Around-the-World with Drew & Erin - Thailand

Join The Blogging Post as we head around-the-world with our friends Drew & Erin. They’ll be sending us regular dispatches and updates from around, across, and all over the globe. This is their last post from Thailand…

Final Sojourn in Thailand

In the wake of our eye-opening and intense visit to Cambodia, Erin and I were quite eager to return to Thailand and spend a final few days of island beach time before our time in Southeast Asia was up. We traveled by coach and minibus from Phnom Penh across the Thai-Cambodian border and on to the small town of Trat on the southeast coast of Thailand.

Trat is a charming, small town offering a glimpse into everyday life in Thailand. It features many markets and small alleys that were perfect for exploring and people-watching. The atmosphere in Trat was tangibly more relaxed, pleasant, and safe than that in Phnom Penh. It was a welcome change.

Trat serves as a convenient jumping-off point for the islands of Ko Chang Marine National Park in the Gulf of Thailand. Within the national park, there are a myriad of islands of varying sizes and speeds from which to choose. We selected the island of Ko Mak which is a smaller island featuring nice white sand beaches, few crowds, and budget accommodation options. We found a home at Sunset Bungalows, a friendly, cheap, and quite rustic bungalow operation that sits right on the water and is a fifteen-minute walk down the coast from the nicest beach on the island.

It was a fine setting for winding down our final days in Thailand. We spent most off it lying on the beach, swimming and snorkeling, and reflecting on what a wonderful time and deep life experience we’ve had in Southeast Asia. Reflecting back, I can easily say that of all our exceptional experiences, my clear favorite was the time we spent on the islands of Thailand.

The final chapter of our Asian trip was a return to the wild city of Bangkok. We managed to handle the hustle and bustle of Khao San Road - the notorious backpacker’s mecca – like veteran Asian travelers, tended to some final travel details, and tried to catch our breath for the next chapter of our trip. Soon we would be trading in our sandals for hiking boots and our bathing suits for rain shells as we looked forward to spending five weeks tramping through
New Zealand.