Although it was just 10am, the sun was setting on our time on Ko Chang. The minibus loaded with a driver, the five of us and 10 bags and a stroller headed up the West Coast of the island to the ferry pier. Since we generally kept to the southern part of Ko Chang, much of what we saw outside our window we hadn't seen since we arrived just under a week ago – which felt like much longer ago than it was.
As we moved north to the beach areas with larger hotels and more backpacker enclaves much of what we saw showed a very different Ko Changs than the one we experienced – ones with dive bars, "sexy lady massage" parlors, crocodile and snake fighting rings, tailor shops and giant upscale resorts.
Among other things, I was reminded that island paradises can often be deceiving. As a tourist, it's easy to imagine the simple, beautiful fun-filled life one could experience if only one could figure out a way to live there. But in reality, the party fades with time. Life on any island comes with limitations like living with less variety of people, activities and goods – the other side of the simplicity that make them seem so attractive at first. This was the problem the healthcare system I once worked for had with its facilities on the Big Island of Hawaii – it was easy to recruit clinical staff and hard to retain them as so many developed "island fever" after a few months. Of course there are exceptions – like I never grew tired of Bali and islands as large and developed as Java or most of the Hawaiian islands are rich enough in culture, resources and infrastructure that life can remain appealing.
But Thai islands are really holiday-havens built for travelers – often having had few, if any full-time inhabitants prior to the development of tourism. And so, everyone must eventually leave and watch the sun set on their island time – taking with them their special memories of adventures, relaxation, restoration, wild flings, anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, breakups, medical emergencies, drunken mishaps and along with all the other things we take with us from the island.
When our minibus arrived at the ferry pier – we faced one of the most serious challenges of our trip thus far: the minibus wouldn't be crossing with us this time and we had to schlep our five selves, 10 bags and folded stroller down the pier, onto and back off the ferry and to the end of the next pier unaided by even a luggage cart. Had we had time to think about it, the whole thing would likely have turned into an anxious, agitated mess. But we didn't. We had less than five minutes to make our ferry – so we rallied. Backpacks went onto both sides of people – smaller bags were put on top of larger ones with wheels and kids were carried on hips and guided with held hands as we scurried onto our boat – the last five people to board.
Our ferry was filled with people who any onlooker would identify as having just got off a Thai island – mostly foreigners attired in flowy cotton clothes with elephant patterns; wearing Thai fishermen pants or loose, light Thai travel pants; tanned or sunburned and sometimes with corn rows in their hair – all with giant bags, usually backpacks.
A half-hour ferry ride, some crying kids and a hot sweaty shlep off the pier on the Trat side later, we found our mainland minibus driver from last week who was kindly waiting for us – with sufficient space ready for our many bags and stroller. And so began our six hour journey for what was a theoretically four-hour drive back to Bangkok slowed by pit-stops and the traffic from Thais returning from their own four-day weekend holidays.
This made for a relatively uneventful afternoon filled with the sound of the kids binge-watching "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" from my phone in the backseat while Emily dozed and ate roasted squid snacks next to them.
We arrived at our hotel at just before 6pm. It's the same one Emily and I stayed in on four occasions in 2011 – loving the hotel and the staff so much that we wanted to return with our kids. Only it's even better now. As I walked in, needing someone to help with the aforementioned multitude of bags, a staff member came running, helped take everything out of the minibus and ensured that with no further effort – everything made its way to our rooms. We were each offered a cold towel, a refreshing juice drink and a bite-sized dessert of coconut sticky rice and custard while we waited for the desk clerk to process our check-in. The staff gave us a free upgrade to a junior suite when they saw the kids and still ensured our two reserved rooms were next to one another. The hotel has a number of little upgrades as well. But mainly, it's run as well as ever. As Sennen said, "I just love our Bangkok hotel."
In general, the kids seem to love everything about Thailand. Ailyn declared at one point today that she never wants to go home and wants to stay forever in Thailand. Sennen on the other hand does want to go home – for one day – and then immediately fly back to Thailand indefinitely.
So, we will begin to talk more about our return home in two days. But in the meantime, we have two full days ahead in Bangkok – more than enough to make a hard man crumble, but likely to delight our resilient kids.
