Koh Chang - Day 2

Spent the day exploring the Klong Prao area . The beach was virtually deserted – only two other people. Klong Prao has a reputation for being one of the quietest spots on the island and this certainly seemed to be the case. Much of the accommodation is very basic wooden beach huts, which blend into the vegetation so seamlessly that you hardly notice them. The beach itself is very clean and the sea is almost too warm.
I used one of the kayaks that come with the guesthouse to explore the creek, but this does not appear to be navigable that far up river. It looks as if the trip to the waterfall will have to be on foot some other day. I decided to rent a motor bike so that I could see more of the island over the next few days. Dangerous, I know, but without one you are too dependent on erratic taxis. Used it briefly to explore some of the beaches on the west coast, south of Klong Prao.
In the evening I went to one of the restaurants opposite the guesthouse, which involved being ferried over by one of the restaurant’s staff in a gondola-like boat. Great place and excellent meal.

Koh Chang

My trip from Bangkok to Koh Chang took the best part of a day. The bus broke down a few km after Bangkok airport and we had to wait about one hour for a replacement to drive out from Bangkok. Then there was an hour wait for the ferry, which it itself took about 45 minutes to cross to the island. Finally, I was met by Ian, the owner of the guesthouse where I am staying for the next 5 days, who drove me on the final part of the journey to Klong Prao.
The Baan Rim Nam guesthouse is small; only three adjoining bungalows overlooking a river estuary accessed by a wooden walkway over a mangrove swamp. (It’s actually better than I make it sound!) The guesthouse is only short walk from the beach but a slightly longer walk from the nearest village. The whole area is very quiet, partly because it is now low season, but apparently even in high season it is much more low key than many other island resorts in Thailand. It should be a good base to explore Koh Chang over the next few days.

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Bangkok

My flight to Bangkok was uneventful and arrived on time. In the evening I met up with John, my friend who lives in Kuala Lumpur and who I was expecting to see there later in the trip. We explored a few bars in the Silom area which was new to both of us.
Did a few errands in Bangkok today and came back to the hotel via the Queen’s Park, which is a small oasis of greenery in the otherwise busy Bangkok streets. Having an early night tonight as I have to get up quite early tomorrow to catch the bus to Koh Chang.

Panama update

Apparently it rains in Panama on about 75% days in the year, and when it does it is serious stuff, with some the roads in the city turning into rivers that you have to wade across. Even so, it seems that they have not been having enough of the stuff over the past two years to keep the canal topped up.
Work is progressing slowly as the client never seems to have the right people at the meetings, and we ended up having to finish early this afternoon. Luckily, the sun did come out for long enough to have a brief lie out by the pool. Plenty of good restaurants to dine out at in the evening, with steaks being a speciality in many places.

Panama

My flight to Panama was not too bad in the end. I was annoyed at not being able to fly BA as I would have been able to use their lounge at Heathrow and at Miami. However, Continental was surprisingly good for the long haul segment to Newark, with a nice wide screen entertainment system, a wide choice of films, and a decent seat pitch so that I did not have to sit with my knees in the air. Also had power outlet at each seat in economy so that I could work on the laptop for most of the flight. Not many other airlines do that. Had to pay for my drink but I can live with that.
I had planned to get to Panama two days before starting work to allow for some sightseeing and recovering from jet lag. My intention had been to go on the Panama canal transit, which only operates on Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, I was not able to book this up when I arrived and so missed out yet again. However, I did the next best thing which was a tour of the more interesting parts of the city, including two hours at the Panama canal visitors centre. This was very informative and gave a good overview of how the canal was constructed and how it operates. We were able to see two ships passing from the canal into the Pacific through the Miraflores locks next to the visitors centre. I have seen plenty of boats going though the locks at Brentford, but it has to be said that the Panama Canal is on a totally different scale to the Grand Union – very impressive stuff.

More Panama photos at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rajbooth/Panama?authkey=nfXJ_kSh7z0

Branscombe

Today we went for a walk by the sea at Branscombe. This little village has become notorious in the past two years for the shipwreck which left the beach covered in the contents of the container loads that the ship was carrying, and made it a magnet for looters from all over the country. It was somewhat more peaceful when we were there, in spite of the Bank Holiday crowds. Had an excellent lunch at the Masons Arms Hotel in the village, and tried some of their wide selection of local beers.

Topsham

It's always good to come back to Topsham. I have not been here for over two years, but nothing has changed much in that time. Things are different in Exeter though. Nick took me around the new Princess Hay shopping centre, which I guess is OK if you are into shopping. Certainly an improvement on what was there before. Aster a tour of the city we had tea on College Green, before heading back to Topsham for a couple of pints in the Globe Inn.