I only planned to be in Bangkok as a stopover, before heading south to the islands, and beaches, near Ranong. So, in the morning, I headed to the southern bus station and bought a night bus ticket south. With most of the day to kill, I wandered through the streets and grubbed on an amazing curry dish with an iced coffee and toured the city by foot. I eventually wandered into the area of Bangkok with many gun shops. Although in a rather reputable area, shops windows were lined with handguns, assault rifles, shotguns. I was a little stunned, at first, but then I remembered: This is Bangkok...
I hopped on the night bus, where I met a friendly German gal from Hamburg also headed to Ranong, though to a different island. After an aggravatingly bumpy ride, we reached Ranong in the early morning and headed to the pier to catch our respective ferries. A few hours of waiting around and I was headed to Ko Chang, or Elephant Island, where there was only four hours of electricity per day, $10 bungalows, no cars and good beaches. That was about all I knew of the island before reaching it.
It turned out to be a beautiful place. I befriended a German woman on the ferry, after another round of interrogations regarding my sling, and she recommended the resort, which was really a collection of rustic bungalows and a restaurant, where she was staying. I followed her, and luckily they had a bungalow with a view of the beach available. I checked in, and for the next six days, five nights, proceeded to hike, read, swim (float, really) and eat. The island had few roads, and I quickly hiked them all to see the different parts of the beautiful island. While the west side of the island had a long beach, along which my bungalow was situated, the east coast was all mangroves and swamp, and good views of the Thai mainland.
No only did I meet the German woman, but also some of the fellow guests at the resort. I never discovered why, but they were mostly germans. I am not sure why this particular island chain so attracted German tourists, but they were all nice enough, so I didn't give it too much thought. The only other fellow was a Canadian named Dennis, staying on Ko Chang for the umpteenth time, and he was a pro. We had some good conversations, but mostly I was at the island to rest and read. After crushing three books and enjoying the beach, it was time to press on to other parts of Thailand.
So, after nearly a week, and bidding my new friends goodbye, I headed back on the ferry to the mainland city of Ranong. Before getting on the ferry, however, I realized I couldn't hear hardly at all. For the past day or two, I had water in my ears and couldn't shake it. One of the fellow guests, a German named Wolfgang, was a avid diver and had some hydrogen peroxide that I tried to use, but it didn't help. So, I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to spend yet another day in a Southeast Asian hospital.
Upon reaching Ranong, I set out for a bus ticket en route to the hospital. With my ticket to Bangkok acquired, I headed to the Ranong Hospital for a quick visit. Although not to dissimilar to the Lao hospital, it was slightly more advanced and definitely more organized. After about an hour wait moving between two waiting rooms, I was treated by a lovely young female doctor who explained to me that I had Swimmer's Ear, as I had suspected, and prescribed some antibiotics and pain killers. Five dollars later, I was equipped with my drugs and ready to go. Smooth and efficient, well played Thai healthcare, well played.
After another few hours roaming the back streets of Ranong and getting some pre-departure grub, I was off to Chiang Mai, Thailand, via a layover in Bangkok.
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