2 Canucks in Thailand: Easter Break: "The other" Koh Chang and Ranong

Over the 4 day Easter break we took off to the West Coast to Ranong and then on to an island called Koh Chang. This is not to be confused with the more popular Koh Chang in the Gulf of Thailand. Ranaong gets the most rainfall of all of Thailand and the islands are only "open" for 4 months a year because they get hammered by the storms coming off the ocean.

Ranong Aeroport. One flight, one plane. It's not cold, I just still have my sweater on from the AC in the plane.

It's a bird, it's a plane....it's uh...both?

The most amazing things was that we flew at low altitude the whole way and were treated to an incredible view of the mountains, jungles, prawn farms, meandering rivers. Beautiful.

We had a full day in Ranong so we visited the public hotsprings which are in the centre of town. It was fun to see people gathering around them on a Friday evening. This is the course...too hot to touch.

The back of our hotel....glad we saw the front first. Nice little place.

My morning walk along an actual running /bike track. First one I've seen. It felt so good to see mountains.

I didn't chance this one.

The next morning we headed to the pier for the "normal boat" which is the slow ferry. Speed boats started going to the islands in December 2014 cutting the ride from 2hrs to 45 min so likely tourism will increase.

The story is that recently a boat owner got fined a lot for not having enough life jackets on board. The ferries now go through a ritual of hand one to each passenger.

It is also the way goods are transported to the islands.

Cement.

Plastic bottles coming off the islands.

Heading out to the ocean via meandering river.

Fishing boats docked along the way.

Umm.....I think they are burning a bit of oil.

That's Myannmar (Burmar) in the background. Classic longtail boat.

The dock...with nothing at the end of it. We wondered how we would get to our hut for the weekend. Thais have a wonderful way of always having things worked out.

We have figured out how to travel with 2 small packs and before we knew it, two scooters showed up and we were on our way. They were the oldest I think I have ever seen.

That's Vince.

Woohooo....Cashew Resort...we made it!!!

We were the only guests except a man who was staying on for a week or so. The owner actually told us that if we didn't show up he was going back to Bangkok since Easter Monday was his last day before he closes the resort for the rainy season. He also informed us that Monday morning at 8 am we were going to the mainland with him and his staff. So, needless to say, it was a quiet weekend.