Thailand Chapter 4 - The Sun is Blazing

From 'today is gonna be a super awesome day' to 'I curse all of you' it took exactly 1.5 seconds.

It all started out so nice.

Yeah okay, some people might vigorously shake their heads when I tell them that I was already woken up by my internal clock at 3:40 am, but so what?

-I was already planning to go to the fridge and get myself a coke to pass the time. 😜

So I didn't argue with my body and woke up with TikTok and Youtube.

You can get sucked into these apps so quickly that time just flies by.

It was the 2nd night without sleep.

And I noticed that I was actually doing really well with the self-chosen solitude.

Of course, I would always prefer my little hooligan over everything else. (I have to say that at this point - the enemy is reading)

But I was really, really feeling good.

When the clock showed five, I thought it would be a cool idea to get on the scooter and search for the sunrise.

Since our new accommodation (which I'll talk about later) is located in a bay, we only see the sunrise halfway.

Said - Done.

And it was truly breathtaking. 😍

The island was still asleep.

I rarely encountered another road user.

The packs of wild dogs were still sleeping in the middle of the streets and made no effort to make way.

So I had to slalom around them, and be careful not to have a barking doggo jump on my lap while driving.

That actually happened!

I had to suddenly accelerate twice to avoid having a barking dog sit on my lap. Or worse.

However, the sunrise that I saw about half an hour later made up for everything.

I sat there for about an hour before deciding to ride back to the resort to have breakfast and start implementing the plans I had made for the day.

I wanted to do and see more than the time of the day would allow, but I wasn't rushed at all. I was deeply relaxed and looking forward to what lay ahead of me, especially a specific appointment that I had scheduled for 4 pm.

Did I mention how much I love riding scooters?

Nowhere else do I feel as free as on a motorized 2-wheeler, and there is nowhere more beautiful to celebrate it than on Ko Chang.

The sea on the left, the jungle on the right, and in between, this narrow, winding road.

It smells of pure nature (well, sometimes also of the stuff the Thais burn in front of their huts).

It's hot and humid.

The breeze offers a welcome change.

Occasionally there's a gang of monkeys hanging out on and beside the road.

And when the road is occasionally straight, I can accelerate to 100. There's not much better than that.

(and yes, 100 might not sound impressive to a real motorcycle rider, but officially in Berlin, I'm only allowed to drive 45 km/h, let's not forget that)

Plus, the feeling of riding is just different when I don't have a passenger and therefore don't have the responsibility of another life on my shoulders.

All in all, it was such a great morning.

I would have probably been grinning in circles if it weren't for my ears getting in the way. (sounds stupid, but it's true in my case)

When I arrived at a beach that is located in the middle of the island, I parked my vehicle in front of a souvenir shop because I spotted something in there that I really wanted to have.

I was practically inside the shop.

I was so close to the clothes racks.

These shops don't have doors.

They're just covered stalls.

(And yes, this information is important. 😝)

I quickly negotiated with the owners, was happy with my purchase, turned around and.... the day was ruined!

The day was ruined!

I wanted to put the bag with my purchases in the scooter's compartment... in the scooter that was suddenly no longer there. (!!) 🤯😲

I was confused but briefly thought that maybe someone had just moved it aside because it was in the way.

I looked around uncertainly, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Thoughts raced through my head:

'It can't be gone.'

'Where would someone go with the scooter? I mean, hello? - It's a fucking island'

'why did you leave the key in, you stupid cow!'

'who's playing a little (unfunny) prank on me?'

'think logically, Vivien!'

Amidst all these thoughts, a certain word emerged louder and louder in my mind.

Repeating itself and vibrating in uncomfortably bright neon letters:

'Shit!'

'Shit!!'

'Shit!!!'

Swallowing the emerging hysteria, I waved the saleswoman over to me with a slight panic.

Her husband accompanied her.

He knew what my problem was before I even said it.

He pointed to the left and said:

'A man took your motorbike. You know him?'

Uh. NO!?

And then I heard:

'he made a mistake'.

He laughed.

I didn't.

I followed his pointing finger.

There was another scooter in front of the store.

And in this one, too, there was a key.

He laughed again.

I still didn't.

Nevertheless, I can't deny a certain relief.

So it wasn't a thief at work, just a confused guy who mixed up the scooters.

The matter should be clarified quickly anyway because at the latest when riding, one should notice that something is different.

So I waited patiently.

Well, as patient as this situation allowed.

But the unrest grew when after 20 minutes there was still no sign of anyone who wanted to clarify this mistake.

I exchanged numbers with the shop owner, and in return, he promised to contact me immediately if the guy came back again.

What else could I do?

What would you have done in my place?

I had nothing except the certainty that the day had taken a really unpleasant turn.

1.5 seconds!...

However, I had an ace up my sleeve.

He may have taken my scooter,

But:

I also had his!

Tit for tat, buddy.

I looked at my new vehicle.

Black with red highlights.

Mine was more red with black details.

Just from the appearance, there was already a difference.

I rode a Yamaha.

He rode a Honda.

I had easily covered 80,000 kilometers.

His motorbike hadn't even reached 10,000.

I sat down on it.

The dashboard, the comfort of the seat.

How the hell could he not notice that??

Everything was so different.

But I had a lot more to do, so I had no choice but to ride to the other end of the island on a stranger's scooter.

I can't say what I did there because I like things to be in chronological order, and I've already said too much....

So now I'll leave you with this cliffhanger and some frustration on your part.

If you want to know what happens next...

Well, okay. I'm merciful... and willing to do you a favor to satisfy your impatience.

Send me bitcoins!

In exchange, I'll satisfy your curiosity. 😝

........

Just a little hint:

I almost got 'Island Departure Ban'!

_________________________________

Remember the day when Tatti suddenly disappeared?

Well, it wasn't exactly sudden, it was planned in advance, but it was abrupt and didn't feel nice in the first moments.

Oh, by the way, we're not there yet. I have to rewind further.

Back to November 11th.

The day we changed our accommodation for the last time within the island.

Third time's a charm.

That's what Buddha said at some point. (I think) 😜

We still had 3 nights and days together with my funny holiday companion.

One of them was going to be 'stolen' from us, but let's go step by step:

The last resort had at most 6 or 7 bungalows.

It's almost like calling it a family.

Here, too, there was a really cool infinity pool, not even 20 steps away from the sea.

When our room was shown to us, we were thrilled like little children.

We had the last one in the row.

At least no direct neighbors on one side.

And it was beachfront. 😍

Aside from the fact that it was super clean inside and smelled incredibly fresh (a rarity in Asia)...

All we had to do was step out the door and feel the sand under our feet.

Just 3 more steps and we were in the water.

And there were coconut palm trees growing everywhere in front of the door.

It was simply amazing.

This was definitely a place where you could hang out.

On that day, we didn't do much else.

Well, actually.

What do you think was my first action?

Right - rent a scooter!

Tatti, help me remember, what did we do for the rest of the day?

Was it the day with the elephants?

Well, what do you guys even know about what happened when and where. 😜

I'm just gonna decide now that it was the day with the elephants. 😅

_____________________________________

By the way, we got a scooter that didn't brake particularly well (not good) and didn't have much air in the tires (also not good).

The air problem was quickly solved at the nearest gas station.

Tatti took care of the brakes with her feet.

No, seriously, somehow I quickly realized that with this particular buddy, I had to brake a bit earlier and harder to come to a stop on time.

I'm a pro, after all. 😂

...

We didn't set off without a destination in mind.

We had read that there was an elephant camp on Koh Chang where they take really good care of the animals.

Where the animals are being nurtured and everything is just completely different from the other 3 camps on the island. You can already see the elephants from the roadside at these other camps.

Chained up on 1-meter-long chains.

Not a pretty sight.

We were particularly interested in seeing what it's really like there on-site.

At the beginning, we didn't have a really good feeling, I'll be honest.

But we wanted to see it with our own eyes.

And what can I say... yes, the whole setting is much nicer because the elephant camp is in the middle of the jungle and not at the side of the road.

But:

That's where the positive aspects end.

The animals were chained up.

Standing in their own shit and living just as shitty lives as their counterparts on the roadside.

Actually, we wanted to leave immediately, but we also didn't want to leave without at least feeding them.

For 100 baht, you got a huge basket of bananas.

We bought 2.

The 'keepers' told us which elephants are friendly and which ones we shouldn't get too close to, and then they were basically out of sight.

The animals couldn't get enough of the fruit.

They reached for it like junkies for a fix.

I know that on that day, we did something good... that instead of riding on them like many other tourists do, we thought about the circumstances in which they live (&suffer) and gave them something tasty to eat.

But it was such a sad sight that the stupid feeling stayed with us from the first to the last second and didn't go away.

We stroked their hard and very bristly skin and cried along with them when tears rolled down the face of the first elephant.

Honestly, he cried.

We later googled it, and it's definitely true that elephants are very emotional animals, but of course, it's also possible that the tears could have a physical cause.

But now you know the circumstances.

And an animal that has such a shitty life.

Why shouldn't it cry because of that?

Anyway, we just wanted to get away from there.

And our mood was definitely a bit down for the rest of the day after this experience.

_____________________________________

The next day, Tatti still wasn't completely well, but much better already.

That's why we saw more of the island that day than we had realized before.

We wanted to go to a long pier that was built over a mangrove forest.

I had seen pictures of it on the internet and thought it was impressive, but it was even better live. 🤩

Yes, you had to be damn careful where you stepped because the planks were rotten, and in some places, they were even missing.... but the nature... the feeling... the view!!

It was really amazing.

Unfortunately, photos can only partially reflect how it was for us, but I'll try:

There's nothing more to say about that.

...

By the way, on the way there, we visited a waterfall.

We bought a watermelon shake right behind the entrance, and even before we reached the exit, part of the shake was on my white shirt.. At the back.

On my back.

How the shake got there will probably remain a mystery, just like the beer in the pool. 😜😜

...

The path to the waterfall was almost adventurous.

We had to hold onto a rope and overcome several rocks and a stream/river/whatever.

Tatti was less athletic than me. And her logical thinking occasionally short-circuited, because otherwise, I can't explain why she was constantly pulling on the rope when I encountered a slightly more difficult section and then started to struggle.

Well, let's blame it on the sunstroke. ;)

And because karma is a bitch, she herself (without any external interference) lost her balance in the end and fell somewhat unceremoniously onto her wrists.

There's always something with her.

Constantly, you have to worry.

😅

But the waterfall itself was really beautiful.

You don't see something like that every day.

Unfortunately, smoking was not allowed there.

With this view, I would have seriously considered starting smoking again. 😁

That day, too, went by incredibly fast, and bam!, the last night together arrived.

I actually felt a bit melancholic in the morning.

I didn't know how to be without Tatti.

We had been together day and night for 2 weeks, and suddenly she was leaving. 😐

We laughed so much.

Talked so much.

Seen so much.

Experienced so much.

We had so many firsts together.

Unforgettable moments.

And not once bad mood or arguments.

I could go on with the praise, but honestly, I want to finish this at some point. 😝

Tatti - thank you so much for one of the most amazing trips I've ever had.

You know:

🖕Less than 3🤙