Koh Chang Paradise
Door: Paul Sutman
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Paul
08 Oktober 2011 | Nepal, Kathmandu
Hey Guys!
I'm back and I'm switching to English because it feels more natural at this point. The concept of time really doesn't exist anymore, every day feels like a saturday. I'm am now in Pokhara, Nepal, but my stories will have to catch up with my actual travel itinerary. Let's get on with it, huh? ;)
So after Pattaya I went on a trip to the isand of Koh Chang, Thailand. After sitting in a bumpy minibus for 5 hours, I got on a ferry that took my to the island. As the ferry was approaching, I got the feeling I was entering the 'junglesque' surroundings of a King Kong movie..
The Sung-tau taxi that took me to Lonely Beach, the backpackers-area of Koh Chang, drove through valleys, up the hills and over the rivers. The roads are totally cool there! I arrived at the Magic Garden Resort where I got my very own bamboo-bungalow for only 5 euros a night.. :D
The week I spent on this island contained motorbike-trips, waterfalls, elephant-rides, lots of guitar-filled evenings, midnight swims and a couple of buckets. This week really gave me the time to acclimatize to the climate, the people, the speed of living and the backpacker-life. I met some very nice people including Kimberly, Jente, Lisette, Dan, Chrissy, Matthijs (Dutch Magic Garden owner, go there!) and many awesome locals.
The people on Koh Chang live such a different life! It's often a very simple life, but they know how to enjoy little things. Family is the most important part of their existence and Thai massage parlours, bars, tattoo-shops and diving-schools fill the tourist-streets of most villages and towns on Koh Chang.
I did also hear about the Koh Chang Maffia Circuit.. Somebody got stabbed in his arm for coming on to a local's girlfriend too strongly.. Oeff!! And the girlfriend got pounded in the face by the local as well.. Some rough shit! But the crazy thing is that the day after the incidents, nobody talkd about it.. Everybody put on their not-so-real smiles and got on with it. Even the girlfriend..
All in all it was a very good week, but I got the feeling that being a white tourist is like having a protective shield.. Because us tourists bring in work opportunities and cash, the locals are extremely friendly to us. But if I was one of the locals.. I think life would have been a lot harder on me..
After Koh Chang I went back to Pattaya to get my passport with visa for India. Unfortunately, I didn't get my double entry visa.. I only got a single entry, which ment I had to change my plans.
This was why, with help of my travel-guru Germano (lovelovelove) I got a connecting ticket from New Delhi to Kathmandu (Nepal). So I flew from Bangkok to Delhi, waited for 5.5 hours and got on the small and bumpy Spicejet-flight to Kathmandu.
on The 21st of September; at 9.30 in the morning, a very small and trashy suzuki-taxi took my to Hotel Nepalaya in Thamel, the tourist-district of Kathmandu. I'll tell you all about it on the next one.
Let me know if my stories are easy-to-follow in English and check out the pictures on facebook.com/paulsutman and the videos on youtube.com/paulsutman
I love you all very much, I miss you, but at the same time I'm following this awesome path that brings me to amazing new places, meeting extremely cool people along the way. And for worried people; please don't worry, I am being safe, I ask people for help all the time and I am able to connect with virtually every person I meet, ok?
Hugs and kisses, until next time!
Xx, Paul
I'm back and I'm switching to English because it feels more natural at this point. The concept of time really doesn't exist anymore, every day feels like a saturday. I'm am now in Pokhara, Nepal, but my stories will have to catch up with my actual travel itinerary. Let's get on with it, huh? ;)
So after Pattaya I went on a trip to the isand of Koh Chang, Thailand. After sitting in a bumpy minibus for 5 hours, I got on a ferry that took my to the island. As the ferry was approaching, I got the feeling I was entering the 'junglesque' surroundings of a King Kong movie..
The Sung-tau taxi that took me to Lonely Beach, the backpackers-area of Koh Chang, drove through valleys, up the hills and over the rivers. The roads are totally cool there! I arrived at the Magic Garden Resort where I got my very own bamboo-bungalow for only 5 euros a night.. :D
The week I spent on this island contained motorbike-trips, waterfalls, elephant-rides, lots of guitar-filled evenings, midnight swims and a couple of buckets. This week really gave me the time to acclimatize to the climate, the people, the speed of living and the backpacker-life. I met some very nice people including Kimberly, Jente, Lisette, Dan, Chrissy, Matthijs (Dutch Magic Garden owner, go there!) and many awesome locals.
The people on Koh Chang live such a different life! It's often a very simple life, but they know how to enjoy little things. Family is the most important part of their existence and Thai massage parlours, bars, tattoo-shops and diving-schools fill the tourist-streets of most villages and towns on Koh Chang.
I did also hear about the Koh Chang Maffia Circuit.. Somebody got stabbed in his arm for coming on to a local's girlfriend too strongly.. Oeff!! And the girlfriend got pounded in the face by the local as well.. Some rough shit! But the crazy thing is that the day after the incidents, nobody talkd about it.. Everybody put on their not-so-real smiles and got on with it. Even the girlfriend..
All in all it was a very good week, but I got the feeling that being a white tourist is like having a protective shield.. Because us tourists bring in work opportunities and cash, the locals are extremely friendly to us. But if I was one of the locals.. I think life would have been a lot harder on me..
After Koh Chang I went back to Pattaya to get my passport with visa for India. Unfortunately, I didn't get my double entry visa.. I only got a single entry, which ment I had to change my plans.
This was why, with help of my travel-guru Germano (lovelovelove) I got a connecting ticket from New Delhi to Kathmandu (Nepal). So I flew from Bangkok to Delhi, waited for 5.5 hours and got on the small and bumpy Spicejet-flight to Kathmandu.
on The 21st of September; at 9.30 in the morning, a very small and trashy suzuki-taxi took my to Hotel Nepalaya in Thamel, the tourist-district of Kathmandu. I'll tell you all about it on the next one.
Let me know if my stories are easy-to-follow in English and check out the pictures on facebook.com/paulsutman and the videos on youtube.com/paulsutman
I love you all very much, I miss you, but at the same time I'm following this awesome path that brings me to amazing new places, meeting extremely cool people along the way. And for worried people; please don't worry, I am being safe, I ask people for help all the time and I am able to connect with virtually every person I meet, ok?
Hugs and kisses, until next time!
Xx, Paul
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08 Oktober 2011 - 09:58
Susan :
Hey Paul,
goed om weer van je te horen en vooral dat je nu geacclimatiseerd bent (zowel aan klimaat, bevolking en reizen) en dat je nu echt in de backpackersflow zit. Het was natuurlijk even een flinke overstap... Blijf genieten, ervaren, maar vooral ook schrijven, hihi ;)
Ennuh English? No problem!
gr
Jeroen, Susan, Ruben en Fileine -
08 Oktober 2011 - 10:48
Kobus:
Nice man. Fijn dat je het zo onwijs naar je zin hebt daar!
Miss you, maar dat maakt effe niet uit. Zet em op daar!
xx
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09 Oktober 2011 - 12:03
Vincent Zaalberg:
hey paul,
kom ik via via ineens op jouw blog.
je verhaal/reis klinkt nu al spannend.
hoop dat je op die manier verder kan reizen daar.
greets! -
10 Oktober 2011 - 21:58
Niene Plume:
Glad to hear you're doing fine and being safe!
I hope that for as long as you're gone, you'll experience so many amazing things that you'll have enough stories to write a whole entire book, haha! ;] English is no problem for me at all.. *wink wink*
Keep on writing stories for us! It keeps me entertained through all of the homework, haha! I love to read them. Oh yeah, QUESTION! Have you ever heard of SpiritHoods? Got one like 2 months ago all the way from America, you should check them out, they're amazing! =] That was pretty much it. You get a big virtual hug from me! Goodnight!!
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17 Oktober 2011 - 20:38
Eva :
jaloers op die bamboo hut!! :-)
geniet van je nieuwe avonturen en kijk uit voor de bad guys!!
kus kus -
18 Oktober 2011 - 10:23
Dalai Lama:
Dear son,
Varanazi is fuckin awesome. Make sure you take dip in the River Ganga and cleanse yourself.
Don't miss that Metallica concert. it's going to be your best experience. Also spend some time in South India also.
Hugs and Dikke Kuss!!!!!!!!
xoxo DL
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