Oct. 25, 2008
Si Racha
I jumped on the 5:30 p.m. second class bus from Eastern Bus Terminal (77 baht). Guidebooks say it takes 1.5 to 2 hours to reach Si Racha from Bangkok so I thought there would be no problem to catch the last boat for Ko Sichang at 8 p.m. In reality, my bus took 3 hours! Apart from occasional traffic jams (especially before Bangna in Bangkok), the driver stopped numerous times and waited for passengers (perhaps a common problem for 2nd class buses).
Needless to say, I missed the boat. It turned out not too bad because: 1. I found a cheap hotel (name in Thai only, pronounced “Sai Chai”) on Thanon Chermchompon near the pier (still about 20 minute walk from the bus station). 2. I had an aroma massage to get rid of my disappointment for 300 baht near my hotel (I found the next day that there is no such a thing on the island).
I took a quick look at the town before having my dinner at Silom Steak House (79 baht fish steak + 29 baht orange juice). A little bit to my surprise, the town is quite international. There are numerous international restaurants (especially Japanese restaurants due to a large presence of Japanese expats), bars and Japanese karaoke’s and almost everyone speaks some English.
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| Si Racha |
Oct. 26, 2008
Ko Sichang
Boats leave Si Racha for Ko Sichang (45 baht) from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. almost every hour from the pier inside Koh Toy Park, a good 10 minute walk from the coastal Thanon Chermchompon. I took the 9 a.m. boat and it took almost 1 hour to arrive at Ko Sichang’s Tha Lang pier.
Interestingly, Ko Sichang seems busier than Si Racha with numerous Tuk-Tuk’s and lots of tourists. From the pier I walked all the way to the left for about 20 minutes and reached Hat Tha Wang where I paid respect to Wat Asadang. It’s a nice park and there are not many people there (perhaps because you cannot swim there so I guess most tourists head for other beaches). While I was looking for a Tuk-Tuk to take me to the other side of the island, a motorcycle passed by and the driver asked me “where are you going?” in Thai. I explained (in my not-so-fluent Thai) that I would like to go to the Chinese temple. He offered me a free ride (another reason to visit other provinces in Thailand!) The Chinese temple, Saan Chao Paw Khao Yai, is about 2 km from Hat Tha Wang and is at the north part of the island. The temple is of no particular interest to a non-Buddhist like me. However, the climb to Buddha’s Footprint is really a good exercise and the view from there is not disappointing.
Walking back to Tha Lang pier to catch the 12:00 noon boat back to Si Racha, I ended my pleasant 2 hours on the island.
After having lunch at the not-so-interesting Chest’s Grills at the Robinson shopping mall, I took a motorcycle (30 baht) to the train station for the 2:52 p.m. daily train back to Bangkok, only to find out that there are no trains on Saturdays and Sundays. The train station is in a quite remote area beyond walking distance to the town center. I had no choice but taking the station staff’s motorcycle (50 baht) to the 1st class bus stop (near DCOM shopping mall) to take a bus back to Bangkok’s Eastern Bus Terminal (every 30 minutes, 99 baht, 2.5 hours).
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| Buddha's Footprint |
Overview
Si Racha is a very interesting place to stop over for the night. You may find it’s similar to Bangkok’s Sukhumvit 24 area but there is definitely less traffic! Ko Sichang is a relatively quieter island near Bangkok and there are more Thais than foreigners. Apart from watching the sea, there are probably not many other things to do there.
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