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Published: December 23rd 2012
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Its about 10h30 when our speedboat approaches Koh Kood (or Koh Kut) We pass the expensive Coral Beach resort and then the very expensive Soneva Kiri, before turning up into a river mouth and this is where my camera promptly runs out of memory. No footage of our arrival at the stunning Bann Makok which is where we will be staying for three days. Bann Makok is an 8 room boutique hotel built out of reclaimed wood in the style of a traditional fishing village. It floats on stilts in the mangroves on a clear lagoon and is terribly stylish. No amount of photography can truly show the character but take a look at the website: www.bannmakok.com. The owner has travelled extensively in SE Asia and has been collecting beautiful things for years to put together this lovely house. We get what we think is the best room in the house for 2 nights - room no7. It has a private verandah and huge open air bathroom with properly hot rain shower as well as a Thai bath which is basically a huge glazed clay pot of cold water. Our view is of mangroves and stars, and little fishes and crabs
scurry about in the water below. There is no lock on the doors, and we can sleep with the windows and doors open instead of having to use a noisy fan or ac. No mosquitos!! We wake up feeling fresher than we have in years with no new tropical acne or bites having appeared over night, and kayak down to the beach which is about 100m down the river, to spend a lazy blue sky day all alone on a stunning stretch of sand with no sand flies, just palm trees and crystal clear water. We watch the sun set from our kayak before paddling home to an amazing meal of spicy scallop salad and green curry and tall glasses of refreshing tamarind, honey and soda.The princess could become accustomed to this. But, it is not to last. We only managed to get three nights here and then we become homeless as we have not been able to pre book anything else from London.
So, first day on Koh Kut was spent exploring by motorbike and finding accommodation for the rest of our stay. But, let me stop here and just say that Koh Kut is now my favourite
Thai island ever. I think I can safely say that it has some of the best beaches in the world, and we have seen some beaches in our time.....the mangrove fringed lagoons and coconut plantations add to the character. There is no real village, just a couple of little shops and restaurants dotted here and there along the three roads which form the only infrastructure. There is a lot of virgin jungle left here and some awesome and very old and large Maka trees which, fortunately, have become tourist attractions, which hopefully will save them from the ever present developers. The island is quite a lot bigger than Koh Mak. About 25km long and 7km wide and so lush. There are about 30 resorts along the west coast, but nowhere feels over crowded and you can have a whole beach to yourself for days at a time. We have been wondering where all the people are.....
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