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Published: August 10th 2008
Our last day on Koh Phi Phi consisted of relaxing by the pool, eating a massive dinner at the French restaurant by the pier and preparing ourselves for our speedboat journey to Koh Mook the next day. We awoke the next morning brimming with excitement to board the boat and get on the way. It arrived at 9:30am (Thai time 9am) and we climbed aboard... that's when we realized that the sky in front of us was dark with rain and the ride would not be a smooth one.
We sped away from Phi Phi and into the dark clouds. Ev had the front seat and a great view of the terror approaching. We cruised for about 20 minutes before we hit the rain. At first I felt quite smart sitting behind the driver and staying dry, meanwhile quietly laughing at Ev (who was getting soaked) for picking the front seat. However the rain didn't stop for over an hour and our laughter about the situation grew quiet as the seasickness and total body saturation set in. Nothing escaped the rain except the contents our waterproof bags (good idea Ev!). The rain finally stopped as we passed Koh Lanta and
then the fun really began.
The driver told us this was only the second time he had ever been to Koh Mook and the first time was years ago- not very reassuring. But the boys were quite sure they would recognize the place if we got close enough. The first island we spotted as we passed Koh Lanta the driver declared proudly as Koh Mook. We cruised around the island for a good 30 minutes before discovering it was Koh Ngai. So after stopping for directions we finally made our way to Charlie Beach on Koh Mook.
Charlie Beach was a wonderful, empty and a welcome relief from the shops and busy-ness of Thailand. We checked into our bungalows complete with AC (but only in high season), electricty (but not between 1pm and 5pm or midnight until 8am) and a washer women bucket for a bathtub.
We settled into a routine of relaxing on the beach and afternoon naps quite quickly on the very first day. We also found out that there are limitless activities and services offered at the resort but only in high season. This became a favourite phrase of the manager and we learned
to live without massages and Western food for the whole week.
Instead we branched out our activities to include body surfing, kayaking, sunbathing, hermit crab racing, wave jumping, reading and getting to know our local wildlife.
When I was a child I had an absurd pet, my first, a hermit crab. I am still unsure to this day what drove that 80's craze. Koh Mook, and specifically Charlie Beach, is home to what seems like thousands of hermit crabs. Now my poor little pet had a very sad life pent up in the plastic box we bought him in but these crabs have the run of things here. They cover the dry sands and range from the size of a nickel to the size of a softball (he was so big he could barely get anywhere in his undersized shell). They duck under shell as soon as they feel the vibrations of a human coming. They were facinating creatures and it was lovely to see what they are in the wild as opposed to how I viewed them as a child.
The island also had its fair share of local dogs. Now it is a common occurence
to have feral dogs and cats running about everywhere but generally you keep your distance for fear of rabies. This resort was a bit different and as we were staying for almost a week we found a few "people lovers" who adopted us during our time on the island.
On our second day we decided to have a go at kayaking to the Emerald Cave. We waited for low tide (around 3:30pm) and set off in our kayaks. No sooner had we gotten in and the first wave to shore tossed us over. After a hearty laugh we picked ourselves up, got out past the waves and off we went. We paddled for about 40 mintues, fighting the waves from tossing us out of our kayak and the current from taking us out to sea, until we came to the cave entrance. Ian led us into the pitch black cave and after a few screams and a discussion in the complete darkness if it was in fact the right cave we spotted light. It didn't take long for us to make the decision to head for the light. As soon as we left the darkness we were surrounded by
tropical vegation and found we were in a lagoon completely enclosed by high rock walls- The Emerald Cave.
The lagoon was a piece of paradise and we took our time floating in the waters gazing straight to the sky, drawing pictures in the soft sand and taking in the beauty of the place. So glad the stormy waves broke long enough for us to make the journey. Leaving the cave was just as scary with poor Ian having a confrontation with the wall and Mark and Lola with a sandbank on the way out.
Most evenings we would head up the dark path through the jungle to Song's Hilltop Restaurant (thank goodness we kept those headtorches from Africa). It was a great little place, very basic, but with excellent and cheap food. Ordering was almost like learning a new language and consisted of motions, two different languages and a Thai to English dictionary. We enjoyed our nightly visits there until 3 of our 5 person party got tremendously ill on the last evening.
We really enjoyed our time on Koh Mook and a big thanks to Mark, Ian and Lola who made the journey out to see
us. We ended up spending an extra day on the island due to Ev's food poisioning before continuing our journey south.
Saturday morning we loaded ourselves and our luggage, along with 3 other tourists, onto a motorcycle taxi (which we had to get off of twice because we kept getting stuck) and headed for the pier. There we caught a local ferry to the mainland before getting a minivan to Trang. The plan was to head for the border. We arrived at the bus station just in time to catch the local (non AC) bus to Satun, where we would then catch the ferry to Langkawi, Malaysia. Ev was not so thrilled about a local bus that took 3 hours to make the journey instead of the 2 hours I had promised him. But we decided it was a must. It ended up being the most fantastic journey filled with Thai music videos, lovely locals and plenty of seat sharing. Just over 3 hours later, being the last ones on the bus and the only ones to make the full journey from Trang, we arrived to Satun.
Quickly hopping into a taxi/truck we went the 9 kms to
Mussels
with their tongues outTammarang to catch the ferrry to Langkawi. The Lonely Planet calls this island just over the Thai border "a holiday from the rest of SE Asia", so we thought we would give it a go. A very short 1 hour ferry journey later we arrived. It is a lovely island and tax free! Spending a couple of days here to lay on the beaches and see the sights before heading to Penang.
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Deb and Tony
non-member comment
It's really kinda silly...
.... the way I squeal with glee every time I get an email saying you've added a new entry. Both Tony and I look so forward to them. Another great post! And awesome pics. What a trip.