A place not even registered on the map

Trip Start Oct 08, 2009
1
18
27
Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
Seasons Bungalows
(Krabi hotels)

Flag of Thailand  ,
Friday, December 11, 2009

Deciding that we had spent enough time on Koh Lanta we to headed off to another Island, which promised to be even more remote. After boarding a boat (which felt like the bottom was going to fall through) we made our way to Koh Jum. Here I was thinking we would pull up to port and all hop off like civilized human beings – but no – I was wrong. Stopping in the middle of the Ocean with shore being just visible on the horizon, I soon began to realise that this was in fact the ferry stop for Koh Jum. Before I could even blink, an accommodation deal was done and our luggage passed through the window of the boat and boarded onto the longtails that had pulled up along side. Swiftly jumping aboard we were on our way to shore.

Approaching the Island it soon became clear that we had indeed found paradise. This was not the white sand beaches, crystal clear waters and lush green cliffs that are usually associated with Thailand, but instead it was a clay and crushed shell beach, lined with palm trees and dotted with a few bungalows and even fewer people
Mid sea exchange
Mid sea exchange
. The sunsets here were amazing and the stars at night even more so. There was no loud disco music in the evenings like Lanta and people spent their mornings doing yoga and their days lazing in hammocks.

A walk along the beach, lead you to the bottom of the island and into the village where the true lifestyle of the islanders became evident. Very rural and simplistic in terms of living, their homes were run down old shacks and their yards littered with old fishing boats begging for a new lease of life. The villagers were never short of a smile or a hello and we ended up having lunch in a restaurant that was merely planks of wood lined up and jutting out over the river – the longtail boats would pull up underneath and hoist supplies up into the restaurant. An amazing spicy sour mango salad and fried squid for lunch, we were ready to walk the 3kms back to our part of the beach.

I wish we had managed to spend more time in Koh Jum (and perhaps a few days less on Lanta) as it was so peaceful and remote. For the first time on this trip it didn't feel like there was something to be planning or something to be seeing – it just had a general stillness to it that I was more than happy to absorb. I would definitely go back here, as there are mountains and a whole other side of the island to explore.
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