After 6 days pure nature I fly back to Bangkok.  From there I take the bus to Pattaya.  My intention was to spend the rest of my holiday here.  But the differnce between nature and Pattaya's nightlife with it's hundreds of GO-GO-bars  is too blatant.  I don't like to hear ""Hello handsome man, sit down please - whej you comm flomm?" anymore.  So I decide to abscond onto an island.  I didn't like Ko Samet last year, so I my decision falls on Ko Chang, near the Kombodian border. Five hours driving in a van.  The driver used his brake twice: once for a short break, and secondly on arrival at the destination.  In between, he puts the pedal to the metal!  I'm very relieved when I am finally sitting on the ferry.  Another half an hour and I enter Ko Chang.  I am staying at the Plaloma Beach Resort.  Nice garden and clean rooms.  Good choice. They don't have a sand beach here, but this it is only a few steps away, but there is also NO bar on the beach playing loud music.
With a hired moped I explore the island.  The one and only street has great slopes.  The island looks relatively natural but there are building lots everywhere! Presumably next year it will look totally different. So enjoy now!

2003
In October 2003 I was here again! My last sentence above was totally wrong - it didn't take a year to change the island. White Sand beach is one big building site. New hotels everywhere, even my last year's hotel is getting bigger.  Over  the weekend Thai people take the ferry to come with their cars on the island.
Anyway. I had the chance to do some short trips witk a loan Mountainbike. All bike rental addresses I fpund on the internet where wrong, but there is a bike shop at White Sand Beach beside the police station and a bike shop further south. Most bikes are not maintaned, but with some luck you find a useable one. 
The ring road is better to drive than I thought. All cars and lorries did consider to a slowly biker. The road to the east is ralatively flat and good for "rollers". Southward is very steep! Asuming this climate a real challenge.
Offroad I only did the way to the elephant camp (Ban Kwan Chang). This is a, easy rural backroad.
Information about Koh Chang at www.whitesandsthailand.com.


left: bike rental
above: at the elephant camp
eastwards
back at  White Sand Beach: not often you come back to place like this after you've done your tour...