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Published: March 11th 2015
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The Krabi to Koh Lanta ferry
The ferry is slowing down to exchange passengers off Koh Jum Koh Jum is a island just South of the famous Krabi peninsula. When you go into this region and its famous islands off the West coast of Thailand you know you are entering a tourist's Mecca. We selected Koh Jum as our one multi-night stay in Thailand because it was supposed to be less commercial and still had some white sandy beaches and good snorkelling. Like many islands the shores are lined with bungalows. It was funny how the place grows on you. By the end you were feeling the attraction as if the island was starting to seep through your veins. It not hard to see how some people have been coming back year after year.
It was a long journey from Vientiane in Laos. We did the over night train to Bangkok and then with some considerable perseverance Jane got us on an early train to Surat Thani. We final got to Krabi at 8pm and searched for bed. We looked at a few guesthouses and then Jane found a nice fan room at the City Hotel for 450 baht ($15).
The next day we caught the ferry to Koh Jum. We booked
up by phone at New Bungalows so there was some one to pick us up. This is essential since the ferry does not come into the shore. As the ferry slowed next to the beach long tail boats from each resort cruise up either side to take on and off load passengers. You look for your bungalow name and head for that boat. When all is said and done the long tails peel off heading for the beach as the ferry continues to Koh Lanta down the coast.
Koh Jum lived up to its billing. There are many bungalows and yet there was only ever a few people on the beach. Off shore about 500m was another small island, Koh Singh. Apparently the snorkelling is not so good so we signed up to an all day boat trip to Koh Phi Phi.
Koh Phi Phi was an eye opener. The first bay we went into was full of speedboats and Chinese people in life jackets swimming around. In fact all the bays and beaches were. This underlined the Koh Phi Phi with its cute bays, beaches and limestone cliffs is also in easy reach
The local policeman and his family
He stopped to check everything was OK as we walked back to our bungalow one evening from the big resorts in Phuket and Koh Lanta. The simple solution was to keep your head below the water surface. Whilst the flora was disappointing, lots of dead coral and only the odd live patch, the fauna was fantastic. Two highlights was a bright blue crown of thrones starfish and also long slim sea horses. There were lots of fish of all different colours, shapes and sizes. Unfortunately after 4 hours of snorkelling we had burnt our backs. Not good and we have been paying for it since.
That evening we went to the Rim Tang restaurant just by the Buddhist temple outside Ban Koh Jum (Tel: +66 862689650). This is run by Pavinee Sonucheep who busys herself with the cooking. Her new husband mans front of house and is Finnish. I never found his Finnish name. He said the local Thai call him Muu Yai which means "Big Pig". Anyway Pavinee is a fantastic cook and Muu Yai very sociable. He helped us learn about the island. Pavinee served a super chicken and cashew nut fried rice in a hollowed out pineapple. We can highly recommend it.
Muu Yai told us that
the following day there was going to be the annual 'gypsy' party at the graveyard just up the beach from our bungalows. We decided to investigate. The so called sea gypsies are the local Moken who still have animist believes with a strong focus on ancestors. (Koh Jum also had Muslims and Buddhists.) They have an annual party at their graveyard on the day of the full moon at this time of year (I guess this is the alternative Full Moon party!). It takes place in the morning. There was a disco and food stalls. Families made food and incense offerings at relatives graves which were all around. In the centre shelter a group of men beat drums and sang whilst locals and tourists danced in a circle around them. Plenty of men were hitting the bottle from the start. I tried some excellent sweet green mango juice and Muu Yai helped me buy a small bottle of the local hootch, a rice whisky, which I tasted that evening. It was very much like a strong saki and took some getting used to!
After the party I sat with Muu Yai and a South German couple who
had the bungalow right on the beach. It turned out that Marcus had been coming to Koh Jum for seventeen years. It was fascinating to hear about his experience of the Boxing Day Tsunami. Someone by chance had talked to him about tsunami the year before so when the sea receded he had an idea of what was about to happen. No one was killed on Koh Jum because it was protected some what by Sumatra. The beach shore bungalows were damaged. You can see Marcus's pictures at http://www.kohjumonline.com/makut.html. Tsunami warning systems are now in place through the island.
The next morning we went straight to the beach after we got up. Jane rented a canoe and I set off swimming for Koh Singh island off the beach. We suspected there would be currents and in the end it was good Jane had the canoe so she could pull me up current a bit. More aware of the currents impact I was able to set off from a better location on the return and swam back to the beach unaided.
Later that day we rented a scooter and toured the island. We drove through
numerous rubber tree plantations, each trunk holding a small cup to catch the latex sap. We had lunch in a one the island villages and could watch life going on around us as we eat. Kids played in the water and fishermen returned with their catch.
We went back the Rim Tang restaurant for our last evening as we enjoyed the Pavinee's food so much. As we walked backed the skies opened and we were thoroughly soaked. Not far from our bungalows Muu Yai turned up soaking wet on his motorbike to give us our bungalow key which I had left in the restaurant. Now you can't beat that for service.
So the next day we went through the reverse of our arrival taking the bungalow boat out to rendezvous with the ferry to Koh Lanta. The tug of the Koh Jum had built up and it was harder to leave than we imagined. We needed to get on with the next stage of our journey: moving by sea to Langkawi in Malaysia.
This took us via several Southern Thai Islands many small with just a beach and bungalows. The last
was Koh Lipe. We spent an hour here changing boats for the last leg to Langkawi. The fine sand and clear water (it is apparently a well known dive centre) and laid back vibe of Koh Lipe made a final impression and laid down a marker as a potential place to return.
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Around the world eventually
Liz & Ross
Lovely Koh Jum
Really enjoyed reading about your stay on Koh Jum. We spent Christmas there and also fell in love with the place. It's such a friendly and relaxed island. Enjoy Malaysia and it's wonderful food!