Thailand: To city of Trat... To Koh Mak Island

  Trat- Koh Mak, Thailand
Sunday, February 11, 2007

 
To Trat
My really nice taxi driver took good care of me, and saw that I got onto the right bus.
He had a little shrine in his cab that I really liked...   
Amazing 5 hr busride for kr. 45 (around 7 dollars)
A steward aboard. Fresh bottles of water served.
A little red box to each passenger with donuts and cookies.
 
I sat next to a transvestite who never stopped powdering her face.
 
Late afternoon, Trat and walked down the road to the old city and Jay Dee Guesthouse, owned by a Thai/French couple, Boo and Serge.
Serge also owns a little bookshop in the center of town...
A really lovely place to stay, for the unbelievable price of kr. 25!!!
And my room is the 'expensive' one.
The guesthouse is shiny super clean and soooooooo friendly.
Photos will come later...
 
Once settled, went out to explore the little quaint town. And again there was nothing but smiles and friendly faces.  Absolutely no hassling, the same as I found in Bangkok. The Buddhist influence here is felt everywhere.
 
Stopped for dinner at a small, cosy restaurant and met a traveller named Koda from Australia. We talked for hours and decided to go together to a disco.
Got to the disco in zigzags on the back of Jay Dee's bike, driven by Kaoda.
 
A live band with 3 singers, two guys and a girl. In the beginning, the audience just sat, but eventually some, especially the girls, got up to dance., but only by their seats. And slowly, very slowly... the guys also stood up to dance and got nearer to the girls at their tables. It was a shy, Thai way, and very charming.
The beers kept arriving, opened and poured by the waiter without even asking for them.
 
Drove home on the back of a motor scooter and we invited the two guys and one girl to the terrace for a beer. They stayed forever and one of the guys kept knocking on my door, but I stopped answering.
 
Now noon, Wednesday, Feb. 6... Possibly leaving for Koh Mak at 3 PM together with Koda... don't know yet.
 
 
The road less taken: Koh Mak
 
A super duper fast taxi driver brought us to the pier at Trat just before 3 PM Just on time...
Tickets for a 3 hr sailing to Koh Mak: 300 baht (45 kroner)
We sat away from the few tourists on the top deck, just in back of the captain's place.

The trip was smooth and pleasant. Koda and I spent the time eating his exotic fruits and just watching the islands drift by. Towards the end, we stopped at another island...

And once in Koh Mak, our boat was met by a few resort owners, showing us photos of their huts. A guy with a long ponytail approached me and showed me these amazing photos of his place, called "The little moon."
Other travellers were waiting on the pier, apparently already residents of this place.
We all got into the back of his broken up pickup and drove around the island to a long empty path leading to The little moon place...
It was dark when we arrived, but sure was mystical, lit up with coloured lanterns throughout the treehouse, whick serves as the central meeting area.


From the first moment, I've become entranced with this place. Just at the edge of the sea and the edge of the jungle. But no snakes, lizards, alligators, snakes.... Not so far anyways.

There's even an elevator to carry up the food...  
 
And the crowd here is just for me... lots of freaks...


And lots of hammocks for chilling out... and GREAT music!

And a nice little kitchen with the most incredible cook named Fern...


And a really nice bar...

It took a couple of days to adjust. Especially to the crazy home made ladders leading up to the treehouse...
 


You need to be a Tarzan to get from one place to another. But I love it here...
And each is special...
Carlos from Argentina,
Annike from Quebec
Koda from Australia
Francois from France
Jo the owner from Thailand
And others...
It could be a film titled "The Beach 2"
 
Each hut is so secluded, that you can feel you're living in your own private jungle.
Mine is on2.5 meters high stilts, and really difficult for me to reach on the ladder.

But then there's also the owner Too Tak, who is building a little canoe. He tried it out today...