Koh Chang

Everybody Koh Chang tonight! Everybody have fun tonight! (That was a bit of an allusion for the eighties music fans.) Now, on with the story. To get to Koh Chang, I first caught a songthaew from the market and got dropped off at the Koh Chang/Koh Phayam pier, where I waited for more than an hour.

Loading the boat with blocks of ice

A pickup came to the pier loaded with blocks of ice. So then the guy chopped them a bit to make them fit in the bags and then they put them on trolleys and loaded them into the boats.

Careened in the harbour me hearties

These boats looked great all stuck together and waiting for high tide so they can get off this mud-flat. Finally our long-tail boat got under way but half-way out into the bay, the motor conks out, so it looks like they had to bleed the diesel fuel line because it was sucking in air. Luckily one of the crew managed to chuck an anchor over-board because we were drifting onto an island. Finally they got it going and off we went.

Arriving at Koh Chang

We finally arrived at the pier at Koh Chang and everyone formed a chain and unloaded the cargo of wood and rice and half-melted ice. I was glad to get off that tub, I tell you. I had visions of spending the night on some deserted island in Burma. doh!

My bungalow by the beach

Well all’s well that ends well I suppose. Here is my bungalow about 20 meters from the beach. There is hardly anyone here and there is a nice breeze blowing to cool things down. It is pretty great, actually.

female Brown-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis)

In the afternoon I wandered up past the monastery and through this amazing paperbark swamp. I missed getting a photo of a hornbill, but see next installment of this adventure to see how that turns out.

juvenile Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus)

At first I thought this was a Black-eared Kite and I got all excited but after looking at the book, I thought it might be some kind of swamp harrier, but I realised no – it has a rounded tail. It is a juvenile Brahminy Kite. doh! – sucked in. There were four of them, two adults and a pair of juveniles. One of them looks older than the other because the typical brown and white belly is more developed on it. This one is much younger and has the brownish striated belly and the white patches under the wings. I also happened to spot an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) in the same area of the swamp.