great fun if you've got
acres of rugged farmland on which to play but a liability if you're using
them on the road, as a few locals with a bit of cash seem to do.
Personally, I don't see the point in buying a 250cc machine for the cost of
a small pick-up truck, which does 30 mph on the flat and then having nowhere
to use it. There is an ATV rental place just outside White Sand Beach where you
can rent a bike to ride around on a couple of hundred square metres of
roadside dirt and if that isn't a fun way to kill an hour and simultaneously
lighten your wallet considerably then I don't know what is - other than a
renting a jacuzzi full of slappers.
Scuba diving
It’s not that the
visibility is bad, bad isn’t the correct word. ‘Crap’ comes closer to
describing the sensation of diving, thinking you’ve spotted a manta ray or
something equally cool in the distance only to realize that it’s actually
your own hand and learning that the shark fin you swore you glimpsed was in
fact your dive buddies left flipper. On a more serious note, Ploy Scuba
remain open throughout the rainy season and they swear they know dive sites
where the visibility can be measured in metres rather than centimeters
during July and August.
Reading
Spending a bit of time in
a peaceful location, just yourself and a good book is a great way to
unwind. In the rainy season, there’s no shortage of quiet bungalow resorts
where you can sit on your balcony and read as the rain comes down, the only
distraction being hoping that the bungalow roof really isn’t as porous as it
appears. A couple of minimarts on White Sand Beach have new English language
novels for sale direct from Asia Books in Bangkok.
Imported books are pricey
in Thailand so if something to keep you busy on the beach or whilst waiting
for your girlfriend to get herself tarted up for a night out is what you're
after then a visit to a second hand bookshop is in order. Tantawan
restaurant on White Sand Beach save you the expense of buying a book by having a
library service which is worth making use of if you can read quickly. Slow
readers will be better off checking out the second hand books available at
V-Mart supermarket, Klong Prao; Kai Bae where a couple of internet cafes
also have books for sale or Nature Books, down at Nature beach Bungalows.
Reckon on 140 - 200 baht/book.
Monkey Show
What’s more fun than a
monkey show? A full frontal lobotomy perhaps. But if dancing animals are
your thing, then Koh Chang’s first, and hopefully last, Monkey School is
located at the southern end of White Sand Beach.
Eating, sleeping,
shopping
Blend in, this is how the
locals will be divvying up their days during the rainy season. Three
activities, so that’s around 8 hours for each per day. As irony would have
it . . . go into a restaurant and you’ll probably find the staff sleeping or
are all out shopping. Call into a small bungalow resort and the staff will
be tucking into polystyrene cartons of rice and a fiery hot chilli
concoction or in the market. Browse round a roadside shop unit and the
owner will be either be having lunch or catching 40 winks somewhere in the
back.
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